Latinas In Hollywood Are Reduced to Functioning as Sex Objects
Hollywood’s message to Latinas might as well be to “shut up and get naked”.
Lets cut to the chase, Latinas have become sex symbols in modern media by the order of men who belong to an institution of white elites in Hollywood. Whether Latinas play the part of sexy domestic workers, sexy bimbos, sexy homewreckers, or sexy femme fatales, their roles all have one thing in common: Latinas are used by popular media to “spice things up” and create an atmosphere that is muy caliente on film. Of course there is nothing wrong with being sexy, but there is definitely something wrong with Hollywood’s request that Latinas be overly and only sexy if they want a shot at screen time. Latinas are under-represented in “white” Hollywood and the lack of diversity in the roles Latinas do get to play clearly shows that Latinas are placed in a tight niche created by an institution of white hegemony. As bell hooks says in Eating the Other, “Within commodity culture, ethnicity becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture.”
If we look closely at the characters played by Latinas on film, we can see how limited their roles are. A study by the University of Southern California concluded that in the United States, Hispanics are the most underrepresented group on screen (accounting for only 4.9% of speaking roles), even though they are the ethnic group most likely to go to the movies. Furthermore, the study concluded that “Latinas are more likely than women of any other ethnicity to appear partially or totally naked on screen”. Actress Patricia Ray claims, “‘I see it all the time on the breakdowns (casting notices), it’s like if you are Latino, you have to get naked…It seems like many projects, even for TV shows, say “Nudity Required.’” Given that only 4.9 percent of film roles have been played by Hispanics, and that from those roles Latinas were most likely to be naked, it is clear that Hollywood has determined that a Latina is supposed to be sexualized. Actresses like Sofia Vergara and Salma Hayek ooze sexiness on screen, and are popular primarily for the roles they play where they are wearing little to no clothing and where they act as sex symbols. In roles where Sofia Vergara and Salma Hayek are the wives of successful white males (Sofia as Gloria in Modern Family and Salma as Roxanne in Grown Ups), the actresses are dressed in tight-fitting, low-cut clothing and are almost always wearing heels despite being outdoors or inside their own homes. While Sofia Vergara tries to deny the stereotypes associated with her role as a sexy Latina bimbo in Modern Family (Vergara stated that “We [Latinas] don’t see it as a bad thing that the world sees us like that because it’s how we are”), she is definitely wrong. I personally don’t know any Latinas who wear skimpy clothing and stilettos all the time, especially when they’re in the comfort of their own home. Nor do I agree that every Latina is loud with an exaggerated accent and enjoys being seen primarily as a sex object.
Undoubtedly, patriarchal white Hollywood portrays Latinas as sex symbols because it is a reflection of their “secret (not so secret)” desire of having sexual contact with the “Other”. Basically the story Hollywood is trying to sell about Latinas is that the thicker the accent and the skimpier the dress, the better. White Hollywood’s representation of an overly sexy, hot-blooded Latina allows such stereotypes to become embedded in “real life”. I have heard time and again remarks made by non-Hispanic male peers who claim that hooking up with a Latina is something to be celebrated, and they go on to be treated as heroes among the “bros” for “conquering” a Latina. Despite never having been in bed with a Latina, a lot of men are convinced that Latinas are promiscuous, lustful, and passionate in bed, and that a Latina can deliver the kind of sexual satisfaction that they would not be able to get from a girl of their own race. In one instance, one of my mother’s male co-workers (a white high school teacher) claimed that “all white guys have a secret Latina fetish” and that for many white guys, the goal is to get with a hot Latina at least once in their lives. Clearly he is one of the many white males who have internalized the media’s message that Latinas are sexy mamsitas who exist to fulfill a man’s sexual desires. Consequently, Hollywood’s image of Latinas leads a large population of men to believe that they are entitled to a “hot Latina body” because then they can became a “real man”.
While it is hard to dismantle the long perpetuated role given to a Latina as a sex object, a good way to start would be to allow more Latin people to have representation in the media. Hollywood is far from inclusive, and Latinos/Latinas are practically invisible on screen compared to the proportion of Latin people in the United States. Not only should Latinos/Latinas play a bigger role in Hollywood, they should also be able to play a greater variety of roles. Specifically, if Latinas have the opportunity to play more diverse roles on screen, they’d be closer to destroying the niche Hollywood has trapped them in. Most importantly, Hollywood needs more Hispanic writers and directors to create diversity and to better portray Latin people on screen. Writers can only write about what they know, and when it comes to the depiction of Latinas in films, white writers only seem to know them as sex symbols. Lastly, Latino audiences should work in greater numbers to demand a change in the way the media perceives us, and voice a demand for more representation in Hollywood.
