Latin America Lesson

Lessons Not Learned In School
My parents were born in Latin America and that, by default, makes me Latina. This is how I identify. When I am asked where I am from, and believe me, I am always asked, I tend to respond “I’m from L.A.”. This has become my go-to answer mostly because at twenty-seven, I still don’t know how to begin answering that question without asking myself if I should respond with the name of the country of my parents’ origin. As a Latina I’ve had to endure the slew of traditional gender stereotypes like being home-oriented and taking care of everyone but myself. Throughout my educational and work experiences, my social morals have also been reinforced by the racism, sexism and the great divide between social classes that I
I attended the relatively famous John Marshall High School where Leonardo DiCaprio is a former student, and the student body was no stranger to film crews being on campus. Many popular television shows and films have used its gothic bell tower, its brick façade, and even its football field to showcase a “typical” American teenager’s life on screen, but its location in the white neighborhood of Los Feliz limited my exposure to minorities – so much so, that I never felt like a minority myself. The television shows I watched never had people of color. I never thought that the lack of representation affected me but after watching Miss Representation I am aware of the impact those images had one me and my self-esteem growing up. It was said that about 65% of girls end up with eating disorders. Jhally’s film Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women with Jean Killbourne also had similar statistics alongside images that I was honestly used to seeing. Images that unbeknownst to me damaged the psyche of my peers so much that many of them developed eating drug addictions or disorders to stay thin by the time we were 17. My friends in school were mostly white, thin, and middle class with names like Hannah and Kimberly but I also had friends named Rosa, and Juana. My Latina friends and I never felt adequate enough even though we all had access to the same education and dressed alike. Although there were African-American students on campus, only “2.1 percent of students” are African-American and they were either in the Honor’s program or they kept to themselves (California Schools Guide). I admit I had a very sheltered life due to my family’s expectations and as such, I’d never traveled south of USC before my 21st birthday. Having never been exposed or associated with African-American’s growing