What's Wrong With Fat Analysis

Words: 1637
Pages: 7

In today’s mainstream society Latinos are mostly portrayed negatively and stereotypically. In Latino media the interests of the Latino community are presented and are more uplifting and empowering. In American mainstream television shows, Latinos are mostly generalized and portray the American ideology of what a Latino identity is. What they both have in common is the way Latinas are portrayed and hypersexualized. If you tune in to a show on a large American tv chain such as NBC Latina characters are always loud, exotic, spicy, and most of all curvy. In Spanish language media the same standards of Latina beauty are upheld. In even more serious environments such the news, broadcasters are sexualized and their appearance matters more than what …show more content…
What happens when the Latina women watching the news do not look like the women they see on the screen? Or when J.Lo is on the cover of Latina magazine and the caption is “8 great ways to get a booty like J.Lo”? This kind of exposure to media creates pressure to fulfill these beauty standards. In Professor Saguy’s book What’s Wrong With Fat she discusses the fat shaming that happens in America and how it is something that is seem as an epidemic. We all want to avoid being fat and there are constant reminders in our lives that make us feel bad about our weight. Many women resort to extreme dieting or plastic surgery to feel like they are truly meeting the standard. Women will spend a lot of money trying to achieve these beauty standards because they feel that it is what makes them …show more content…
We encounter Latino media everywhere and Latinos in the media in previously unlikely places. Who is who to say what a Latina theme is? There are many gaps to be filled, but compared to two decades ago Latinos now are being included way more in mass media. As a demographic group, Latinos have demonstrated both to be large enough and to have sufficient income for mainstream media to being to take notice. The future of the mass media depends on people of color and women to tell the narratives that truly reflect the United States. America’s minorities have been marginalized for so long that it is now a significant part of their identity to be invisible to most news. If traditional media began to move in the same direction as the country, the entire nation will be better for it. You can not push the marginalized to the side anymore because their voices are too many. It is also helpful that all Americans are starting to view racism and sexism as problems that all citizens need to prioritize. It is time for change and if we all stand together it is possible to end sexism and racism in our society