Growing up and seeing a movie or tv show where a character looks like you is very important for representation but for Latinas and Chicanas, it can be a different story. Are you aware that not every Latina you meet acts like the well-known characters Gloria Deglado- Pritchett from Modern Family and Gabrielle Solis from Desperate Housewives. Latinas and Chicanas have to face controlling images in the media. The false narrative and characteristic of the character that looks like you and having them acting like a stereotype can feel degrading and unsatisfying. Controlling images are defined by having a dominant and are often negative stereotypes that shape how a particular—maining marginal groups—are perceived and continue to reinforce a dominant perspective. The controlling images relate to Latinas and Chicanas due to how they are perceived in US media through Latina and Chicana characters in shows and movies.
Latinas and Chicanas in the US society experience the harmful controlling images that make other people believe that every Latina and Chicana act that way. Two of the controlling images that continue to be used in media for Latina characters have them fall into this particular dichotomy: The Good Latina and The Bad Latina. The Good Latina which has traits like being submissive, domestic workers, getting married, and having children. The Bad Latina is known to be a spitfire, loud, and obnoxious. But even with this stereotype being displayed in the media, the home and family culture continue to uphold it for Latinas and Chicanas. Young girls are taught from a young age by their parents to become a “perfect Mexican daughter,” which then would turn into being a “Good Latina” for when they grow up and start their own family. In the young adult novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez follows the main protagonist, Julia, and her coming out age story where she is wanting to break apart from the stereotype of a Mexican daughter being obedient and putting her family first before herself. All while her parent’s compared Julia to her deceased other sister, Olga, who was the poster child of being a good latina. “I’d rather live on the streets than be a submissive Mexican wife who spends all day cooking and cleaning” (Sanchez 13). While some households might have these stereotypes, using that in media of how since is what every homelife is what for every Latina and Chicana is incorrect. It stereotypes what they are all like and how they have to act.
Moving on to the most harmful stereotype is known as the Spicy Latina. The Spicy Latina stereotype is described as mainly having the women being portrayed as sexy and seductive. In one reading by Katherine Garcia, titled “Where the ‘Spicy Latina’ Stereotype Came From-And Why It’s Still Racist Today,” Garcia discusses where the spicy latina originated from and explains what characteristics used in the media that use this particular stereotype. This stereotype originated from as far back as the Mexican-American War to when President Roosevelt had announced a new treaty towards the United States and Latin America called “Good Neighbor Policy,” and then the spicy latina was born when icon Brazilian dancer, Carmen Miranada came into the spotlight and was the embodied of spicy latina; With her exotic accent, dark hair, red lips, and curves. Other characters for the spicy latina are, “must be loud, bombastic, and seductive (insert sexy Latin accent here). She must also be hot-blooded, quick- tempered, and passionate…Of course, the main appeal of the Spicy Latina is her sexuality. She is extremely sexy. She is lustful, promiscuous, and tempting. She is also very clearly heterosexual.
