It's a Brave New World

    Whether you watch Teen Mom on MTV or patrol a nearby high school, the face of the teen parent is stereotypically defined as female, despite the male biology necessary to make teen parenting happen at all.
  

   And, if you see the teen single mother through the eyes of some recent political candidates, you’d think she’s as stealthy and sneaky as a burglar, hogging up resources and government checks. But, in the real world we all live in, she is a cousin you grew up with, a friend at school who had sex for the first time and the condom broke or she was the pitcher on the softball team. She’s all of us.

   One girl determined to expose and defeat the stereotype about teen mothers did it in a very interesting way. Gaby Rodriguez conducted a social experiment on teen pregnancy. Rodriguez was a high school senior, anticipating her future in college when she decided to make the decision to fake a pregnancy in order to see the stereotypes of being a pregnant teen.

   “I really wanted to do a senior project that would impact my school; I wanted to do something that would not only teach me something but teach my fellow classmates something too,” Rodriguez said in an interview with Rachel Cohen for the Lifetime movie website.

   Rodriguez was courageous. Only a few people knew her secret: her mom, boyfriend, sister, and principal. She lost friends, received anger from family members, and was excluded from “teenage society.” People told her she would have to quit school and get on welfare. They said an “A” student with a baby would not make it through college.

   In the midst of typical high school behavior such as going to prom, getting good grades, and finding a good college, teens are engaging in unprotected sex at high rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty-six percent of teens are engaging in sexual activity.

   An estimated 400,000 girls aging from 15-19 years old give birth each year. Because the number is staggering, it is easy to pass judgment on the future of teen moms. Stereotypes and stigmas have stained the image of these young girls as if they were Hester Prynne bearing a scarlet letter instead of a miracle of a child.

   “Several times in the beginning,” Rodriguez said, “especially with some of the negative comments I was getting and the rumors being started about me. It was disappointing, because I worked so hard my entire life with my education to be the best student I could possibly be, and then all of sudden people thought I wasn’t going to go to college or graduate … or do anything with my life.”

   The statistics about teen mothers are daunting. According to March of Dimes research, forty-five percent of teen moms finish high school comparative the seventy-five percent of their classmates. Fifty-nine percent of teen moms want to go to college and aspire to be what they’ve always dreamed. Three percent actually make it through college and earn a degree. It is not impossible.

   The realities are tough for most teenage moms, especially if they do not have support. Rodriguez stated in her Lifetime interview after her story was made into a movie called The Pregnancy Project, “my message is that life does not have to come to an end [because] you get pregnant young. Teen parents should find the strength for their children and push themselves further to succeed in life. It’s not the end of the road.”

A Post From Wise Latinas Linked

Wise Latinas Linked Blog

read the blog below, it is very informative and so true. blog courtesy of wise latinas linked group. (LINK is below)

Feeding into Stereotypes: ABC's New Show on Latina Maids



Photo of Telenovela Cast

 Just when you thought you’ve seen everything on television that stereotypes Latinas; here comes another TV show that is going to top the list. ABC is coming out with Devious Maids.

Now take a wild guess on who gets to play the maids? Well of course---Latinas.

Oh and they’re not going to be working in some kind of Midwest, middle class town. It has to be Beverly Hills.

According to a report in Deadline.com:

"Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry has set up a new hour long soap at ABC. Titled Devious Maids, it is an adaptation of the Mexican telenovela The Disorderly Maids Of The Neighborhood. "

Cherry is the same guy who wrote the interesting role of “Gabby” for Eva Longoria on Desperate Housewives. Maybe that makes him think he’s got the inside take on Latinas. I don’t know. But he’ll be writing the scripts for Devious Maids and ABC will produce the show.

The actresses who land the roles for the show will be playing housekeepers: Silvia, Maribel, Adela, Guillermina and Carmela.

I’m just bothered that they have to be housekeepers. Why not Latina attorneys? How about Latina surgeons, reporters or school teachers? They can be funny too.

Latinas Don't Get the Main Parts

Other than The George Lopez Show; when have Latinos been the major players in a television show? Sure they’re included in a cast of major players like in Desperate Housewives, Modern Family, Law and Order and a few others shows. But this time Latinas will be the main characters, and I think it’s important to put them in a good light.

How much do you bet that Cherry will have some or all of them with accents, speaking Spanglish or having at least one do the rapid “Spanish chatter” that is so cliche on television.

I hope if he has a writing team that at least a few are Latinas. Maybe they can try to keep it real. It’s scary to think  just one white guy is writing the script.

The Shows Name Sets the Tone

I also have a problem with the name of the show “Devious Maids.” OK it’s bad enough that ABC and Cherry are making the characters Latina housekeepers on national television; but now they’re labeled “devious.”

Webster Dictionary defines devious as deceptive and cunning. So these maids are already being characterized “shady” just by the name of the show.

Big Hit or Big Flop

Every network is looking for the next big hit show. Cherry is too after stepping down from his leadership role at Desperate Housewives. He’s got a good track record at ABC, so the network probably gave him the green light to do what he wants.

