Beauty and the Self-Representation of Latinas in the TwentiethCentury

by Margot Stone Miller

For most people, the first impression they receive of someone isthat person’s physical appearance. Such integral parts of oursociety today, there are many factors that contribute torepresentation and self-representation. Throughout history, oneaspect of appearance that society holds in high regard is beauty.In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, beauty and other formsof self-representation were racialized and valued hierarchicallyby those with power. As members of a minority group, Latinas weresubjected to the representations that “others” with power choseto employ with reference to them. In this paper I will look athow these images were reinforced in the media. I will also lookat the changes that transpired in mass media over time to allowLatinas to have more control over their own image.

Beginning with early images of Latinas in film, I will touch onthe types of roles that three specific Latina actresses playedmost commonly. These examples of beauty and image in film showthat there was a typology of Latinas on the silver screen.Historians often study Latinas in various industries, especiallythe garment and canning industry; I will look at the rise of thebeauty industry within the Latina community. Through involvementin the beauty industry, Latinas gained more control over theirimage as it was presented to the masses. As Latinas increasedtheir visibility in the beauty industry, they began to customizesales and services to their own ethnic needs. Ultimately, throughthe magazine Latina, women used the media in a positive way topromote their own Latina self-representation.

Trapped by the perceptions of early Anglo settlers from the East,Mexicanas faced the stereotypes that predominated innineteenth-century America. Because of the disproportionatemale-to-female ratio in the West, relationships between Anglo menand Latina women (in what is now the Southwest) were very common.
Swept away by their deviation from the “norm,” Anglo settlersviewed these women of the West as striking and exotic. Accordingto one early settler, “[There was] something inviting andseductive about them.

They were attractive, handsomely framed, and had beautiful eyes.”1 Upon initial contact with Anglos in the mid-nineteenth century, Latinas were placed in gendered roles that capitalized on such superficial first impressions. Those at the top of the hierarchy, in this case the Anglo settlers, racially categorized this group of females as seductive, establishing a stereotype that later the film industry would employ when casting Latinas in film.

In the middle of the twentieth century, there were several mediastars representing the Latina community, including CarmenMiranda, an entertainer from Brazil; Delores Del Río, a Mexicanactress; and finally Lupe Vélez, another actress, who, among herother roles, starred in what is often called the “MexicanSpitfire” series.

These are three of the most popular examples of actresses who were bound by gendered roles of sexuality or lightheartedness. Each of these three women played different roles in their films, but were ultimately typecast into a certain type of character that they could not escape. In film as elsewhere, Latinas werebound by ideas of beauty and sensuality.

The film industry chose to use these actresses solely for theirsuperficial female form. The characters these women played oftenlacked more than one dimension, and their roles in films servedmainly aesthetic purposes.

According to film historian Carlos E. Cortés, Carmen Miranda, for example, was “prohibited from more than scratching the surface of her characters”; “she became a prisoner of screen superficiality.

”2 Actress Delores Del Río left Hollywood, in part due to her dissatisfaction over being stereotyped into specific roles that capitalized only on her sensuality. Cortés argues of these actresses, “They were Latinas. Their strengths, if they had any, were decidedly female. They had reached the limit of the era’s Latina film image.

”3 These are three examples of women who surrendered to media ideas of how the masses should see them.
With these images of sexy young Latina actresses on the bigscreen, Latinas saw their own image presented through the eyes ofa social hierarchy. Overwhelmed by images of the “sexy Latina,”women had a hard time developing their own standards for beauty.

In trying to meet the hierarchical standards of beauty, manywomen turned to cosmetics. Many women noted, in a surveyconducted by Aída Hurtado, that they were “highly dependent on[artificial accoutrements] like cosmetics” in order to reach thesubjective standard of beauty reinforced in the mass media. Forexample, a young Latina, Cynthia Duarte stated, “My beauty for medepends on make-up…I really need those things to feel beautiful.

Without those things, I would walk with my head down. So that’swhy I think whether I’m beautiful or not is a hard question forme to answer.”

