Angharad N. Valdivia

Presents innovative scholarship on Latina/o visibility in contemporary mainstream media Latina/os have seen increased visibility in the media in the past several years, especially in feature-length films, network television programs, and various digital platforms. The Gender of Latinidad: Uses and Abuses of Hybridity explores Latina/o visibility—analyzing presence, production, and interpretation throughout various media. An important contribution to the emerging field of Latina/o Media Studies, this unique volume brings together political economy and cultural studies to consider the limitations of cultural politics and explore current issues relevant to Latina/o cultural inclusion. Author Angharad N. Valdivia addresses the concept of hybridity and applies it to contemporary Latinidad, in which hybrid Latina/os lead hybrid lives and consume hybrid media. The text explores strategies for gendered visibility in a range of popular culture media, using the concept of hybridity to connect Latina/o Studies to Feminist Media Studies, Gender Studies, and Ethnic Studies. Throughout the text, the author discusses the inclusion Latina/o scholars and audiences seek and considers if such inclusion is even achievable. Offering intersectional exploration of Latinidad in mainstream media, this volume: Explores the trope of the spitfire in the context of popular mediaBrings Disney Studies into Latina/o StudiesDiscusses the dynamic inclusion of Latinidad in awards ceremoniesAssesses the implicit utopias of Latina/o representationPresents the only major academic treatment of Charo Presenting an original perspective on Latina/os in media, The Gender of Latinidad: Uses and Abuses of Hybridity is an ideal text for students and scholars in areas including Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, and general Media and Feminist Media Studies.

The U. S. mainstream media have a love and hate relationship with Latina/os. On the one hand the media treat as hot property such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera; on the other they contribute to the role of Latina/os as eternal foreigners, having continually to assert their belonging and citizenship. Latina/os and the Media brings together the scholarship of communication studies scholars working on issues of Latinidad and presents it in a coherent, vibrant and accessible form to shed light on the complex relationship between Latina/os and the media. Latina/os and the Media includes the coverage of the following: the participation of Latina/os in media production; the forms in which Latina/os are represented in media; the ways that Latina/os interpret media and that other audiences interpret Latina/os in the media; and the social scientific effects of the forms in which Latina/os are represented on Latina/os in particular and culture at large. The book draws on a rich set of examples to illustrate its conclusions. It will be the first port of call for anyone wanting to know about the relationship between Latina/os and the media, including for those students taking classes on minorities and the media, or issues around race and diversity.

The U. S. mainstream media have a love and hate relationship with Latina/os. On the one hand the media treat as hot property such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera; on the other they contribute to the role of Latina/os as eternal foreigners, having continually to assert their belonging and citizenship. Latina/os and the Media brings together the scholarship of communication studies scholars working on issues of Latinidad and presents it in a coherent, vibrant and accessible form to shed light on the complex relationship between Latina/os and the media. Latina/os and the Media includes the coverage of the following: the participation of Latina/os in media production; the forms in which Latina/os are represented in media; the ways that Latina/os interpret media and that other audiences interpret Latina/os in the media; and the social scientific effects of the forms in which Latina/os are represented on Latina/os in particular and culture at large. The book draws on a rich set of examples to illustrate its conclusions. It will be the first port of call for anyone wanting to know about the relationship between Latina/os and the media, including for those students taking classes on minorities and the media, or issues around race and diversity.

Based on an ethnography of Fort St. George Museum in Chennai (formerly Madras), India, Remembering Empire explores the public and private politics of preserving the memory of the British period in the former seat of the British East India Company. K. E. Supriya shows how the preservation of artifacts and paintings from the British period has become a means through which the imperialist politics of empire are reworked in the cultural memory of the South Indian people. Field-work in the museum and extensive interviews across three generations show how Indians reconcile with the Britishness of Indian identity. Woven throughout is the author's probing commentary on the significance of affirmative conversations about racialized pasts in the United States. Remembering Empire essential reading for anyone interested in postcolonial India and the politics of cultural memory.

From ads for Victoria's Secret to the character roles of Rosie Perez, the mass media have been defining race and femininity. In this diverse set of essays, Angharad N. Valdivia breaks theoretical and methodological boundaries by exploring the relationship of the media to various audiences. Throughout A Latina in the Land of Hollywood we are challenged to think differently about the media messages we often unconsciously consume, such as the popular representations of certain Latina cultural icons. Valdivia shows how reporters focus on Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchu's big smile, Brazilian media magnate Xuxa's blonde hair, and Puerto Rican actress Rosie Perez's high-pitched voice, never quite creating a comprehensive portrayal of these women. In her discussion of lingerie catalogs, Valdivia uncovers a similarly skewed depiction. The lush, high-class bedrooms of Victoria's Secret differ as much from the earthy, spare world of Frederick's of Hollywood as the types, sizes, and uses of the lingerie that the two companies sell. Valdivia takes a look at family films, arguing that single mothers are almost always portrayed as either trampy floozies or sexless, hapless women, whereas single dads fare much better. Whether examining one teenager's likes and dislikes or considering single parenthood in family films, Valdivia investigates how popular culture has become the arena in which we struggle to know ourselves and to make ourselves known. She calls for scholars to move beyond investigating implicit themes in films and media to studying the ways that audiences of different colors, ages, genders, and sexual preferences might understand or misunderstand such cultural messages. A Latina in the Land of Hollywood aims to explode traditional discussions of media and popular culture. It is a must-read for anyone interested in popular culture, television, and film.