Before I came back to campus second semester, I had an identity crisis. I felt like I wasn’t Latina enough. But how could that be? I’m Latina, therefore everything and anything that I do, will be Latina. “Why am I thinking this”, I wondered to myself? I couldn’t figure it out, at least not until after I watched Mitu’s “What Makes Latinas So Spicy” episode of The Kat Call.
Kat’s episode, “What Makes Latinas So Spicy”, is extremely relatable for basically one reason. We’re both Latinas. Her and I and literally any other Latina face this problem everyday and all the time.
In her episode, Kat says the following statements:
She says that Latinas are too often generalized as “[super sexy], curvacious, loud, and exotic.” You can see this in examples of tv shows.
– Kat mentions Manny Santos’s Latina character on Degrassi was super sexualized.
– There’s also Gloria from Modern Family who is a character whose main personality trait is her over-the-top sex appeal.
Kat then asks the question:
“What’s the big deal? Who doesn’t want to be seen as sexy, hot, and passionate?”
That’s an amazing question. Hearing someone finally ask this question, and understand, was a real eye opener for me. That was because I wondered, “what’s wrong with being this way?” But even more, I would wonder “why I was constantly described like this?” The video goes on, and then, Kat explains why stereotyping Latina women like this, is actually bad for two reasons:
Kat says, the first reason, is because this objectifies women.
It objectifies us because “it promotes the idea that Latinas are as exotic and consumable like bananas.” She explains, “that’s what objectification means – to reduce someone to an object for consumption. In this case, an exotic object for the taking – by men.” And that’s a major problem for most women, but even more so for Latinas. Kat even mentions that, yeah, “the media has done a heck of a job at objectifying woman as a whole but the difference when it comes to Latinas is that our sexuality is shown as something foreign and something wild to be tamed.” And that’s something that white, American women don’t have to worry about. They’re not seen as something that’s foreign and exotic – something like bananas or birds.
Kat’s second reason for why stereotyping Latina women as “spicy” is harmful, is because “generalizations equal limitations.”
She explains that, “stereotypes, in themselves, reduce the complexities of humanity to one singular trait. The creation of the “spicy-Latina” stereotype generalizes the vast differences of our Latinidad, therefore – erasing our individuality”
I was watching this video and I was like “holy crap, finally! Someone finally said something. Someone was finally able to explain why this is really such a problem.” Then towards the end, Kat brings attention to the problem of not feeling “Latina enough”. It makes you question, “Do I fit the Latina stereotype?” It made me question my past habits and Kat said it made her question her habits “from the way I spoke, to maybe not having the right curves in the right places.” I heard her say this and I was like “wow!” Because feeling that way also made me think, “Am I Latina enough?” The entire time, I’m in awe that someone feels the exact same way.
Then Kat said something that really made me wanna react like Shia Labeouf.
She said, “see sometimes when you don’t see these rigid expectations of who you’re supposed to be, you can end up internalizing these messages and losing sight of your authenticity as an individual“.
I could not have said this any better. Every Latina needs to hear this.
Kat preached, “but the truth is there’s nothing wrong with being loud, sexy, or passionate. As humans, we are all of those things but there is something wrong when those are the only character traits people associate with you just because you’re Latina.”
“And if people can’t see past a stereotype and accept us for the multi-dimensional people that we are, they’re missing out.”
This video is a wake-up call for us Latinas. We have to realize that this is an issue, and we shouldn’t be letting it slide when it happens to us. But we also can’t forget to remember that we are all different people.