My Issue with Media

Ok..so as I was going through my daily routine of browsing news, which also includes a couple of magazines, I came up with the new cover of Esquire for it's April issue. I have to say I have an issue with this cover, not only this cover but how media sexualizes Latin celebrities.

I don't watch "Dancing with the Stars,"and the Latin actor that is making a buzz in William Levy. I mean don't get me wrong Sophia Vergara and William Levy are BEAUTIFUL humans that got gifted with wonderful appearance genes.

Let's start with my analysis of this cover. I know it's Esquire and it's set audience is men. But she's Latin and we all know one of the stereotypes that Latinos have is that we're beautiful, especially women, and the we possess these wonderful voluptuous bodies.

Sophia does, but here is where I have the problem. Not only is she "hot," but the word SEX appears in bold in a huge font size.

I just feel she's putting more into the Latino stereotype than it already is. I don't think there was a need to put the word for her to sell SEX since she already sells it for obvious reasons. She's just feeding more into the Latino stereotype.

Another Latino feeding media with stereotypes is Cuban actor William Levy, which got his stardom appearing in Mexican telenovelas, but the actor now wants to make in a breakthrough through U.S. mainstream media.

The way he's approaching it is by doing "Dancing with the Stars" and taking off his shirt. We all know and see he's gorgeous, but does he have to strip to show his abs to while dancing salsa?

There's just more in being a Latino. It's just showing the world that we can dance and be sexy. We need to stop these stereotypes but celebrities are the ones that just continue to feed mainstream with these ideas.

Hopefully, there's other people Latinos that can show the world that those stereotypes are just not what everyone is and represent Latinos in worthy way.

Tribute to a Childhood Idol

"Anything for Salinas..." was a memorable quote from, "Selena," the motion picture. When I was a four-year-old I would have the done the same thing...anything for Selena.


A lot of Latinas my age, know of who I'm talking about and was too their childhood idol.

My childhood idol

As a child I grew up hearing her music and from what I remember she was my favorite singer long before all the Britney's, Beyonce's, Christina's came along.


I want to tribute my childhood idol and forever idol, Selena, which March 31st marked her 17th death anniversary. A true artist taken away from the world at a young age.


Selena Quintanilla, also known just as Selena was a famous Mexican-American singer/songwriter from the early 90s. She was named "The Queen of Tejano music" and topped the latin charts. Songs like "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Mas" immortalized her.


Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, in April 16, 1971. Her family relocated in Houston where her career came to a start.


Her career soared to the top and was very successful. But her career came to an end when she was murdered at the young age of 23. She was assassinated by her club president, Yolanda Saldivar.

Yes, this is me! Dixy performing to Selena. 

I'm not going to continue and talk about her bio but rather than tell you about how Selena made a huge impact on me as a child. 


As a little girl I always wanted to be like her. I knew every song in the cassette my mom had bought me. I would play it over and over again. I would sing along to her songs and danced in my room pretending I was giving a concert.


Ever since then, my mom saw some potential in me and would register me in talent competitions. I remember loving it, especially because I got to sing to Selena songs. I was never shy and loved performing in front of people. My mom would even make me outfits that matched the Selena song. As you can imagine, this was a dream was a dream come true. I got to be just like Selena! Needless to say, I was pretty good at entertaining people while imitating Selena. In a child pageant (not like the ones here in the U.S.)  I even won "the talent" trophy.


The song that will always remind me of Selena is "Techno Cumbia," which gave me the winning trophy. The picture above is the outfit my mom made me when I was competing. The outfit is just like the girl who is dancing in the "Techno Cumbia" video. I loved singing that song. 


Her music was what I grew up with and her Tejana influence forever changed my world. My childhood memories are all full of Selena and I think she's was a worthy role model to me. I want to thank Selena for always filling my childhood memories with happiness and laughter.


Forever Selena!


Dixy

Texas honors Tejano culture

Texas now has a part of history that was never recognized. But it will now be out in the front of the capitol for all to see and learn about Tejano culture.

The completed Tejano monument. From tejanomonument.com

On Thursday was the unveiling of the Tejano Monument at the Texas State Capitol. It represents the Tejano culture that once prevailed and still prevails here in Texas. According to writer Cindy Casares from News Taco, "after 500 years, Texans of Hispanic ancestry are officially recognized by the state of Texas." 


I didn't go to the unveiling due to conflicting scheduling and still haven't seen the monument. But I did attend the conference the day after the unveiling, in which several people who have specialized in Tejano culture gave lecture lessons about important issues. 


I had the opportunity to sit in a lecture session called, "Tejanos under the Mexican Flag, 1821 a 1836," given by Dr. Andres Tijerina. 


Dr. Tijerina talked about the importance of having such culture represented.


"We need to let people know the capitol belongs to us," said Tijerina. "Tejano history is important."


I was amazed and also surprised about history that I never had been taught to me. Dr. Tijerina said he wanted to study Tejano history because no one talked about Texas when it was from Mexico.


The lecture focused on the Mexican influence that was in everything that Anglo ranchers did. The professor of Austin Community College mentioned how Anglo ranchers would have never survived in Texas if it wasn't for what the Mexicans that lived here taught them. 


