edwardnvgmas:

with Oscar Isaac and Diego Luna becoming fandom faves, I think it’s important to take a moment to re-evaluate the way you talk about your latinx faves.

as a latinx, I have often seen people talk about these actors and their characters in a way which makes me uncomfortable. this mostly comes in the form of them and their speaking spanish. for example: I have seen a lot of people referring to Diego Luna’s accent when speaking English as “cute” or “adorable”, yet these are a lot of the same people who would side-eye any Mexican/latinx with English anything less than perfect. It also relates to the immediate sexualization of the spanish language when it comes to these actors. I cannot count the amount of times people post things such as “[insert latinx character] speaking spanish during sex”. It makes it seem as if speaking their native tongue is inherently a sexual activity. I also see videos of them speaking spanish being posted with captions calling them names like “papi” and this is extremely harmful to the way people view the latinx community. there is already an extremely sexualized view of latinxs, specially women, as they are expected to be suave and sexy and curvy thanks to media stereotypes. By constantly assigning a sexual value to a person speaking spanish, you are helping to perpetuate this which ultimately is not gonna help anyone.

there is a very vast difference in the way people talk about their white faves vs. their latinx faves. there is an immediate sexualization of spanish only when it’s convenient. by praising these actors for speaking their language, you are making it seem as if spanish is only beautiful when spoken by a lucky few, only by the people you deem worthy enough to speak the language and be praised for it, while latinxs everywhere get harrassed for speaking it on the street. I understand this is not the intention of most people, but it still comes off that way and it is very harmful. Even when headcanons say things such as “[insert character] swearing in spanish when they’re mad”. It glorifies these aspects of them being bilingual but only when done by them, if a normal latinx swore in spanish in public while mad they’d be viewed as aggressive. These actors/characters are viewed as a show, kind of an extension of the “omg say something in Spanish” phenomenon. You’re viewing them through a lens that makes them into objects due to their ethnicity.

In summary, I am 100% on board for latinx characters and actors becoming fan favorites. I cannot begin to tell you how happy it makes me. However, be careful of how you speak of them. Appreciate the spanish language and their latinx roots, but do it in a way which is mindful and respectful.