We should all be able to agree that there are no such thing as "positive stereotypes" because they reinforce generalized ideas to marginalized groups. Being half Latina, I've had my own share of troubles with "positive stereotypes" and how it has affected me. Often, Latinx (gender neutral word for Latino/Latina, pronounced Latin-ex) have been described as 'the ideal partner' because, apparently, we are attractive, charismatic and flirtatious. This leads to objectification of Latinx, with words like "exotic" being used to describe anything from accents to body, but if you took a greater look at Latin America you would find that we are diverse. Not every Latina has a curvy body and not every Latino is tall and burly. As with being 'charismatic and flirtatious', I can barely manage to make conversation with someone, let alone come off as charismatic! Like everybody else on earth, we are all different! Latin America is composed of several countries and the entire continent of South America, we have our own, specific communities and intra-community problems.

Every time I say I'm hispanic or Latina, I always get the question "So, you're Mexican?" which makes me stop for a second to process the fact that most people don't know the difference between being hispanic and being Latinx. Hispanic means the country you come from speaks Spanish as the main language, while Latinx means that you are from Mexico, Central America, some part of the Caribbean OR South America. This is called 'Latin America' because the languages spoken in these countries are rooted in Latin and the three most spoken languages are Spanish, French and Portuguese. So, no, not every Latinx speaks Spanish! I myself am learning Spanish since my mother is from Honduras-- A country in Central America. Every country in Latin America is different, we have our own cultures and languages except we are marginalized and share some of the same stereotypes that let non-Latinx objectify us or degrade us. Latinas especially are degraded and objectified because we are expected to be flirty dolls with great bodies for the male gaze which is incredibly sexist. Latinx people in media are casted as 'Mexican Workers' which is racist because it gives the idea that Latinx are there to serve and that 'everyone who is Latinx must be from Mexico'. Since most Latinx characters I've seen are Mexican, a lot of people will, of course, assume I'm Mexican when I say that I'm hispanic/Latina. Somebody has actually called me Mexican because they only knew that I'm hispanic. Now, Honduras is a lesser known country to everywhere that isn't Latin America but I hope to see more Hondurans in media-- Or at the very least, Central America since it's the closest thing if not the specific.

By reading this blog post, I hope you've now taken the time to understand that "positive stereotypes" only lead to generalization, objectification and degradation when we don't meet the standards imposed on us. You should also know the difference between hispanic and Latinx. Thank you for reading!