I also didn't understand what a being a Tejano meant. But as I talked to one of classmates who considers herself a Tejana, I understood that Tejanos are proud of their roots of being Mexican but also are proud of being from Texas. Texans who have family since Texas was even part of the United States. 


It's good to see the representation of what had been silent for a long time. 

Free Music!

So we all know how important it is to vote...right? And we like free music...right?

The non partisan organization Voto Latino is launching a new campaign to encourage young Latinos to vote. They are teaming up with iTunes and with 35 different artists to make this happen. The way it works is that iTunes will give away free music that was donated by these artists.  


But it's just not any artist...Pitbull, Los Lobos, Kat de Luna are included in such list. 


Rosario Dawson, co-founder of the Voto Latino, said that the goal of the incentive was to mobilize Latino voters. In a statement Dawson said,"Our interest is to keep bringing people into the political mix. Everyone should have an understanding of the system whether or not they're eligible to vote and we believe that offering free music through social media platforms will help continue to motivate and engage those that may not already be a part of the conversation."


It's not the first time music was used as an incentive to motivate young Latinos. In 2010, the organization used the same method for young people to complete the census surveys.


Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO/founder of Voto Latino, said to Yahoo! that they now wanted to translate that pledge to the polls. "The iTunes compilation sparks the interest. Voto Latino shows how easy it is to register, vote and carve out our community's future together," said Kumar. 


Yahoo! reported that the organization has helped register more than 120,000 people to vote. 


If you're curious on how to get your music free, just like Voto Latino on their Facebook page and download the free tracks. 


These are the free tracks:
Pitbull — "Something For the DJ's"
Miguel — "Girls Like You"
Kat Deluna — "Bailando"
Los Lobos — "On Main Street"
Rodrigo y Gabriela — "Hanuman"
Ozomatli — "El Jardinero"
Los Tigres del Norte — "Somos Mas Americanos"
Ana Tijoux — "Shock"
Zoé  - "Labios Rotos"
Mariachi El Bronx — "48 Roses"
Ximena Sariñana — "Wrong Miracle"
Nortec Collective — "I Count the Ways"
Beatriz Luengo — "Lengua"
Vicente García — "Yo Robo"
24 Horas "Te Sorprenderás"
Domino Saints — "No Me Digas Que No"
Los Cuates de Sinaloa — "Enamorado al Millión"
Shaila Dúrcal — "El Día Que Me Fui"
Mariachi Divas — "Órale"
Diego Garcia — "All Eyes on You"
Ceci Bastida — "No Me Conocerás"
Ocote Soul Sounds — "En El Temblor"
Girl In a Coma — "Hope"
Carla Morrison — "Suciedad"
David Garza — "Minority Boys Got $"
Brownout — "Olvídalo"
Pilar Díaz — "Ilegal en Estyle"
Los Rakas — "Vengo de Panamá"
Akwid — "Payaso de Ojos Tristes
Ritmo Machine — "Maestro"
Jiggy Drama — "El Culpable"
Maleco Collective — "Respira"
Céu — "Bubia"
Luisa Maita — "Desencabulada"
Paulina Aguirre — "Abrázame"


I included this video to showcase one the of many artists empowering Latinos and not to mention one of my favorite Latin bands. They are Zoé with "Labios Rotos." 

"The Oscar" is Mexican

The Oscars were about a month ago, in which the public gets to see who is awarded the best in film. But what some people might be surprised to know is the history behind the famous golden statue. 

From colorlines.com

The golden statuette named Oscar is about nine pounds and made of about 24-karats gold. The truth is that Oscar was modeled by Mexican filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor Emilio Fernandez also know as "El Indio." 


So, yes. All these Hollywood A-list stars are holding a Latino in his/her hand. 


Accrording to Solvej Schou from Yahoo!.com the story goes like this:

"Working in Hollywood, Fernandez befriended Mexican actress Dolores del Rio, then wife of studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's art director and Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences member Cedric Gibbons. Del Rio introduced Fernandez to Gibbons, who was in charge of supervising the statuette's design.

Gibbons asked Fernandez to pose in the buff for a sketch to create the basis for the 8.5-pound trophy. Reluctantly, Fernandez did, and the design became the foundation for artist George Stanley's famous sculpture of the statuette, given out at the very first Academy Awards in L.A. in 1929.

From oscars.org

That design remains to this day."

The ironic thing is that only two Mexican actors have nominated for an Oscar, this according to colorlines.com.  The site also states that "across all categories only 11 out of 2,809 Oscar trophies have been awarded to Mexicans— and they’re mostly behind the scene awards."


If you also take a look at the people who chose the nominees only 2% are Latinos. No wonder there isn't much diversity on who wins such honor. 


Another thing that caught my attention is the fact that in researching about the Oscar, no where did it mention in their website about who modeled the statue. Take a look and all they mention is the sculpture and the why of the name Oscar. 


I think the model deserves a mention too. Just saying...


Well now you know. If one of these days you want to have a good conversation starter mention what I just told you. 


Dixy