Latinas in America

Research Paper POLS 1100

By Isabella Alejandra Rueda
 The word politics has a very complex meaning. To some, it may be a form of

expression. To others, it may be a form of oppression. However, politics in its simplest

form means a group struggle for power. The politics we have today depend a lot on

what groups are making that effort for power. In addition, in the United States, our

politics run off a democracy. This means that citizens can play an active role in the

government. One of the three main aspects of democracy is representativeness. This

representativeness depends a lot of what groups are struggling for power and whether

or not the playing field in politics in level for all competitors. This can result to be a

problem when not all members in society can compete for representation in politics or

even in society.

This is evident when talking about the group to which I belong in. I am originally

from the country of Colombia. This makes me a latina, as I come from South America.

In addition, I am also a woman. Latinas are constantly being misrepresented in society

and in politics. In this article, I plan on exploring the expression and causes of this

misrepresentation and my opinion for the solution.

However, it is difficult to analyze every single misrepresentation of women. This

is mainly due the the complexity of the political space which includes media,

government, interest groups, political parties, etc. For this specific article, I would like to

focus on two groups: the Media and Government. However, I would strongly

recommend anyone who is interested to look into, not only how latinas are being

misrepresented, but any other social category. This will help anyone have a better
understanding of politics and therefore make better decisions on anything involved with

politics.

The first area to consider is the Media. In an article for the Wrap, Lucas Shaw

(2014) explains the findings of a research study conducted by C4. The study found that

latinas are the most enthusiastic moviegoers. With this information, you may come to

the conclusion that latinas must be represented well in this form of media. However, in

another study conducted by USC Annenberg School for Journalism and Communication

(2016) it was found that the prevalence of latinos/hispanics on screen is about 5.1%.

Keep in mind that latinos make up 17.6% of the population. In terms of lead roles,

latinos made up only 12.5% of the lead roles in films. How about latinas specifically?

Well out of all the latinos that were portrayed in film as of the beginning of 2016, only

37.5% were female. This is a clear indication that latinas are being misrepresented in

the media that reaches millions.

What are the dangers of misrepresenting latinas in the Media? As mentioned

before, there are a lot of latinas that watch the media and are therefore directly or

indirectly influenced by it. The Sexy, Sassy, Spicy version of latinas portrayed not only

affect the older generation, but also the younger (Hernandez, 2015). This creates

stereotypes and a lowering of expectations for latinas of all ages, something that even I

have had to deal with.

The second thing to consider is Government. I would like to begin this analysis

by separating latina into two groups: women and latino. This is mainly due to the lack

of information that has to due with both women and latino.

 Lets begin with the first group, women. More specifically, women in our

government. Because America is a republic, our government is divided into three

branches: the legislative, which includes Congress, the executive, which includes the

President, and the judiciary, which includes the courts. Lets analyze the role of women

in Congress, or the legislative branch. Congress is composed of a total of 535

members, 100 senators and 435 representatives. According to the Center for American

Women and Politics (2016), only 19.4% of the 535 member of Congress are women.

That means that there are 431 men in comparison to 104 women. This is even more

surprising when you realize that as of 2015, according to the United States Census

Bureau (2017), over half of the population is made up of women. This demonstrates a

clear misrepresentation of women in Congress. The next branch of government to

consider is the executive. From the time of George Washington, there have been a total

of forty-five presidents in America. In these forty-five, there has never been a female

president of the United States. This is also a misrepresentation in government. Last but

not least is the judicial branch. Currently, there are three female justices in the Supreme

court, which is about 33%. This is better than the other three branches of government,

yet it is still not representing the women that make up over half of the population. In

addition, Sandra Day OConnor, a retired justice who was the first woman appointed as

a justice, wasnt appointed until 1981. That was 192 years after the Supreme Court was

established (Supreme Court of the United States, 2017).

