Why You Should (and Shouldn’t) Be Pissed about the Hilaria Baldwin Scandal
From a Bilingual American Living in Spain
Over the past week, I’ve been devouring everything about the Hilaria Baldwin scandal. Why? Because I’m a bilingual American living in Spain. You know, the country that Boston-born Hilaria Baldwin managed to make people think she was from. That Spain.
After reading and digesting everything the Internet had to say, I started to think we were being too hard on her for certain things — and appropriately appalled by others.
In the past fifteen years, I’ve lived in Spain for a total of six and counting. I know where to draw the line between appropriation and appreciation of Spanish culture — a culture that, similarly to Hilaria Baldwin, holds major significance in my life.
Her Spanish is Damn Good
Hilaria Baldwin does have cultural ties to Spain. The details are a bit murky, but she has spent a significant amount of time in the country, something she credits to her father’s love and passion for Spain — that he then passed on to her mother and herself.
And because of that, she is fluent in Spanish. There’s no getting around that fact. I’ve watched and read her interviews with the Spanish press, and her Spanish is damn good.
So much so, that no one (not even in Spain) has batted an eye at her level of Spanish.
So let’s give credit where it’s due. The girl can speak Spanish.
And, to be clear, you don’t have to be Hispanic to speak the language.
The Cucumber Incident
I also think we can give her a pass on this slice of over-scrutinized evidence flying around the internet.
The cucumber incident goes back to a video segment on the “Today” show when Hilaria Baldwin while sharing a recipe for gazpacho, forgets the English word for cucumber.
The argument being, how can a white girl from Boston forget a word in her own language.
But in the bilingual world, this is frighteningly common. I forget words in English and Spanish all. the. time. There’s even a word for it. #byelingual
And as I explained above, whatever doubts we have about Hilaria Baldwin’s story, you can’t say that she isn’t bilingual. It’s a safe assumption that she’s prone to forgetting words from time to time.
In linguistics, this often leads to code-switching — when multilingual speakers alternate between more than one language in the same conversation.
It’s mostly an oral phenomenon, rather than a written one, and it’s what you hear when people speak Spanglish.
Note: Some people argue that Spanglish goes a step further because there’s an unspoken — but recognized — grammar structure used to make phrases make sense.
Hilaria Baldwin forgetting a word is part of what leads to code-switching. It happens because bilingual speakers can’t think of a word in a particular language (like cucumber) or because a word in another language has a better (or more specific) meaning.
It’s a common and well-studied part of linguistics.
We can’t fault Hilaria Baldwin for forgetting words when it is a natural part of speaking multiple languages.
Hillary vs. Hilaria
I also think we can give her a pass on using “Hilaria” when her birth name is “Hillary.”
You can trust me when I say, Hillary isn’t the easiest name to pronounce in Spain. So I can understand she wants a name that sounds good in both languages. Something she mentions in a recent Instagram video.
Do I go by another name while I’m in Spain? No. But I do intentionally go by my full name “Jennifer” as opposed to “Jen” because — even though it’s longer — it’s more common and easier on the ears.
Similar sounding name changes do have a certain logic.
But, and this is a big but, Hilaria is not a common name in Spain. Like, at all. According to Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Estadística, there are only eighteen Hilarias residing on the chain of Spanish islands Hilaria Baldwin claimed as her birthplace.
So while Hilaria sounds legit to American ears, it’s not by any means an authentic Spanish name.
Her Changing Accent
And switching between two languages does affect your accent — Hilaria Baldwin says as much. There’s nothing wrong with that.
You can look to Anya Taylor-Joy, the star of The Queen’s Gambit. She’s an Argentinian, British, American, and Spanish mix who is fabulously bilingual and has explained how her accent fluctuates depending on certain factors.
Hilaria Baldwin’s accent changes are noticeable but mild. I can’t prove whether she’s faked an accent or it’s a normal fluctuation of going between two languages. She’s no Ricky Ricardo though, so I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
She’s Been Intentionally Vague About Her Heritage
If I had my doubts above, this is where the Hilaria Baldwin scandal really and truly crosses the line.
She ranges from being intentionally vague to openly omitting information.
It’s no secret Spain has been a huge part of her life. She has spoken openly about it in interviews and on her Instagram. As she explains, it’s understandable that she “absorbed” Spanish culture because it had a strong influence on her life growing up.
So, yes, she talks the talk and eats the food. She’s incorporated Spanish culture into her wedding, named her kids Spanish-y names, and learned how to dance Sevillanas (an offshoot of Flamenco).
During my time in Spain, my husband and I have done a milder version of the same thing. I’d be hard-pressed to find a person, who has spent a lot of time in another country, fail to incorporate aspects of that culture in their own lives.
But there’s a line to cross. I’ve never made it seem (not even on accident) like I was born in Spain. I go above and beyond to explain my particular situation to anyone who asks me how I learned my Spanish or where I’m from.
So when I see Hilaria Baldwin, who has ranged from ignorantly vague to what seems like outright lying, it’s particularly jarring.
Because that’s where cultural appreciation ventures into cultural appropriation.
