From Alabama to Hollywood to the Border: Hispanic Males

Where I live in Alabama, there is a part of the city nick-named “Guadala-hoover”, which comes from the strong Hispanic population that lives there. As you drive around that area, you just might see something like this:

I remember the first time I saw a large group of Hispanic men standing on the side of the road. In my young and perplexed mind, I thought they were all homeless. My dad then explained to me that these men were waiting to get picked up for a day job, usually with construction or agriculture. This is not an uncommon vision of Hispanic males in our culture: hard, physical, dirty labor- labor only done by poor, struggling, illegal immigrants, right? So we think. Labor that causes our society to label Hispanic males as poorly educated. Not to mention being labeled with crime. And “job stealing”.

This vision of hard-working Hispanic males goes deeper as it paints a social picture of “machismo”, or manliness. They are supposed to be strong. They are the head of the household. They defend their family. They will do whatever it takes to care for the ones they love. And if you get on their bad side, you might as well be dead. That’s what the news stories tell us anyway.

As we look at Hispanic males in pop-culture, other parts of this single-story are presented.

Take a look at Enrique Iglesias: romantic and dreamy. Looks like Hispanic men can be macho AND sensitive.

Here’s another example. The dad from Spy Kids. He does whatever it takes to protect his family. And he’s got Enrique’s charm. And he even sheds a few tears! Here we start to see the emotional side of Hispanic men that Hollywood portrays.

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That’s quite an interesting mold our society makes for Hispanic males- this idea of an emotional and sensitive man who performs the hard, dirty work. According to this limited social snapshot, it would be impossible to find a successful Hispanic male as the CEO of a company or with a career in law. Or as a politician. Or even a doctor or dentist. Though we know it certainly happens.

So there we have it. From Alabama to Hollywood to the US/Mexico border. As we examine the artifacts, it’s as though we are taught to stereotype ALL Hispanic males as poor, illegal immigrants who just might be romantically charming. But we all know this idea of a “single-story” doesn’t exist, no matter how much the media tries to persuade us. There is so much more to Hispanic males than our often naive and judgmental minds lead us to believe. Just as with people from every social group.

People defy social barriers every single day. It’s a beautiful thing.

Other sources analyzed:

Web article of Hispanic culture: http://www.latinoopinion.com/category/cultural-traits/

Newspaper article on border control: http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/29358346/border-patrol-agents-find-migrants-locked-in-car-trunks

Hispanic Labor Force: http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/hispaniclaborforce/