I actually wrote a huge post about this on Tumblr (http://xlivvielockex.tumblr.com/post/7913821858/labels-labels-labels) but I will copy/paste it here.
In regards to the whole Charisma and Latina issue, this is going to piss a lot of people off so I’m warning you in advance. And just at the start, I should say that I am Spanish and Venezuelan who has lived in Europe, South America, Mexico, and the United States.
First, I think people need to remember what magazine was interviewing Charisma. It’s Latina magazine. I had a subscription to them since they began and had one until very recently. They embrace pretty much any Spanish speakers whether they identify as Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, etc. I can understand why they chose the name Latina because it is more catchy than Spanish Speaking Ladies. To the people upset that the magazine is claiming her, they take basically anyone who speaks Spanish or comes from a Spanish speaking background.
Second, there is the whole issue of the US Census. This is something that probably most people who are complaining don’t realize. In Arizona, where I live, Latino, Chicano, and Hispanic are either all put into one category or there is simply Latino for ANYONE with a Spanish speaking background is told to mark. I have been told since childhood to mark Latino. Not to mention the fact that Latino has not always referred to simply Latin America but rather to any countries that had a Latin-based language. This meant that Spain along with France, Italy, Brazil, etc all fell under what was considered “Latino”. The term has gone through many changes through the centuries.
There are plenty of Hispanics, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, etc who mark Latino because for so long Hispanic has been lumped in with Latino on forms. A lot of them mark Other. It is very confusing to be labeled or put into a group by a government made up of mostly white males. And honestly, in my experience, Hispanics will call themselves Latinos and vice versa. They use the terms interchangeably in the spaces I have been in. Or they will say I am Mexican. I am Spanish. I am Puerto Rican.
What I took from Charisma’s interview is either she is a victim of this same kind of labeling and lumping in. She might have been told from birth that she is Hispanic and Latino without a differentiation. Or it just could mean that she is Latina as in a reader of the magazine or “Latina” as in someone that represents the aesthetic of the magazine.
As someone who has been told since childhood to mark Latina or Hispanic, I get where she is coming from and what she is saying. I’m not upset about it. The other Hispanics and Latinas I talk to don’t seem to be upset about it. Because we have all been there. We have all looked at some form asking our race and had to mark something that maybe wasn’t a textbook definition but it was the one that fit the best or was the way the term was defined at the time.
ETA: The United States Census: “The OMB defines Hispanic or Latino as “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.”
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-22 06:39 am (UTC)In regards to the whole Charisma and Latina issue, this is going to piss a lot of people off so I’m warning you in advance. And just at the start, I should say that I am Spanish and Venezuelan who has lived in Europe, South America, Mexico, and the United States.
First, I think people need to remember what magazine was interviewing Charisma. It’s Latina magazine. I had a subscription to them since they began and had one until very recently. They embrace pretty much any Spanish speakers whether they identify as Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, etc. I can understand why they chose the name Latina because it is more catchy than Spanish Speaking Ladies. To the people upset that the magazine is claiming her, they take basically anyone who speaks Spanish or comes from a Spanish speaking background.
Second, there is the whole issue of the US Census. This is something that probably most people who are complaining don’t realize. In Arizona, where I live, Latino, Chicano, and Hispanic are either all put into one category or there is simply Latino for ANYONE with a Spanish speaking background is told to mark. I have been told since childhood to mark Latino. Not to mention the fact that Latino has not always referred to simply Latin America but rather to any countries that had a Latin-based language. This meant that Spain along with France, Italy, Brazil, etc all fell under what was considered “Latino”. The term has gone through many changes through the centuries.
There are plenty of Hispanics, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, etc who mark Latino because for so long Hispanic has been lumped in with Latino on forms. A lot of them mark Other. It is very confusing to be labeled or put into a group by a government made up of mostly white males. And honestly, in my experience, Hispanics will call themselves Latinos and vice versa. They use the terms interchangeably in the spaces I have been in. Or they will say I am Mexican. I am Spanish. I am Puerto Rican.
What I took from Charisma’s interview is either she is a victim of this same kind of labeling and lumping in. She might have been told from birth that she is Hispanic and Latino without a differentiation. Or it just could mean that she is Latina as in a reader of the magazine or “Latina” as in someone that represents the aesthetic of the magazine.
As someone who has been told since childhood to mark Latina or Hispanic, I get where she is coming from and what she is saying. I’m not upset about it. The other Hispanics and Latinas I talk to don’t seem to be upset about it. Because we have all been there. We have all looked at some form asking our race and had to mark something that maybe wasn’t a textbook definition but it was the one that fit the best or was the way the term was defined at the time.
ETA: The United States Census: “The OMB defines Hispanic or Latino as “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.”