Hurtado also found in her research that many young Latinas used“white standards” of beauty as the benchmark in the ir perceptionof themselves, judging and gauging themselves against thestandards of society. Hurtado states, “They explicitly pointed toimages of white women as influencing their assessments of howmuch they should weigh and believed that that standard wasapplied to all women regardless of race and ethnicity.”5 By doingthis women judged themselves against generic standards that arenot customized to individual ethnic needs.

Over time, the relationship between women and beauty evolvedenough for women to take an active role in creating beauty. Theappearance of beauty parlors among the Latina population, forexample, offered Latinas the opportunity to participate in theformation of the physical appearance and image of Latinasportrayed to others. Some women also preferred the occupation ofa beautician to the physically taxing work in factories orfields. One woman related, “I always wanted to be a beautyoperator. I loved make-up; I loved to dress up and fix up.

I used to set my sister’s hair. So I had that in the back of my mind for a long time, and my mom pushed the fact she wanted me to have a profession—seeing that I wasn’t thinking of getting married.”6 This Latina strives to be a participant in the beauty industry, valuing image and wanting to help in the process of creating a service with an understanding specific to the beauty needs of Mexicanas.

While the presence of Latinas in the beauty industry increasedsignificantly in the twentieth century , not all Latinas feltsupported in the workplace. In Oregon, Wisconsin, Dana Torresattained her dream of receiving the training to become anesthetician. While practicing at a salon in Wisconsin, sheexperienced what she saw as discrimination.

Torres described making sincere efforts to relate to co-workers, even going as far as to school a co-worker on esthetics. Torres states, “I was hoping that by doing this, the people I worked with would no longer be indifferent to me. (By this time I was treated very indifferently for my views professionally and personally. I was very isolated. Ignored unless someone wanted a treatment).

”7 Ultimately Torres left this salon to pursue a position thatallowed her more experience in her field of specialty, esthetics.

Another example of a Latina who has participated in the beautyindustry is Silvia Tamayo, a Mexicana featured in the November2002 issue of Latina, who made her fortune selling make-up forAvon. Avon executives gave her a Woman of Enterprise Award; shehad recruited nearly 900 women to sell Avon products.

Tamayo serves as an inspiration to many Latinas because of her drive and motivation. She also is taking an active role in the beauty industry, participating in cosmetics, an industry synonymous with the enhancement of physical appearance. Because Tamayo is incontrol of the image she present s to her customers, she servesas a model of how Latinas have increased the ir control in thepresentation of the Latina image through the beauty industry.

The most important progression in Latina control overself-representation in the mass media is evident in thepublication of Latina. This magazine is the leading example todayof the progress Latina women have made in reclaiming power andcontrol over the image that is portrayed in the media. Throughthe publication of this magazine, issues that matter to Latinasare addressed.

As one can see through a select sample of article titles from this magazine, a positive image of Latinas is portrayed, encouraging women to take control of their own image and no longer succumb to an image imposed on them by hierarchical standards: “Curves and curls: Classic Latina Beauty and Style Just for You” (November 2003), “Hot Fiesta Fashions for Every Figura” (December 2002), and “Work it Chica! Smart Styles for elTrabajo (and your figura)” (August 2002). These articles useethnic standards of beauty and address Latinas’ own concerns.This magazine, as an example of mass media, does not hinder orlimit the image of Latinas. Instead the magazine customizesarticles about beauty and fashion, and prints advertisements tomeet the needs of Latinas today. Paying attention tocharacteristics of image specific to Latinas (as seen in thearticle about Latina curves and curls), Latina represents ethnicminority women’s response to racialization.

Through Latina magazine, Latinas better control the imagepresented by the media to the masses. With increased visibilityin the beauty industry , this magazine offers attentioncustomized to the ethnic needs of Latinas and thus contributes toan enhancement of self-representation among Latinas in the media.
Moving away from images common in early twentieth-century films,which capitalized on the sensuality of Latinas, the rise of thebeauty industry among Latinas helps to explode Hollywood’stypology of the Latina image.

By examining how images of Latinas were reinforced in the massmedia and the changes that transpired over time, one is able tosee the evolution of the image of the Latina. The racializationpromoted by a hierarchical racial order gave Latinas littlecontrol over their own self-representation. Beauty, an importantaspect of physical appearance in American society, is one factorof self-representation. Through Latina involvement in the beautyindustry, Latinas have reclaimed control of their ownself-representation.