Stereotypes in Modern Society, Essay Example

Introduction

The role of the media, government and schools is important in creating, supporting and strengthening stereotypes in the society. Pinholster (1997) states that women are often depicted as those who are only concerned about their looks and winning over the member of the opposite sex. According to the author, there are different layers of stereotypes related to women in media. The below essay is designed to examine stereotypes created by Cosmopolitan Magazine about Latina women. The selection of medium was based on the fact that Cosmopolitan has a section called: “Cosmo for Latinas”. Interestingly, it does not have a section titled: “Cosmo for Asians” or “Cosmo for African Americans” While the pure existence of the section of the website is suggesting that there are some stereotypes related to the “difference” between Latina women and “others”, however, it is important to investigate whether the magazine is reinforcing them or fighting them through its articles. That is the purpose of the below study.

Stereotypes of Latinas

According to Guzman & Valdivia (2004, p. 207), Latina identity in the United States is complex. Certainly, women are labeled based on their appearances, culture and attitudes. They are present in the popular culture, depicting Latino/a-s as people of low socio-economic status and generally from Mexico. These stereotypes do not take into consideration the individual differences and look at the community as a homogenous group. This is indeed wrong. According to a Latino USA (Hinojosa, 2013) program recently aired, featuring sex columnist of Cosmo Latina, Erika Sanchez, Latina women are stereotyped as “Hot Latina Women with great sexual appetite”. Sanchez talks about the image of a sexual subject related to Latina women, and she also states that the opposite is true. In Hispanic cultures, parents do not talk about sex to their daughters. Guzman & Valdivia (2004, p. 211) also talk about impact of racializing Latina bodies in the American popular culture. The above theories related to Latina stereotypes will be examined reviewing some recent publications of Cosmo for Latinas. Further, the authors of the review would like to examine whether or not the below statement of Guzman & Valdivia (2004, p. 217) is valid for Cosmopolitan:

“Whether we examine women’s magazines, television programs, cinematic texts, girl’s toys, clothing, pulp fiction, road signs, medical videos, or popular music and dance, it is difficult to avoid the unmistakable presence of Latinidad and its gendered components in mainstream U.S. culture.”

Cosmo for Latinas

The authors have read several articles related to the lives of Latinas featured in the magazine in the past few weeks. The findings of the research are found below. The review of topics has resulted in the finding that – while in the main magazine, career, education and meaningful relationships are covered in depth – the sections of the issue designed for Latinas is restricted to cultural issues, stereotypes, beauty and sexual relationships. This implies that most Latinas would either not be interested in advancing their career, creating healthy relationships or building a loving family, or their needs of information would be served by the main magazine. Either way, the selection of subjects seems to reinforce the pre-existing stereotypes related to women of Hispanic background.

Reinforced Stereotypes. While editors and publicists claim that the purpose of the issue is to help Hispanic women deal with the challenges of multiculturalism, the article titled “16 Signs You’re a Second-Generation Latino in America” (Ramirez, 2014) reinforces several stereotypes, such as: “you’re fluent in Spanglish” and “you eat twice as much on major holidays”.

In an article titled “10 Things Latinas Don’t Want to Hear in Bed” (Nagi, 2013), the author tackles sexual stereotypes that are related to Latinas. Some of the remarks quoted are: “exotic”. “good in bed”, “extra meat on them” and the very popular “porn star sex expectations” the author quotes.

Tackling Stereotypes.

There are several ways the authors tackle some of the common stereotypes related to Latinas. One of the statements (Ramirez, 2014) says that – according to the media – a Latina should look like Giselle Bundchen, but mothers think differently. Further, the same article states that Americans seem to be shocked by the fact that second generation Hispanics are not fluent in Spanish.

Sexual Stereotypes.

In another, comprehensive summary of stereotypes about Latinas, Nagi (2014) states that the general stereotypes of Latinas is that they all have an accent, they love dancing, show more than necessary about their bodies, come from large families and have a lot of kids at an early age. The website version of the article features a video below that summarizes the “typical” Latino based on society’s stereotypes. According to Guzman & Valdivia (2004, p. 218), the sexualization of Latina women’s body is all over the media. Sanchez (Hinojosa, 2013) states that Latina women are told what to do with their bodies based on stereotypes that they have “large booties” and strong tights. Some of the fashion articles in Cosmo Latina indicate the presence of the same stereotypes.

Cultural Stereotypes.

Nagi (2014) in the article “22 Signs You Grew Up Latino” also seems to reinforce some cultural stereotypes. Some of these are related to religious symbols, others for underage drinking. The author states that one of the signs that one grew up Latina is that they were having red wine at the age of 12 with dinner. While this might be a cultural issue and true in many cases, generalizing – even if the audience is Latino – is a reinforcement of the stereotype. Similarly, drinking coffee at an early age can be viewed as wrong in Western cultures, while it is a part of the culture in Latin America.

Conclusion

The above review of related publications has revealed the impact of media on images and stereotypes created about Latinas in America. The review of the publication has resulted in the finding that while the authors of the articles are aiming to tackle and ridicule stereotypes most of the time, in many cases – possibly involuntarily – reinforce them. The danger of the “10 signs” – type of articles is not that they are about common stereotypes, but that they can reinforce self-images that are influenced by the society’s stereotypes and judgments. For example, saying that all Latina women grew up eating a lot because their mother was cooking all day and drank coffee, red wine at an early age make the readers think that it is a “cultural thing” which is stigmatized by the society, therefore, it is wrong. This can result in many Latina women’s rejection of their own culture, based on the negative stereotypes associated with some aspects of their culture. The presence of “Latiniad” described by Guzman & Valdivia (2004, p. 217) is clearly detected in Cosmo Latina, and this proves that the influence of media, communication, communities, cultures on each others is unavoidable.

References

Guzman, I., Valdivia, A. (2004) “Brain, brow, and booty: Latina iconicity in U.S. popular culture”. The Communication Review, 7:205–221, 2004

Hinojosa, M. (2014) Latina sex stereotypes. Latino USA. Retrieved from http://latinousa.org/2013/12/06/latina-sex-stereotypes/

Nagi, A. (2014) 16 Stereotypes of Latinas That Need to Stop. Cosmo Latina. January 23, 2014.

Nagi, A. (2014) “22 signs you grew up Latino”.  Cosmo Latina. January 14, 2014

Nagi, A. (2013) “10 Things Latinas don’t want to hear in bed” Cosmo Latina. November 27, 2013

Pinholster, G, (1997) Media Messages Reinforce Some Gender Stereotypes. University of Delawere. Retrieved from http://www.newswise.com/articles/media-messages-reinforce-some-gender-stereotypes

Ramirez, T. “16 Signs You’re a Second-Generation Latino in America”. Cosmo Latina. February 3, 2014