"If you have a sharp eye you cannot fail to notice a Latin man. Such dashing looks would not fail to captivate a woman. Jet black hair and such fiery eyes that make your neck and cheeks to flush. They are such unfathomable eye
s but the fire in them makes you wish he could just gather you in his arms and you melt in them." http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-I-Say-Dating-A-Latin-Man-Is-A-Nice-Experience&id=1018895
I couldn't help but thought about one of our earlier discussion groups about how Latinos and Latinas are portrayed in the mass media that preys upon the ignorance of the general public with tags and stereotypes such as being "excessively passionate" and the like. I'm sure reading this, the social scientist in us will find it laughable that an article will actually generalize across an entire ethnicity like that, but it actually comes from quite a well-reputed site. That was the first surprise for me, as even sites with a decent reputation for objectivity succumb to stereotypes propagated and perpetuated by soap operas and chick flicks, while ignoring the truth of Latin@ culture. On one hand I think that it's because of these continual spoon-feeding of such stereotypical perceptions to the layman that keeps an otherwise ludicrous belief alive, yet on the other, I would like to think that there's some element of self-fulfilling prophecy in there too.
Perhaps Latin Americans in certain environments become cultivated to be passionate in an environment that socially rewards them for fitting into the stereotype - socialization at play here - and consequently reinforce the image of the stereotype in our minds, lending to the vicious cycle that continue to stereotype and ascribe one (or a few types) of personality to an otherwise incredibly vibrant culture. Or perhaps it could be that there's a demand for a "sexy, sensual" race and social forces have somehow conspired to deign Latin Americans as the race for that - purely an economic supply-meeting-demand concept. Whichever it is though, stereotypes like this that play upon our desire for an attractive mate (no doubt we all would ideally want an attractive mate), may keep us from seeing the real men and women that constitute Latin American culture.
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This is really interesting, because as a Latina, I have been told something similar to this. I was on a first date with a caucasian. It was a really bizarre situation and somehow in our discussion he brought up a point after a discussion on my ethnicity, he stated that he wanted to end up marrying a Latina because they are more passionate lovers. It was surprising to encounter this and to see how this stereotype is believed and regurgitated, which is in line with your point: "I couldn't help but thought about one of our earlier discussion groups about how Latinos and Latinas are portrayed in the mass media that preys upon the ignorance of the general public with tags and stereotypes such as being 'excessively passionate' and the like."
ReplyDeleteA very important point, it's akin to saying that all Latinos and Latinas are homogeneous irregardless of their country of origin, language spoken, genetic or their self identity and self concept. I'm actually on the go right now so I will provide a better response to this when I'm home later :)
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ReplyDeleteWell I think that actually people do stereotype by ethnicity a lot. I was reading this paper about how a speed dating study was conducted in Columbia University and people there was positive association between race and attractiveness.
ReplyDeleteI think at one level, perhaps you can associate attractiveness with genetic features like sharp nose, or blue eyes that is more common with one ethnicity than another but personality traits like "excessively passionate" is just going too far.
I think sociocultural roles do play a part in our personality matrix and public (including mass media) perception, but homogeneously generalizing across an entire race of people irregardless of place of birth (which is from different continents even!), language and mannerisms and social value is pretty absurd. But instead of saying that Latinos and Latinas are misrepresented, I think we can say that they are presently "overrepresented" by a small minority that receives (undue?) constant attention from the mass media.