Latinos in the media have been automatically put into boxes for years. According to hundreds of movies, television shows, and magazines: I can't speak English, an immigrant, a maid, a hot-head, hyper-sexualized, have an accent and I'm exotic. These roles are outrageous and in no way are how a generation of young minds should see their culture represented.
Latinos make up 17% of the U.S. population but are only represented by 2% of mainstream media, what is up with those numbers?! Making Hollywood more diverse and celebrating our diversity isn't a bad thing but for some reason it makes people so uncomfortable. When 'Grease Live' aired on FOX earlier this year I remember having a conversation with a good friend of mine about the fact that Vanessa Hudgens had played Betty Rizzo. I had no problem with it and thought Hudgens had done a phenomenal job; however my friend had a problem with the fact that a white character was being played by a woman of color. "Why does everything have to be colored? This movie was set in the 60s!" I simply responded that while the setting may have been the 60s it's being remade in 2016.
I began to ask myself, "When is the last time I saw a Latina as a lead role in a movie?" I had a hard time thinking of one that wasn't Jenifer Lopez. JLo has defiantly broken down walls in Hollywood for actors and actresses but JLo isn't the only one pushing envelopes and breaking down barriers. Gina Rodriguez is my current hero; Rodriguez is the lead role in the CW's show 'Jane the Virgin.' Gina Rodriguez has spoken out about the depiction of Hispanics on television. In her interview with the Vanity Fair she says: "Because of how Latinos were portrayed, people would expect them to be a certain way, to only speak Spanish, to have eight children, and to be on welfare. And that’s terrible that that’s the education. I am not a politician. I am not doctor or lawyer. So [I always wanted to change] people’s perception with my art."
It is important to have Latinas portrayed as positions other than our stereotypes because it allows our community to see ourselves as more than just a maid, a hot-head, or even a quadruple D cup size. Seeing a Latina princesses in children's shows has more of an impact than you think.
Growing up my mother would occasionally let me pick out a barbie in the toy isle. I remember looking at them and thinking, "Mommy, I don't look like Mulan, Belle, or Snow White which one looks most like me?" As I grew older I struggled with seeing my beauty. As a brown-eyed,-black-haired, brown girl living amongst tall skinny blonde girls I began to see myself inferior to them. When I was young and impressionable I thought being white was better than being brown. I wanted to change my name to Amanda because Adina was "too Mexican." I was being bombarded with messages that "Blonde was Better." Now I'm not suggesting that all white women and tall skinny blondes aren't beautiful, what I'm suggesting is that our media starts to celebrate all shades of beauty. A good friend of mine once said "Movies used to make me feel like having brown skin was a weakness, but the older I get the more I see it as a strength." Being Latina is something I am very proud of and I hope that one day my culture can be seen and celebrated in a realistic and respectful way.
