From Bananas to Buttocks : The Latina Body in Popular Film and Culture

From The Exuberant Excesses Of Carmen Miranda In The Tutti Frutti Hat To The Curvaceous Posterior Of Jennifer Lopez, The Latina Body Has Long Been A Signifier Of Latina/o Identity In U.s. Popular Culture. But How Does This Stereotype Of The Exotic, Erotic Latina Bombshell Relate, If At All, To Real Latina Women Who Represent A Wide Spectrum Of Ethnicities, National Origins, Cultures, And Physical Appearances? How Are Ideas About Latinidad Imagined, Challenged, And Inscribed On Latina Bodies? What Racial, Class, And Other Markers Of Identity Do Representations Of The Latina Body Signal Or Reject? In This Broadly Interdisciplinary Book, Experts From The Fields Of Latina/o Studies, Media Studies, Communication, Comparative Literature, Women's Studies, And Sociology Come Together To Offer The First Wide-ranging Look At The Construction And Representation Of Latina Identity In U.s. Popular Culture. The Authors Consider Such Popular Figures As Actresses Lupe Vélez, Salma Hayek, And Jennifer Lopez; Singers Shakira And Celia Cruz; And Even The Hispanic Barbie Doll In Her Many Guises. They Investigate The Media Discourses Surrounding Controversial Latinas Such As Lorena Bobbitt And Marisleysis González. And They Discuss Latina Representations In Lupe Solano's Series Of Mystery Books And In The Popular Tv Shows El Show De Cristina And Laura En América. This Extensive Treatment Of Latina Representation In Popular Culture Not Only Sheds New Light On How Meaning Is Produced Through Images Of The Latina Body, But Also On How These Representations Of Latinas Are Received, Revised, And Challenged. Introduction : Embodying Latinidad : An Overview / Myra Mendible -- Section 1. Case Studies : Silent And Classic Film Era -- 1. Film Viewing In Latino Communities, 1896-1934 : Puerto Rico As Microcosm / Clara E. Rodríguez -- 2. Lupe Vélez : Queen Of The B's / Rosa Linda Fregoso -- 3. Lupe Vélez Regurgitated : Cautionary, Indigestion-causing Ruminations On Mexicans In American Toilets Perpetrated While Covetously Screening Veronica / William A. Nericcio -- Section 2. Performing Bodies : Contemporary Film And Music Media -- 4. Celia's Shoes / Frances Negrón-muntaner -- 5. Salma Hayek's Frida : Transnational Latina Bodies In Popular Culture / Isabel Molina Guzmán -- 6. Is Penélope To J.lo As Culture Is To Nature? : Eurocentric Approaches To Latin Beauties / Angharad Valdivia -- 7. Jennifer Lopez : The New Wave Of Border Crossing / Tara Lockhart -- 8. There's My Territory : Shakira Crossing Over / Cynthia Fuchs -- 9. Hey, Killer : The Construction Of A Macho Latina, Or The Perils And Enticements Of Girlfight / Karen R. Tolchin -- Section 3. Sensational Bodies : Discourses Of Latina Femininity -- 10. On The Semiotics Of Lorena Bobbitt / Charla Ogaz -- 11. Disorderly Bodies And Discourses Of Latinidad In The Elián González Story / Isabel Molina Guzmán -- 12. The Body In Question : The Latina Detective In The Lupe Solano Mystery Series / Ana Patricia Rodríguez -- 13. La Princesa Plástica : Hegemonic And Oppositional Representations Of Latinidad In Hispanic Barbie / Karen Goldman -- 14. Chusmas, Chismes, Y Escándalos : Latinas Talk Back To El Show De Cristina And Laura En América / Viviana Rojas. Edited By Myra Mendible. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

from The Exuberant Excesses Of Carmen Miranda In The Tutti Frutti Hat To The Curvaceous Posterior Of Jennifer Lopez, The Latina Body Has Long Been A Signifier Of Latina/o Identity In U.s. Popular Culture. But How Does This Stereotype Of The Exotic, Erotic Latina Bombshell Relate, If At All, To Real Latina Women Who Represent A Wide Spectrum Of Ethnicities, National Origins, Cultures, And Physical Appearances? How Are Ideas About Latinidad Imagined, Challenged, And Inscribed On Latina Bodies? What Racial, Class, And Other Markers Of Identity Do Representations Of The Latina Body Signal Or Reject?
In This Broadly Interdisciplinary Book, Experts From The Fields Of Latina/o Studies, Media Studies, Communication, Comparative Literature, Women's Studies, And Sociology Come Together To Offer The First Wide-ranging Look At The Construction And Representation Of Latina Identity In U.s. Popular Culture. The Authors Consider Such Popular Figures As Actresses Lupe Vélez, Salma Hayek, And Jennifer Lopez; Singers Shakira And Celia Cruz; And Even The Hispanic Barbie Doll In Her Many Guises. They Investigate The Media Discourses Surrounding Controversial Latinas Such As Lorena Bobbitt And Marisleysis González. And They Discuss Latina Representations In Lupe Solano's Series Of Mystery Books And In The Popular Tv Shows El Show De Cristina And Laura En América. This Extensive Treatment Of Latina Representation In Popular Culture Not Only Sheds New Light On How Meaning Is Produced Through Images Of The Latina Body, But Also On How These Representations Of Latinas Are Received, Revised, And Challenged.

A study of the representation of the Latina body in US popular culture, from "Latin bombshell" Carmen Miranda in the 1940s to Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek. It not only sheds light on how meaning is produced through images of the Latina body, but also on how these representations of Latinas are received, revised, and challenged The first extensive study of the representation of the Latina body in U.S. popular culture, from "Latin bombshell" Carmen Miranda in the 1940s to Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek today.