Now lets move on to the second group, latinos, and analyze their role in the

three branches of government. In the legislative branch, or Congress, latinos make up

33 of the 535 members of congress, according to Sandbox Networks (2017). That is

roughly equivalent to 6.2%. Now, how does this compare to national population? Well

according to the United States Census Bureau (2017), as of 2015, 17.6% of the

populations was composed of hispanic or latino members. This shows that there is not

an equal representation of hispanics or latinos in the legislative branch. The second

branch to analyze is the executive branch. To this day, there has not been a single

president with some sort of latin background out of the forty-five presidents. Therefore,

the executive branch does not represent latinos in their countries. The third branch of

government left to consider is the judiciary. According to the website for the Supreme

Court of the United States (2017), Sonia Sotomayor, both a woman and latina, is now

the only justice with latin influence on the Supreme Court.

Now then, when I first acquired this information through my research, I wanted to

believe that there was a reasonable reason for this misrepresentation. Kind of a good

until proven evil perspective. Yet, upon further investigation, I stumbled upon a study

conducted by the Pew Research Center (2017) which stated the following, most

Americans find women indistinguishable from men on key leadership traits such as

intelligence and capacity for innovation, with many saying theyre stronger than men in

terms of being compassionate and organized leaders. So what is the problem? Well,

according to the same research by Pew Research Center (2017), the problem is that

women are constantly being held to another standard than men. They have to prove

that they are capable of doing what men can do and often times more than men can do.

When I gained this knowledge, I have to admit I felt a little disappointed. Over the past
couple years, there has been undeniable increase in equality for women in the

workplace and in higher positions, yet this fact proves that a lot of the negativity around

women leadership still exists. As a women, this is frustrating to me. I want to be

successful in my life, yet I understand that itll be harder for me because I am a women.

Quite honestly, it is my belief that government reflects the major society. In other

words, if the majority of society is not willing to change their perspective on us latinas,

the government will not be able to represent us correctly. It is of a lot of importance that

attitudes towards us start to change. Why? Well, according to the Pew Research Center

(2017), Since 1970, the Latino population has increased nearly sixfold, from 9.6 million

to 55 million by 2014. It is projected to grow to 107 million by 2065. And, as mentioned

before, women make up over half of the population. Latinas are going to continue to

grow in the population, and without fair representation, they will not be able to contribute

as much as others in their communities.

Is there a solution? In my opinion, there is not a solution that can be given by any

human or group of human. The bible says, I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling

man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct

his step. (Jeremiah 10:23; The New World Translation). While man attempts to govern

others, there is no possibility to have a truly representative and just government, media,

or anything that has to do with the political space.

In conclusion, I realized, through my research, that latinas are very

misrepresented in the world of politics today. I was unable to analyze the full political

space, but I do encourage others to look into matters for themselves. Although
government will never be able to accurately represent all of its members, it is still an

institution that deserves respect and obedience. Personally, I will not allow these odds

to prevent my success in life, and I dont think that any other person, whether they be

latino, european, male, female, or of any other category, should allow stereotypes to

prevent them from succeeding.

Citations

Center for American Women and Politics. (2016). Women in the U.S. Congress 2017. Retrieved

From http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-us-congress-2017

United States Census Bureau. (2017). United States Quick Facts. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045216/00

Supreme Court of the United States. (2017). Biographies of Current Justices of the Supreme

Court. Retrieved From https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx

Sandbox Networks. (2017). Hispanics in the 113th Congress. Retrieved from

https://www.infoplease.com/history-and-government/us-government/hispanic-americans-

113th-congress

Shaw, L. (2014). Hispanic Women are this Summers Most Avid Moviegoers (Exclusive Study).

Retrieved from

http://www.thewrap.com/hispanic-women-are-this-summers-most-avid-moviegoers-exclu

sive-study/
Smith, S. L., Choueiti, M., Pieper K. (2016). Inclusion or Invisibility? Gender Media, Diversity, &

Social Change Initiative. Retrieved from

http://annenberg.usc.edu/pages/~/media/MDSCI/CARDReport%20FINAL%2022216.ash

Pew Research Center. (2017). Women and Leadership. Retrieved from

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/women-and-leadership/

Pew Research Center. (2017). Hispanics. Retrieved from

http://www.pewresearch.org/data-trend/society-and-demographics/hispanics/

Hernandez, A. (2015). Sexy, Sassy, Spicy: The Portrayal of Latina Women in American

Television. Retrieved from

https://lookinginthepopularculturemirror.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/sexy-spicy-sassy-the

-portrayal-of-latina-women-in-american-television/