Women Gender Study Reading Analysis

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Does This Make Me Look Latina? Crunkista

I was recently asked to give a presentation about women in the workforce to a group of Latina undergraduate students. After the panic about speaking in public wore off, I started asking myself, what could I possibly teach them?

I started thinking about my experiences (as a student and professional) and how they have been shaped by the cultural imaginary of Latinxs in this country. Too many stereotypes persist and continue to negatively affect Latinxs. You know them. I will not waste my time listing them here. I will, however, say that after going through the long list of stereotypes that have kept and continue to keep my people oppressed, the next thing that came to mind was the “Latin explosion” of the late nineties. This explosion introduced Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, and Shakira to the American mainstream. One of the most frustrating realities of this so-called “explosion” is the idea that these people became famous overnight. Just in case you did not know this, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin, Shakira, and the newly popular Sofía Vergara were in Latin America and filthy rich before their “crossover” to the Americanhuge mainstream.

History lesson: there are thirty-two Spanish-speaking countries around the world. Of these thirty-two, Spanish is the official language of twenty-one: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Spain, Equatorial Guinea, and Puerto Rico. Each of these countries has a rich and complex history, its own entertainment industry, and again, lots of famous people. Anytime I hear an ignorant statement about Latinxs in this country, I remember Susana Morris’s mama’s words of wisdom, “We were kings and queens when they were still running around in caves.”

But, I digress. Let’s get back to my dilemma. What can I possibly tell these young women about being professional Latinas in the workforce? How can I equip them for the challenges they will surely encounter?

In my research I came across an article in a Latina magazine, “Latinas at the Office: Do We Need to Tone Down Our Sex Appeal?” The article focused on Latinas who had been negatively affected by their imagined sex appeal. One of these women, Debrahlee Lorenzana, was involved in a lawsuit against Citigroup. Her allegations: she was fired because her male colleagues and supervisors believed she was too distracting at the office. After seeing images of her in her business attire I couldn’t help but marvel at her beauty (she is indeed breathtaking) and my wanting to be her (if only I could rock stilettos like that).

While reading about her case, I started thinking about the current cultural imagery of Latinas. The so-called Latin explosion did in fact open many doors and in many ways solidified that we actually exist. We knew we existed, but apparently White people didn’t. It isn’t a coincidence that after Jennifer Lopez’s rise to fame, several people (Black and White) told me that I looked like/reminded them of Jennifer Lopez. Side note, I don’t look like Jennifer Lopez.

So, who are today’s mainstream Latinas and what can we say about their representation in the media? On basic television: Sara Ramirez ( ’s resident hot, lesbian Latina doctor), Eva Longoria (Desperate “hot Latina” Housewife), Sofía Vergara (Grey’s Anatomy

’s hot, young Latina wife), Rosalyn Sánchez ( ’s hot special agent), and Salma Hayek (Alec Baldwin’sModern Family Without a Trace hot Latina girlfriend on ). In movies: Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendes, Zoe Saldana, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba, America30 Rock Ferrera, Penélope Cruz, Paz Vega, Michelle Rodriguez, Rosie Perez, and Christina Milian; all of them often cast as the hot, Latina, light-skinned girlfriends of White men. What do all of these women have in common? You guessed it: they are all HOT Latinas.

So what are these young Latina women about to encounter after graduation? As women and as women of color, the obvious: sexism, racism, and working harder than everyone else because they have to prove they are qualified and deserve to be there. As Latinas: working with people of other backgrounds who very likely have only been exposed to one-dimensional representations of Latina women—hot, sexy, curvaceous, and, my favorite, spicy. They might be even hotter if they have accents, or not Latina enough if they either lack the accent (because maybe their people have been here for over three hundred years) or if, heaven forbid, they lack the curves.

My presentation will of course include a modified version of this tangent and the following list of advice.

1. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. 2. Respect and acknowledge every individual’s contribution to your company/institution. Everyone from the cleaning

personnel to the administrative assistants to the company CEO makes significant contributions to your organization. 3. Know the ins and outs of your field. 4. Define clear goals for yourself. 5. Find a mentor. 6. Mentor other young women. 7. Read. Read. Read. 8. Attend seminars geared toward cultivating your leadership qualities. 9. Find support groups for women/women of color in your field.

10. Work should NEVER be your life. Make your physical, emotional, and mental health a priority. No one else will do this for you.

11. Stay connected to your college/university alumni network.

Co py ri gh t @ 20 17 . Th e Fe mi ni st P re ss a t CU NY .

Al l ri gh ts r es er ve d. M ay n ot b e re pr od uc ed i n an y fo rm w it ho ut p er mi ss io n fr om t he p ub li sh er , ex ce pt f ai r us es p er mi tt ed u nd er U .S . or a pp li ca bl e co py ri gh t la w.

EBSCO : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 8/14/2018 5:42 PM via SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY AN: 1468570 ; Cooper, Brittney C., Morris, Susana M., Boylorn, Robin M..; The Crunk Feminist Collection Account: s3372930.main.ehost

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12. After you graduate, make sure you give back to your college/university.

