Core Post 4/18: Jennifer's Butt

Frances Negrón-Muntaner's reading, Jennifer's Butt, simultaneously discussed the publics evolving perception of the "Latino" image and the scrutiny Jennifer Lopez received when casted as Selena. Culturally, Selena was an icon appealing to both "sides" of her cultural heritage, both Chicano and American. Regardless of her influence and massive star power across a variety of demographics, even she was influenced by America's unreasonable physical ideals and criticisms, causing her to diet and have procedure's done such as liposuction. In retrospect, her going to these lengths and being self-conscious about her curvy figure is sad and demoralizing. When explaining Jennifer Lopez's experience as Selena, Lopez got a much different taste of the cultural ideals on body image. Although Lopez faced scrutiny for not being Chicano, but instead Puerto Rican, the public quickly accepted her in Selena's role after seeing the great lengths the production team was going to, to ensure that their depiction of Selena was being executed both accurately and respectively. 

Lopez's body, unlike Selena's, was not criticized, but instead was accentuated, objectified, and celebrated as an entity of both her and Selena's. Negrón-Muntaner explains that the glorification of Lopez's figure was consistent with the theme of Latin culture and its fascination with women's curves, and more specifically, Latin women's butt's. Currently, the public's criticism of curvy women seems to be much more minimal and on a broader scope of acceptance. With that said the Latin body image has fallen into a category of expected sensual objectification that follows a criteria of characteristics, typecasting Latin women into a specific dimension of use and character's. Understanding Selena and Lopez's struggle with body image in the public eye may make thing's seem like they have evolved into a more understanding and less critical place, and they may be true, but has an unrealistic and more critical stereotype emerged from it?