Why is being light skin a definition of beauty in Latinos?There are issues in assimilation, colorism, and white supremacy within the Latino community. Many Latinos aspire whiteness, and prefer not to be seen as people of color, but rather as Americans. Latinos, with lighter skin have higher advantages in the Latino community for “looking gringo (white)”. The perception of white in the Latino community is a goal that many hispanic women, in particular, want and desire. Nayelli Chavez “found that as compared with their lighter skinned and European looking counterparts, darker and more indigenous looking participants reported less educational attainment” (Chavez-Dueñas). Latinos of lighter skin have higher advantages of education for being able to assimilate especially into the American perception of “White Supremacy”. The darker skin Latinos are considered heavily indigenous of lower class and background and have trouble assimilating into the American culture for not looking of lighter skin color. Skin color is not only an issue on race but it is also an issue in people’s community, because how lighter skin one is. The more advantages of assimilating and having higher positions in their community is for being light skinned. This goes back into time, according to Nayelli “on the history of the conquest, the colonial period, and postcolonial era is provided to highlight the establishment of ethnic and racial stratification and its negative consequences for Latino/as of indigenous and African descent” (Chavez-Dueñas). During the conquest when Spaniards came to Latin America they categorized white to be at a higher privilege than any other color. The lighter one was, the more they were to be desired and considered a beauty. Especially those who born in Spain, were considered to be of higher status for being racially pure. This highly influenced the Latino community in the desire of looking white and affected those who were darker skin, by the oppression in their own community. Many of the Latino television industries hire light skin men and women to broadcast their news, novelas, and commercials. It is quite rare to see a darker complexion latino men or women performing the role of broadcast on news and if we are talking novelas usually they play as the villains. According to Mark Rivera, “We see white privilege play out on Telemundo, a quick Google search will show you that the anchors are of lighter complexions. We see it in the roles given to white Latinos versus black Latinos in novelas, and America’s representation of the Latino community” (Rivera). La Impostora” (The Imposter) is a perfect example of many of Telemundo's classical stories of darker skin Latinas playing the role of villains and lighter skin Latinas playing the role of innocent and pure women. In this particular novela the darker skin lady plays the villain and wants to annihilate the lighter skin because of owning wealth and property. Majority of these novelas have the same technique of perceiving lighter skin good as well as wealthy and darker skin bad and in poverty.
As a consequence of past history, during the conquest. The perception of looking white was highly influenced and has pressured Latin women to look white enough to fit in the American culture. Those of darker skin feel oppressed and outcast in their community for not being the desired light skin women. Citations Chavez-Dueñas, Nayeli Y., Hector Y. Adames, and Kurt C. Organista. "Skin-color prejudice and within-group racial discrimination historical and current impact on Latino/a populations." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences36.1 (2014): 3-26. Rivera, Mark Travis. "Opinion: Often Unspoken, Racism Within The Latino Community." Fox News. FOX News Network, 13 June 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
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AuthorI am Leslie Belmontes a student in Asian American Studies. This Blog will emphasize in Racial issues, that occur frequently on daily basis. Archives
December 2016
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