Writing POC 101

Latin American Characters - @LightenTheShadows

I'm a Latina.

I'm an Argentinean girl with many years of Argentinean blood running through my veins who just so happens to be living in Canada. I've lived in North America for many years, spending my Christmases and summers in both countries. If I ever see Latin American characters like myself in books, they're often misrepresented or all shoved into the same category, so I hope in this chapter you'll find my advice helpful if you're thinking of writing a Latina character and find yourself not exactly on my part of the ethnic spectrum.

Stereotypes:

Poor grades, boyfriend is in a gang, and she's more 'macho' than every cartel leader in the world.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I've yet to meet a Latina woman or Latin American man who fits this profile, neither in my home country of Argentina or Canada. I, myself, am usually considered quite intelligent, as are many other Latin American friends of mine. Unless your story takes place in Mexico where widely-known drug cartels are more prominent, a Latin American character being in a gang is just offensive and stereotypical.

2. Can't speak English, has a thick accent, and swears in Spanish all day long.

If we are living in a primarily English-speaking country, why would we just start swearing our heads off in Spanish for no reason? Sure, if I stub my toe a "puta madre!' will slip out, but I'm not just going to start going off at people! Also, if your character has been in the country since they were little, a thick accent when speaking English is highly unrealistic. If your character came at an older age or something, try having them say s-beginning words like it has an 'e' in front of it like "Esportcheck" instead of "Sportcheck." It will give your characters realism and it's accurate.

3. Everyone that speaks Spanish gets the same jokes and speaks in the same way.

Let me just ring a buzzer! Different countries each have their unique way of speaking Spanish. We all have our own unique customs and even different words meaning the same thing (Ex: Sumo means "Juice" in Spain while Latin Americans are usually caught saying Jugo). Something growing up in Spain will have a completely different childhood than someone from Chile.

4. Everyone is Spanish.

According to most-every North American, speaking Spanish automatically makes you Spanish.

Wrong on so many levels, let me tell you. It's like if I said someone was English because they spoke English when you really they were Canadian, if that makes more sense. Spanish is often used as a generalized term for people who speak Spanish when that is not the case. If you don't want to refer to your character but rather their culture, say Hispanic - or Latino/Latina if the character is from a Latin American country.

Side Note: Spaniards are not Latin American, they are European.

Suggestions:

Now, I only know about Argentinean culture for the most part, so I'm going to stick with that so that I don't give anyone any bad advice.

Food: Empanadas and Asada are probably our most traditional foods. Emanadas are savoury pastries filled with joy and occasionally meat and egg or corn - while an Asada is basically like a big barbecue with every meat you can think of - including chorizo, so, yum. Alfajores are also a popular dessert in Argentina, the small pastry-like cookies being stuck together with Dulce de Leche - a caramel-like food - and sometimes bathed in chocolate.

Traditions: We eat supper extremely late compared to North American culture. To Argentineans, supper is the last thing you do before going to bed, so most Argentineans eat supper at 9:00 or later.

If you walk around Argentina, you won't see any traditional dress on the streets. Gauchos are the supposed "traditional" dress of Argentina, but you'll never see anyone wear them.

Like Mexicans, Argentineans consider the age of 15 important in a girl's life instead of 16. There's a big party and such, but this is not to be confused with the Mexican Quinceñera - which has many unique traditions. Do not call a non-Mexican celebration of a girl's 15th birthday a Quinceñera, please.

The People:

Most Argentineans are very stubborn, it's a common trait amongst us - but that doesn't mean your character has to be a hothead, either.

The most I can say on this is appearances. Many Latin American countries have a lot of European influence - let it be Spanish, Italian, or even German - so not everyone will have olive skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. Don't white-wash your Latin American characters, but this is just a reminder that Latinas can have light hair, light eyes, and lighter skin as well if not a combination of a bunch of features.

Thank you all for reading and I hope this helps whoever's out there thinking of writing a Latin American character!

~ Just a fifteen-year-old Latina trying to get represented properly :)