Co py ri gh t @ 20 17 . Th e Fe mi ni st P re ss a t CU NY .

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Memories, Survival, and Safety Crunkista

Warning: This essay contains information about sexual violence that may be triggering to survivors.

I am an extremely private person. So private that even Facebook gives me the creeps. Consequently, it feels like writing for the Collective and speaking frankly about my experiences, thoughts, doubts, fears, and feelings exposes me more than I feel comfortable with. Writing sometimes makes me feel unsafe and vulnerable. These emotions are often difficult for me to deal with. They bring back unwanted memories. The first time I felt this way I was eleven years old.

It was Father’s Day and I was at my grandparents’ house for the summer. All of the grown folks were drinking and playing card games. I remember going up to my grandparents and saying that I was going to go to bed, that I was scared to be in the house by myself, and asking them not to take long before they too retreated for the night.

I went to bed, fell asleep, and woke up with my grandfather on top of me. His hands were all over me as he licked my face and repeated, “Suck on my tongue.” I didn’t understand what was happening. I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t even scream. At some point, my grandmother opened the door to the house. Once he heard the sound of the door opening, he quickly got off of me and jumped into the bed he shared with her.

He did not rape me. However, he did scar me for life. He stole my childhood and all of the childhood innocence I once had. From that moment on I understood that there was evil in the world. I was so ashamed of what happened that I didn’t tell anyone. I wished I had had the courage to tell someone, , of what he was capable of. To make matters worse, I blamed myself for years—I wasanyone convinced that I was a bad little girl. My child logic told me that God wouldn’t have let this happen to me had I been a good little girl.

It took years for me to realize that it was not my fault, that I was just a child, that the adults who were supposed to take care of me failed, and that he was the one to blame. The church taught me that there was great power in forgiveness, and I made an honest attempt to forgive him. I convinced myself that alcohol made him do it. Sadly, that was not the truth, and I received a rude awakening at the age of fifteen. I was at my mother’s apartment doing my homework while a movie starring Tom Cruise played in the background. I was sitting on the living-room couch and from the corner of my eyes I could see my grandfather fidgeting in his seat. At one point Mr. Cruise kissed the female lead and my grandfather looked over and said, “Do you remember when we did that?” He said those words with pride. That is when I realized that I could never forgive him for what he did to me. I remember screaming at him, going to my room, calling my best friend, and having a panic attack. After that incident, I decided to tell my mother. When I told her, she yelled at me and asked me why I hadn’t told her sooner. She expressed anger at my silence because I had a little sister and he could have done the same to her or to others. (Note: This is never an appropriate response. It is never the responsibility of children to protect other

.)children. That is what adults are for My grandfather died of prostate cancer a few years after that incident. I remember trying to console my mother for her loss while

being very angry at God for giving him that much time on this earth. Unfortunately, I was not the only one damaged by his actions. Other women have come out and admitted that he fondled them as well.

My story is a very complex one. I was abused by my grandfather at an early age and was later forced to live with him after the abuse had occurred. I couldn’t tell anyone, but in hindsight the clues that I was abused were always there; the adults around me just didn’t know what to do with the information. We often don’t know what to do with child abusers in our families or our communities. That is a sad truth.

The story does not end there. My grandfather was not the only one to abuse me; there were babysitters and family friends who also stepped out of line and fondled me. The memories are fuzzy. For a very long time I was haunted by my lack of childhood memories. In my midtwenties, I inexplicably started crying without reason or provocation and decided to seek therapy. Even at the therapist’s office, I couldn’t keep it together. I discovered that the crying episodes had to do with the fact that there was so much I couldn’t remember. I was horrified that my subconscious had blocked out five years of memories. What could be so awful that my subconscious would lock it all away? What would happen to me if I were to remember all of it? Would the memories break me? My therapist reassured me that I didn’t have to remember and that I was safe now. I found that to be quite liberating and only then was I able to stop crying. Thank goodness for therapy.

I am better now, but I often have nightmares. There is no rhyme or reason to when they come; they just do. In fact, a girlfriend once revealed to me that I often quietly sob in my sleep. I want to be clear that there are a lot of details to my story that I am not including here. It is nearly impossible to package our stories in neat and linear boxes. Although, I am a survivor of child abuse, this does not define me. This story is complex. My story is complex. I am complex.

I am sharing this story because I think there is power in sharing your truths. I do not live in fear anymore. I am indeed safe. I hope with all of my heart that other victims of sexual abuse can one day say the same.

The following are some facts about child abuse:

1. While abuse by strangers does happen, most abusers are family members or trusted individuals. Child molesters, pedophiles, and perpetrators are everywhere: they are parents, grandparents, family members, teachers, neighbors, and friends.

Co py ri gh t @ 20 17 . Th e Fe mi ni st P re ss a t CU NY .