Hypersexualization and Underrepresentation:The Portrayal of Latinas in Jane the Virgin and Modern Family

Laura Yasmin Zarate is a senior at Murray State University majoring in Global Language/Spanish and minoring in Public and Community Health. Though born and raised in West Tennessee, she grew up in a bilingual home that gave her a passion for her culture and language. She has a variety of interests which include, but are not limited to language, Marvel, reading, video games, and current events. After graduating, she plans to follow her passions and work in a Spanish-related field or continue her studies in Spanish or Public and Community Health. Hypersexualization and Underrepresentation: The Portrayal of Latinas in Jane the Virgin and Modern Family. The Latinx community is one of the fastest growing groups in the United States and accounted for half of the total population growth from 2010-2019. Despite the increasing numbers, the statistics for Latinx representation in the media continue to be low. Numbers for Latinx writers, producers, and actors are significantly lower than their non-Latinx counterparts and Latinas, in specific, are one of the most underrepresented groups on television and often being portrayed as hypersexual in comparison to other groups of the same gender. While this underrepresentation has been researched in relation to women, there is limited discussion regarding the lack of representation of Latinas in American television programs. By studying and analyzing scholarly articles relating to this topic, workforce statistics, population graphs, and the television shows Jane the Virgin (Jennie Snyder Urman 2014-2019) and Modern Family (Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, 2009-2020), I compare and contrast the sexualization and representation of Latinas. I argue that Jane the Virgin and Modern Family hypersexualize and underrepresent Latinas because of the lack of Latinx creators as well as the ongoing prejudices and stereotypes that surround the portrayal of Latinas. By analyzing these shows, I want to bring attention to the deep-rooted biases that continue to plague the characterization of Latinas with the goal of bringing awareness to this problem in hopes of future accurate representations of Latinas by Latinxs not only in fictional works but also in our real-life perceptions of Latinas