[su_heading size=”25″ align=”left”]Challenging the Latina media stereotype[/su_heading]

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Maritza Arreola. Photo Diana K. Arreola

Authentic and honest portrayals of Chicana and Latina women are hard to come by. Doing a simple Google search will tell you this. As I was doing research for a photo project, I was disheartened to find that the majority of images of Chicanas and Latinas on social media are pornographic, racist and not at all representative of these women’s identities, and just how complex they are.

Through all of this, I came across a Tumblr blog called “Reclaim The Latina Tag,” in which Latina women submitted selfies and wrote a bit about themselves in order to combat the alarming amount of pornography that that arises when you search through the “Latina” tag on Tumblr. This inspired me to create “Mujeres Valientes,” a collaborative photo project aimed at changing the hyper-sexualized and racist views of Chicana and Latina women that cater to the “male gaze.”

I hope to change these narratives by giving women a platform to reclaim and express their most authentic selves through photography and storytelling. By collaborating with the women in these images, they are given the agency and power to reclaim their identities and show who they are as they want to be seen.

If you would like to participate in this project, you can contact me at dianaka555@gmail.com or you can send me a message via my website at dkaphoto.com