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Start Date
23-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
23-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
In 2016, Buzzfeed announced the creation of Pero Like, a Facebook page and YouTube channel that would “look at the myriad identities under the ‘Latinx umbrella,’ … and everyone who’s been told they don’t look Latina.” Pero Like followed the footsteps of mitú, a new media multi-channel network created in 2012 to target younger, bicultural Latinx audiences who are avid internet users and overlooked by legacy media.
By employing textual analysis of mitú and Pero Like videos distributed between 2016 and 2020 that were produced by or feature any or all of its four most popular Latina content creators—Jenny Lorenzo, Maya Murillo, Julissa Calderon, and Kat Lazo—I examine how these creators negotiate Latinidad through social media entertainment (SME). I argue that the SME content produced by and starring these four millennials mediates ideological panethnicity through the politics of Latinx millenniality. Milagros Ricourt and Ruby Danta define ideological panethnicity as the discourses voiced by cultural and political leaders to construct panethnic Latinidad. This paper traces the work of the four abovementioned creators and how each articulates the politics of Latinx millenniality through the following themes: cultural specificity, panethnicity, generational differences, language practices, race and racism, and beauty standards. These content creators’ relationships to and participation within SME allows us to understand how members of this generation navigate panethnicity and produce new forms of media practice that enable conversations about Latinx identity. As such, this paper contributes to the fields of Latinx media studies and new media studies.
Ethnorace, Beauty, and Language: Exploring Latinx Panethnicity and Generational Differences through Social Media Entertainment
In 2016, Buzzfeed announced the creation of Pero Like, a Facebook page and YouTube channel that would “look at the myriad identities under the ‘Latinx umbrella,’ … and everyone who’s been told they don’t look Latina.” Pero Like followed the footsteps of mitú, a new media multi-channel network created in 2012 to target younger, bicultural Latinx audiences who are avid internet users and overlooked by legacy media.
By employing textual analysis of mitú and Pero Like videos distributed between 2016 and 2020 that were produced by or feature any or all of its four most popular Latina content creators—Jenny Lorenzo, Maya Murillo, Julissa Calderon, and Kat Lazo—I examine how these creators negotiate Latinidad through social media entertainment (SME). I argue that the SME content produced by and starring these four millennials mediates ideological panethnicity through the politics of Latinx millenniality. Milagros Ricourt and Ruby Danta define ideological panethnicity as the discourses voiced by cultural and political leaders to construct panethnic Latinidad. This paper traces the work of the four abovementioned creators and how each articulates the politics of Latinx millenniality through the following themes: cultural specificity, panethnicity, generational differences, language practices, race and racism, and beauty standards. These content creators’ relationships to and participation within SME allows us to understand how members of this generation navigate panethnicity and produce new forms of media practice that enable conversations about Latinx identity. As such, this paper contributes to the fields of Latinx media studies and new media studies.
Bio
Dr. Arcelia Gutiérrez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She specializes in Latinx media studies, media activism, and media industries. Her current book manuscript traces how Latinx media activists have navigated processes of media deregulation and the strategies they’ve used to push for the inclusion of Latinxs in television, film, and radio.