Performing Stereotypical Tropes on Social Media Sites: How Popular Latina Performers Reinscribe Heteropatriarchy on Instagram

California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations Office of aduateGr Studies 9-2018 Performing Stereotypical Tropes on Social Media Sites: How Popular Latina Performers Reinscribe Heteropatriarchy on Instagram Ariana Arely Cano California State University - San Bernardino Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Cano, Ariana Arely, "Performing Stereotypical Tropes on Social Media Sites: How Popular Latina Performers Reinscribe Heteropatriarchy on Instagram" (2018). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 756. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/756 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of aduateGr Studies at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PERFORMING STEREOTYPICAL TROPES ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITES: HOW POPULAR LATINA PERFORMERS REINSCRIBE HETEROPATRIARCHY ON INSTAGRAM ! ! A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino ! ! In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Communication Studies ! ! by Ariana Arely Cano September 2018 PERFORMING STEREOTYPICAL TROPES ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITES: HOW POPULAR LATINA PERFORMERS REINSCRIBE HETEROPATRIARCHY ON INSTAGRAM ! A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino ! by Ariana Arely Cano September 2018 Approved by: ! Rod Metts, Committee Chair, Communication Studies ! Ece Algan, Committee Member ! Zala Volčič, Committee Member ! ! ! ! ! ! © 2018 Ariana Arely Cano ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ABSTRACT This research analyzed three Latina social media celebrities’ self-presentations on Instagram and focused on whether or not the content they published po- tentially challenges or simply perpetuates stereotypical tropes of Latinas found in mainstream media. This qualitative study took an Ideological Critical approach through a textual analysis that was informed by Feminist Theory. More specifical- ly the research focused on: What were Latina social media celebrities self-presentations on Instagram that characterize what a Latina is? How were Latina social media celebrities self-presentations different from or similar to, mainstream stereotypical tropes for Latinas? Lastly, how do the Latina social media celebrities’ self-presentations compare and contrast, what type of themes emerged? iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I sincerely want to thank my family, friends, cohort, the faculty in the Communication department, and the individuals that helped guide this thesis — my deepest gratitude to my committee members and my mom. Dr. Metts, thank you for being so patient, for all your mentorship, and for allowing me the space to grow intellectually. Dr. Algan and Dr. Volčič thank you for your continuous support and willingness to assist me. Mamí muchísimas gracias por todo tu apoyo. This thesis would not have been possible without you four, thank you! ! iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ iv INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………..…. 1 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................... 6 Latina ................................................................................................. 7 Latina Social Media Celebrities ......................................................... 11 Hegemony ......................................................................................... 12 Social Media as Alternative Media .................................................... 16 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................... 21 Everyday Life .......................................................................... 21 Spectacle ................................................................................ 25 Alienation in the Age of Digital Capitalism ......................................... 28 Performances .................................................................................... 32 Possibility of Authentic Expression ......................................... 32 The Anticipatory, Speculative Self .......................................... 34 Self Presentation ............................................................................... 36 Self-Branding and Exoticization ........................................................ 44 Research Questions .......................................................................... 49 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………… 51 The Text ............................................................................................. 57 Critical Perspective ............................................................................ 58 v Ideological Criticism ........................................................................... 60 CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS ……………….………………………… 62 Lele Pons .......................................................................................... 63 Salice Rose ........................................................................................ 68 Andrea Espada .................................................................................. 73 Themes ............................................................................................. 78 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION Implications of Themes ...................................................................... 82 Emoji ...................................................................................... 82 Dancing and Music ................................................................. 84 Spanish …………………………………………………………… 87 Ethno-National Exoticization …………………………………… 90 Hypersexualization ……………………………………………… 91 Spitfire Latina ……………………………………………………. 94 Another Kind of Exhibitionism …………………………………. 96 Following or Challenging Professional Templates ............................. 97 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 104 Limitations ............................................................................... 107 Future Research ..................................................................... 108 Call to Action ........................................................................... 109 APPENDIX A ……………………………………………………………………… 111 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………… 114 vi INTRODUCTION As more people are creating content on social media sites, it is important to understand these new grassroots/forms of cultural productions. Historically, traditional media have controlled the means of production, distribution and exhibi- tion, and have worked to produce, create, and maintain hegemonic practices and representations that serve the interests of those are are able to wield this power. Mainstream constructions have been produced and reaffirmed by media representations, commonsense assumptions, about race, class, and gender that rein- force stereotypical performances. Marginalized groups had little to no control in how they were represented in traditional media. As Marx and Engels have noted, “The class [typically white men] which has the means of material production at its disposal consequently also controls the means of mental production” (1970, p. 59). Traditional media do not provide the opportunity for the consumer to easily produce media content; therefore, traditional media have worked to marginalize the voices of the Other. Social media however, is a system that offers consumers an ability to interact with one another and become producers of culture and content. Social media might provide an opportunity to shift power structures because anyone (with access) can produce content. Traditional media have long rein- forced racist stereotypes and sexist ideologies especially in their depiction of Latinas in exaggerated and oversimplified roles, which not only affects cultural predispositions of the Latina, but also Latinas personally. Historically, media representations of Latinas include oversimplified roles such as: dangerous, catty, "1 exotic, sexy, lazy, loud, crazy, etc. (Correa, 2010; Meskin, 2007; Reynolds, 2016; Rojas, 2004; Ovalle, 2010). Media, in general, encourage ‘the gaining and main- taining’ of hegemonic White male heterosexist power, that continues to marginalize the Latina. The negative depictions of Latinas disenfranchises their sense of self and is more often produced by people with and in power. Traditional media producers perpetuate racist, sexist, and classist stereotypes, that degrade Latina culture. Before exploring social media and online platforms, it is necessary to es- tablish the framework of online spaces that differentiate it from other media. Ny- gren & Gidlund's (2016) state, It is necessary to analyze an understanding of power that goes beyond that of power as a relationship between oppressors and the oppressed where the individual could stage one’s individualization as creating value for one’s self while at the same time being exploited and creating surplus value for capitalism, and

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