The Exotic Other: Representations of Latina tropicalism in U.S. popular culture

Abstract

U.S. Latina/o identity is a complex and panethnic construction. One of the most enduring tropes surrounding Latina women in US culture is that of tropicalism, which by erasing ethnic specificity helps construct homogenous stereotypes such as bright colours, rhythmic music, and brown skin that are represented in visual texts. Tropicalization helps position the Latina body as oversexed as well as sexually available; all that is identified with seductive clothing, curvaceous hips and breasts, long brunette hair or extravagant jewellery. The article concerns Latina images in US media and popular culture and focuses on such stars as Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek in order to explore the gendered signifiers surrounding Latinidad and Latina iconicity. The female ethnicity is depicted as other through its categorization and marginalization in relation to dominant constructions of Whiteness and femininity. The article bridges the approaches of gender studies and Latina/o studies with recent research on hybridity and transnational identities.

“Who’s Going to be a Creep Today?” Understanding the Social Media Experiences of Women Broadcast Journalists

“…This example was particularly interesting because audience commentary included allusions not only to the journalist’s sexuality, but also to her ethnicity. The implication that the journalist’s silly dance would be “merengue or bachata” connects to Martynuska’s (2016) notion of the exotic other, specifically how “the popular images of Latina bodies revolve around racialization, sexualisation, exoticization and tropicalization” (p. 79).…”

Intersectionality and Reflexivity: Narratives From a BME Female Researcher Inside the Hidden Social World of Prison Visits

“…The silence of being mistreated; sexualized; and racialized have been a focal point to my experiences in conducting research on families of prisoners. Intersectional approach has given me the space to understand how sexualization of women of color can be conceptualized as a form of oppression (See Martynuska, 2016).…”

“…The sexualized tone of both prison officers’ attitudes made me feel inadequate, and I ended up feeling a sense of betrayal because if this was another situation, such as personal circumstances outside of the prison, I would have adopted an opposing stance toward such misogynist behavior. However, this behavior is assumed to be common in a male dominated institution; and feelings of being sexualized can be marked as a factor of oppression especially for women of color (See Collins, 1990; Matynuska, 2016).…”

“…In terms of intersectionality, we can observe this from a position of gender and race, however, there also seems to be an implicit acceptance for male officers to engage in "banter" and flirtation, due to my outsider status. Further, Martynuska (2016) uses the connotation as "exotic" to exemplify the inferior treatment women of color experience in mostly in male white dominated institutions. This feeling of being subjected as "exotic" had taken away the seriousness of this research; and resulted me to feel inferior and marked as the "other" (Martynuska, 2016;Moolman, 2015).…”

“…Further, Martynuska (2016) uses the connotation as "exotic" to exemplify the inferior treatment women of color experience in mostly in male white dominated institutions. This feeling of being subjected as "exotic" had taken away the seriousness of this research; and resulted me to feel inferior and marked as the "other" (Martynuska, 2016;Moolman, 2015). It left me feeling disappointed with myself and angry that this would not have happened if I was an older White man.…”