In a 2014 interview with Vanity Fair España, Hilaria opens up about teaching her new last name to her family.
“‘I had to repeat it three times: ‘Baldddwinnn’. And on the third time, they said ‘Oh, now we know who he is! Why didn’t you pronounce it right the first time?’”
Implying that they, based on language, couldn’t pronounce it. Her very much white, American, non-Spanish family.
In another podcast with Cat & Nat, when asked about her move to NY, Hilaria gives a vague answer before changing the subject implying she moved from Spain. Fast forward to minute 22.
The misdirect is indicative of how she’s been explicitly vague about her heritage. Always keen on saying her family lives in Spain — her parents moved after they retired — without clarifying if they’re from Spain.
And while she claims that she was very clear with her husband, actor Alec Baldwin, about being from Boston, there are clips of him on talk shows saying she’s from Spain and imitating her Spanish accent.
The inconsistencies are mind-boggling.
Hilaria Baldwin has often been reported as being born in Spain — even her agency had it in her bio before the scandal hit. (It’s since been changed.) She innocently argues it all away by saying she doesn’t read what the press writes about her.
It’s one thing to ignore gossip magazines, but it’s a whole other ballgame to not — at the very least — skim articles from major publications that have legitimately interviewed you. Not to mention fact check the biography from your talent agency. That’s just plain unprofessional.
To further hit the point home, Vanity Fair España stated that in 2014 Hilaria Baldwin refused “ to provide or confirm any biographical facts beyond carefully chosen anecdotes. Neither do her agents, the same as [Alec] Baldwin, who excuse it by alleging it’s to protect her family’s privacy.”
Now years later, it’s a giant red flag.
She’s Not Taking Responsibility
Hilaria Baldwin has had multiple opportunities to set the record straight.
She has a huge platform via her Instagram and a major New York Times interview.
But all she’s done is dug a bigger hole.
She does a great job of explaining a situation that’s been innocently taken out of context. But this situation goes beyond that — and her responses need to reflect it.
Her explanations are murky with very little specifics. She doesn’t clarify how long she was in Spain each year, if she partially went to school there, and if her family is actually Spanish (they’re not). She indicates that yes, she’s white (Spaniards are considered white), without explicitly stating that she’s not a Spaniard.
Why This Matters
Look, you might not care who Hilaria Baldwin is, but this scandal does matter.
It speaks to the fine line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation.
It speaks to the millions of Americans who speak more than one language and are judged negatively for it.
It speaks to POC who are taught that they must speak and act a certain way to be taken more seriously or considered “intelligent.”
And it speaks to the millions of immigrants who are expected to shed their culture upon arriving in the US.
Do I think Hilaria Baldwin has a genuine interest and love of Spain? Yes. Do I think she is doing a great job being a bilingual mother and passing that on to her children? Without a doubt. Hell, her interviews even make her out to be a kind, nurturing, likable human being.
I also think she has a legitimate claim to be *somewhat* irked by the negative publicity surrounding this scandal. She’s entitled to speak more than one language and share her passion for Spain. But she’s not entitled to take that culture as her own.
The rest of us are allowed to be irked by the millions of POC who are expected to strip away their given names, language, and culture in the hope that they assimilate and become more “American” while Hilaria Baldwin got to flaunt Spanish culture and be praised for it.
Even Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has come under criticism just for the way she pronounces her name. And Both AOC and President Obama have been accused of faking the way they speak and act amongst different groups of people.
I mentioned earlier the linguistic phenomenon of code-switching. However, it can also refer to a change in “one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression” according to a Harvard Business Review article about the consequences of code-switching within the black community.
The argument is that code-switching serves as a way to suppress a minority cultural identity to fit in with the majority culture. You might change the way you speak or act to sound more intelligent and be taken more seriously amongst your majority culture (i.e. white) peers.
This is what Hilaria Baldwin has spent the last decade doing — albeit in reverse. A wealthy white woman code-switching to exaggerate and benefit from a minority culture.
It might not seem like such a bad thing at first glance, but it is. It reeks of privilege.
You have an extremely affluent woman with an accent and a name that makes her out to be different, special, or even *cringingly* exotic. She gets to be celebrated for those things while millions of black and brown Americans are penalized for it.
Take this scandal for what it’s worth, but accept that it shows yet another example of a wealthy white woman taking attributes from a minority culture to improve her social standing.
The Hilaria Baldwin scandal matters because actual minorities don’t get that choice.
Being Bicultural is Great, Stealing from that Culture is Not
Look, all of us — Hilaria Baldwin included — are allowed to speak a different language and learn about different cultures. It’s an important part of living in a global society.
So I think the backlash she’s getting about having close ties to Spain and being bilingual is unfair. Let her accent slip, let her go by two names, let her forget all the words she wants. Those are direct consequences of living in a bilingual and bicultural world.
But taking that culture for your own is where we draw the line.
Hilaria Baldwin scandal aside, I get to continue my bilingual and bicultural life as a (half-Colombian) American living in Spain. It’s a mix of cultures and languages that I love dearly.
But you will never *ever* find me pretending to be Spanish, nor would I want to be, because those aren’t my roots to claim.
