Latino 101- The Latina (Female)

The Latina female has been equally as stereotyped as the Latino male.  In brief, she has been stereotyped as follows:

• Female clown: the female clown may be portrayed as attractive, but she does not cross the line to sexy.  Her crazy antics play down her attractiveness to allow her to be a figure of ridicule more so than a figure of desire.
• examples: Carmen Miranda
• The harlot: The harlot is oversexed, hot-tempered and untrustworthy.  She may be a love interest, but only temporarily.
• Dark lady: Portrayed as mysterious, sultry and often irresistible.  However, she is more virginal than the harlot.  Additionally, similar to the harlot, she may be a love interest, but will never get and keep the guy.  
• examples: Dolores del Rio

The above stereotypes are not directly addressed in Latino 101, however, there is a lot of emphasis on the female body.  In general, Latinas are PROUD of their curves and men LOVE their curves.  This is seen almost unanimously among the speakers.  Comedian Joey Vega stated that "Latin and Black women are the only women who get happy when their a**es get huge.  When a Latina's a** gets big, they're thrilled.  You tell a white woman her a** is big, you go 'honey, you a** is quite large' you go 'NO STOP IT!'  They go all crazy, they go 'Give me a pilates tape, hurry up!'  You tell a Latina her a** is big, you go 'Honey, mira pa'lla esas nalgas, DAMN!'  'It's big, right?  It's big, you know it's big.'"  Contemporary Latinas are also described as "hot, fiery, sexy and spicy", which does allude to a combination of the three stereotypes.  Latina women are described as still wanting to have their own careers, but also want the more chivalrous Latino who opens doors and pays.

Interesting points are brought up in Latino 101 pertaining to different cultures.  For example, one comedian stated that when a Latina becomes pregnant, she becomes a statistic, but when a white girl gets pregnant, she becomes a movie named Juno and society gives her an Oscar.  

Latinas in Latino 101 seem to agree that though they can end up subject to more traditional gender roles from an early age, there is a sense of power that they can rule the world.  However, there are definitely allusions throughout the show that does indicate some machismo left, though it is split between joking about it, and the women reasserting that the woman always holds the power.