Hispanics Are __________.

Submitted by Vanessa on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 13:28

This has been the most difficult blog for me to write in three months of writing for The Online Grapevine. I attempted to poll my friends for their opinions and only got one response. Stereotypes are something that's really difficult for people to put their finger on. The one response was about people assuming that male nurses are either gay or incompetent, something that would annoy me too if I were a nurse, but I'm not and it's just not something I can speak to. However, something everyone can identify with is the racial stereotype. I spent some time wondering why racial stereotypes are so infuriating and my conclusion is that it has to do with the nature of what a race is. A race or culture is when people are categorized into a certain group for the very reason that is behind stereotypes - because they typically share various traits.

People of a particular culture are considered part of that culture because they were born in the same place, grew up in the same country, speak the same language, etc. as every other person in that group. Therefore it's all the more facile for people to accept and/or assume cultural stereotypes. The homosexual community or political groups (and other categories that are usually stereotyped) span cultures, and it's hard to box someone up with the other people that fit into those groups. However, when you have everything in common with your culture except for that one stereotype you make yourself sound like a fanatic if you come to your own defense and you want to pull your hair out if you suffer in silence.

I am of Puerto Rican descent on both sides of my family and the stereotype that annoys me most is that Hispanic people are loud. It annoys me for two reasons: 1- Almost all Hispanic people are, in fact, LOUD. My friend Naomi is the only Hispanic I’ve met that has an indoor voice. 2 – I am not loud. I can become loud, and sometimes I laugh really loudly, but my default speaking volume is not SHOUT. The moments this irks me the most is when I am speaking to my mother, who will speak at the top of her lungs… in a car! You’re not much closer to someone even if you’re standing right in front of him, or next to him. If it's winter you've got the windows rolled up and all the ambient noise is blocked out. Yet she is never louder than she is in the car, and mostly because she’s on her cell phone.

Have you ever seen a Hispanic person talking on her cell phone? You wonder if the person on the other end was deaf to begin with, or became deaf by speaking to that woman. The most unnerving aspect of this is that there are no roots to tie it to. Somewhere along the timeline of history, Hispanic people became really loud for no good reason. The few times that people were aware of my ethnicity before they met me I’ve either been told or could tell from observation that they expected me to be boisterous. This is not to say that I’m not outgoing, but an outgoing personality has little to do with speaking volume. I know how to have a normal conversation. And that’s all I have to say about the subject. There isn’t going to be any deep philosophical conclusion about stereotypes and how we as a society can better ourselves by rising above them. This is one fact of life I doubt will change, much like our brown eyes and curly hair. Well, most Hispanics have brown eyes and curly hair…

-Vanessa is a blogger for The Sorbate. Check out her bio to see where her view comes from.

Hispanics Are __________.

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