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Growing up Latina in the U.S.: Controlling images, stereotypes, and resistance

Crecer latina en los Estados Unidos: Imágenes controladora, estereotipos y resistencia

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Abstract

This paper draws on a controlling images framework and focus group data from seventy-eight Latina teen girls to address two research questions: (1) What do Latina girls like about being Latina? and (2) How do they think others view Latinas? Data were collected in Phoenix, Arizona during the Trump administration. Despite growing up in a highly politicized anti-immigrant (and by extension anti-Latina/o climate), girls viewed themselves as being part of a larger family and community with shared cultural heritage and traditions and were proud of their ethnic heritage. In contrast, they believed that others (read white people) view Latinas/os as lazy, criminals, outsiders, and unable to make it in society. They noted that Latinas continue to be stereotyped as either traditional good girls or loud, angry, hypersexual bad girls. Girls resisted these depictions. Implications for how to combat controlling images and stereotypes focused at Latinas are discussed.

Resumen

Este artículo parte de un marco de imágenes controladoras y de los datos obtenidos en un grupo focal con setenta y ocho adolecentes latinas para abordar dos preguntas investigativas: (1) ¿Qué es lo que les gusta de ser latinas a las jóvenes latinas? y (2) ¿Cómo piensan ellas que los demás ven a las latinas? Los datos fueron recopilados en Phoenix, Arizona durante la administración de Trump. A pesar de haberse criado en un clima sumamente politizado y antiinmigrante (y por extensión antilatino), las jóvenes se veían como parte de una gran familia y comunidad con una herencia cultural y unas tradiciones compartidas, y manifestaron estar orgullosas de su legado étnico. Por el contrario, pensaban que los demás (léase personas blancas) ven a los latinos como perezosos, criminales, forasteros e incapaces de triunfar en la sociedad. Mencionaron que las latinas continúan siendo estereotipadas, ya sea como chicas buenas tradicionales o chicas malas chillonas, llenas de ira e hipersexuales. Las jóvenes rechazaron estas representaciones. El artículo aborda las implicaciones respecto a cómo combatir las imágenes controladoras y los estereotipos sobre las latinas.

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Notes

  1. Whether stereotypes are considered negative or positive depends on the values of the observer. Observers apply values to a stereotype. For example, “all Latinos speak Spanish” appears to be a neutral stereotype, but not when the observer views speaking Spanish as antithetical to being American. Members of a stereotyped group can also internalize racist stereotypes. “For instance, many bilingual Chicanas/os have internalized the racist notion that speaking Spanish, or speaking with a Spanish accent, is not consistent with being American.” (Niemann 2001, p. 62).

  2. Although the term “Latina(s)” is used in this manuscript, the author acknowledges that this term is a social construction that refers to a large number of girls and women with varying ethnicities, races, national origins, generation statuses, and classed social positions. Still, the term “Latinas” was chosen over “Hispanics” because the latter is “viewed by many as emphasizing European heritage while ignoring the population’s Indigenous and African roots.” (Hurtado and Sinha 2016, p. 5). The term “Latinas/os” was used instead of Latinx because significant controversy still surrounds the latter term (Trujillo-Pagán 2018; Vidal-Ortiz and Martínez 2018). Further, the majority of the research reviewed for this paper used the terms “Latinas” or “Latinos” with the latter being the “supposed” gender neutral term used to denote both girls/women and boys/men without mention of other gender identities.

  3. Although positive stereotypes of Latinas/os, including being hard-working and family-oriented, also exist (Niemann 2001), this paper focuses primarily on negative stereotypes as linked to larger controlling images of Latinas/os.

  4. Title 1 is a U.S. federal education program that “provides supplemental funds to school districts to assist schools with the highest student concentrations of poverty to meet school educational goals. A Title 1 school is a school receiving federal funds for Title 1 students” (U.S. Legal 2019).

  5. S.B.1070 was a law passed in Arizona in 2010 that was known as the “show me your papers” law. Major provisions of the law were struck down by the Supreme Court, but the provision allowing the police to “check papers” and investigate immigration status was upheld.

  6. The six steps are: (1) Become familiar with the data; (2) Generate initial codes; (3) Search for themes; (4) Review themes; (5) Refine themes; and (6) Write up (see Braun and Clarke 2006 for more information on the 6-step TA method).

  7. To minimize bias, a trained research assistant independently coded a sample of transcripts and her coding was compared with the author’s coding until both were satisfied that coding was consistent. This process was conducted midway through the analysis before the development of the latent themes.

  8. Even though the most recent wave of undocumented immigrants stems from Central America, the Trump Administration associated immigration primarily with Mexicans (Rosenblum 2015).

  9. Exceptions, such as “Jane the Virgin,” “Ugly Betty,” and the remake of “One Day at a Time,” exist but more nuanced depictions of Latina girlhood are still needed (Evans-Zepeda & Reyes García).

  10. Since the larger study focused on Latina girls and sports, the author initially asked participants to list famous Latina sport role models. Only a handful of girls across all focus groups were able to list even one famous Latina sport role model. Then the author asked the girls to list famous role models across various domains (e.g., entertainment, politics, education). Girls struggled to identify any Latinas outside of the music entertainment arena. Indeed, two of the mentioned Latinas (Selena Quintanilla and Jenni Rivera) were deceased at the time of the study with the former having been deceased before the participants were even born. While girls mentioned Jennifer Lopez, most were not fans, indicating that she should wear more clothes and be more respectable. When probed about “which Selena” they were referring to, the girls unanimously said they were talking about the late Tejana singer rather than the more ethnically ambiguous Selena Gomez, who was herself named after the late singer.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a seed Grant from the ASU Global Sport Institute.

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    Vera Lopez

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Lopez, V. Growing up Latina in the U.S.: Controlling images, stereotypes, and resistance. Lat Stud (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-022-00405-z

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