The show isn't out yet, but the name and storyline have set the tone. Cheap shot! Sure it’s comedy or maybe dramedy (drama + comedy) and we’re supposed to laugh about it.

Isn’t ABC or Cherry reading the news? There is an attack on Latino immigrants in the U.S. Many are in the housekeeping industry. Latina maids themselves are underpaid, over worked and at times abused. That’s not funny.

What Latinas Are Saying

Many Latinas on Facebook are already disgusted and disappointed with ABC. Here are just a few comments on our Wise Latinas Linked page:

Karen HP-- "Of course they have to be maids. I don’t like this stereotype."

Felicia A.-- "ABC should be slapped!"

Annette M.-- "Are you kidding!"

Karen S.-- "Don’t like it".

Sandra G.-- "Maids???!!! Seriously? Can’t we ever get past this?"

Orietta R.-- “Why not have an ensemble including a doctor, a lawyer/judge, teacher,mom, etc…"

Liz C.--“This only enforces the stereotypes Latinas have had in film & TV…..Marc Cherry cannot make money based on the negative portrayal of Latinas."

Not Off Our Brown Backs

Cherry and ABC could have asked members of Wise Latinas Linked what they thought of show’s concept and title. I’m sure many of us would have given them our honest opinions and even suggestions.

Marc Cherry and ABC, shame on you for taking the easy way out to make money off our brown backs! Now go back and make us Latinas proud!

Comments and questions can be directed to http://abc.go.com/site/contact-us

Rebecca Aguilar is the founder of Wise Latinas Linked; a social networking group on Facebook and Linkedin.

Señorita Representación

The big buzz on the lips of women activists and on the painted fingertips of empowered business women is the new documentary called Miss Representation directed by Jennifer Siebal Newsom. Check out Miss Representation here. And that's has me thinking about what role is being played in the lives Latinas? Who is aspiring them to achieve more? Do more with their lives? Not anyone I see on day-to-day magazines! It is important to have these figures in our lives because they plant the seeds of inspiration.

I think the biggest challenging facing any girl today is the lack of power and knowledge combined in smart and intellectual women. Not that they don't exist, they do, but the fact that they are not celebrated or acknowledged. For Latinas, it is the lack of good YOUNG Latina role models that encourage them to believe in their dreams and, most importantly, believe in themselves.

Latinitas Magazine is the magazine to represent these young girls because unfortunately the big-named magazines like Seventeen Magazine doesn't do that. Neither does LATINA Magazine. Yes, I said it and there is a reason for it! Latinitas is a magazine that actually represents young Latina girls, allowing them to explore the world around them through media and technology. As a Latina, myself, I feel disappointed reading a magazine like LATINA. Why? Because they are a well-established magazine that has the power to give vital information to members of Latina society and make them aspire to be more. And what do they do what that power?? They glorify celebrities who are not important figures in life. Yes, they have money, and we live in a world where power is money, but I don't think some random Latina celebrity needs to be on the cover and littered through every page of that magazine.

Recently, LATINA, featured a list of the top 15 Latina women. Among the list were Gloria Estefan (given), Shakira, Selena Gomez, and some no-named La La Anthony. For the basketball fans, she is the WIFE of Carmelo Anthony. Why is she featured on that list?? Did they run out of Latina celebrities and picked her? A basketball wife, really? Some accomplishment. Who wants to aspire to be that? Why not put Sonia Sotomayor on that list or Consuelo Kickbush? Oh, right, they don't matter to LATINA Magazine. It's about celebrities, not real life people who work hard for what they've done. Imagine what that instills in young girls reading that magazine.

I also found it quite humorous that in their latest issue they list the 70 reasons to love being a Latino.5 of 70 reasons actually pertain to real Latinos changing the lives of people. FIVE, not to mention they were pushed into the corners of the page layout that no one reads or will likely skim over. FIVE! Because the reason to love being Latino is that "Our Divorcees Are Hot!". Which is so much more important. Yeah right! That's not something to be proud of.

The most compelling issue for any girl is the issue of low self-esteem. I know it sounds shallow at first, but when you really think about low self-esteem and the possibility of have a great future together with low self-esteem, it does not work. Self-esteem is the start to any dream, career, or goal in someone's life. I believe that if I continue working with a magazine like Latinitas, whose mission is to inspire young girls through media and technology, we can encourage good self-esteem which will transfer to young girls making better choices for themselves. I currently, live in San Antonio, Texas, the top rated city for teen pregnancy and obesity. Not really good trademarks but low-esteem is the bottom trigger to these "side effects." Without good self-esteem, it's easy to see no future for the youth. But inspiring them to be more, dream more, that would be solution to the issue at hand. Good self-esteem equals good future.

Latinitas Magazine has and will always be my passion. I am extremely blessed to discover this passion a lot sooner than my peers. I have always been fired up about organizations, people, or even movies that promote good self-esteem and the achievement of future generations. Maybe, because it helps the little girl inside of me grow and allow me to be comfortable with myself. Latinitas has struck this chord and if I could strike more chords with other girls? Then that is the career worth living for. I am graduating with a Masters in Media Studies and plan to use my journalism and PR skills to relay this message till the moon falls out of the sky.