In our class discussion on eating
the other I tried to think of examples of Latina actresses who have not
marketed certain aspects of their bodies to provide a viewing audience with
something exotic to look at. One
name that particularly stuck out to me was Michele Rodriguez. Now of course there are movies that
have shown her body but for the most part she herself hasn’t gone out of her
way to flaunt it as eye candy. In
most of her movies she plays a tough badass who can take care of herself and
defiantly does not need a man to look after her. Her most notable movies are perhaps the recent Machete films
and the ever-popular Fast and Furious franchise, as well as her break out movie
Girl fight. So why is this action
actress is not as popular as Jennifer Lopez?
In my opinion I would just assume
she’s not as marketable as J-Lo or Sofia Vergara. It isn’t that she isn’t as beautiful or less talented I
think it’s just because she does not portray this ideal Latina image that has been
established by popular media.
Rodriguez has openly admitted to being bisexual and she has a very Tom
Boy personality and image. It
really doesn’t fit with this sexually arousing popular image of Latina women and I think
for advertisers it’s a turn off.
When people think Latina the image is usually a bootylicious woman with an
almost temptress like persona that is exotic and exciting. Even though Rodriguez herself is quite
pretty she looks like someone who could kick your ass and that just doesn’t
seem to sell well to a mainstream audience.
My point in all this is that when I
was reading eating the other I found it disturbing to think that J-Lo and Sofia
Vergara were what was considered the ideal Latina women. Now they are both intelligent women who
have made a lot of money marketing there bodies, but I think there is just so
much more to being a Latina than having a big butt. This is how schema’s and stereotypes are formed and it’s
what begins to matter to other people.
As it was discussed in the article they are seen as a consumable
commodity as opposed to real people with many different types of personalities,
and appearances. To a certain degree I would like them to feel ashamed for creating this ideal image but more than anything I feel embarrassed as a Latino that this is what mainstream America views Latina women as. Coming from a family that is very matriarchal I just don't see the appeal. To me Latina women just have so much more to offer than their bodies and it sucks that that is all that people really seem to care about and consume.
I agree that that is a very important issue especially since (like you said) they have much more to show than just their bodies and it actually kind of reminded me of Venus Hottentot, the African woman that was put on display because of how different she looked from the other people there. It's sad that as a society, we have to put these kinds of stereotypes on people and that they have to show themselves in a way they may not want to, but they "have to" in order to make a living.
ReplyDeleteMore than anything I just feel really embarrassed for them, and to a certain degree I pity them. They have become objects in the eyes of the consumers and to many people in the U.S. that is all that they will ever be. Clearly they are people but they have marketed themselves as Latina Women, almost like Malibu Barbie. They have become this thing that American men and women can purchase and fantasize about. I would personally hate it if people looked at me like that. Sure there’s tons of money to be made off of it but for me that price is just too high.
ReplyDeleteAlso I really do think that many Latinas, especially educated ones, resent them a little. Here are these women with big butts and boobs who are setting an unrealistic standard at times of what it means to be a Latina. Now I can’t say this with certainty but I can assume most Latina do not look like that, but because it is the way people assume they should look they now have to try and be that. J-Lo and all those other Hollywood Latinas have the time to look that good, and the money to eat healthy and have personal trainers to keep them looking that good. The average woman does not, but it doesn’t mean in any way that they are any less Latina than J-Lo and all them.