Jane Gloria Villanueva's Jane The Virgin

The image of Latinas has changed numerously since television began. In the year of 1961, America was introduced to spicy, fierce, sexy Latina known as Anita in West Side Story. Since then, a majority of people had assumed that all Latinas were just like Anita. Angry, and disappointed, Latinas nationwide would say that they “racialized and sexualized the brown female body” after the release of West Side Story (Angharad). It was not until the late 1970’s to 1980’s that, ¿Qué Pasa, USA? became the first sitcom podcasted on national television in the United States. When ¿Qué Pasa, USA? was aired we were able to see the first all brown cast (¡Que Pasa!1). By all means, this particular show did a great job in portraying not only Latinas but Latinos

In the show Jane the Virgin, we get to meet Jane Gloria Villanueva, a Latina from Miami. Jane is portrayed by Puerto Rican actress, Gina Rodriguez. Throughout the show, we get to meet this young ambitious girl that never gives up on her dreams despite how impossible they may seem. It is important to realize, that at the beginning of the show Jane is a full-time student at the University of Miami and works full time. Not to mentation, we see the daily struggles Jane faces with, for example, not having her own transpiration, family problems, and economic status that makes it nearly impossible for her to keep pursuing her education. Despite all the obstacles, she manages to get her Bachelor’s degree in education, and becomes valedictorian of her class. As a Latina, I would say it is heartwarming to see on television an encouraging Latina that demonstrates the daily struggles that most Latinas can relate to. Not to mention, Gina’s character does not dress in tight close compared to Sofia’s character. Unlike Gloria, Jane dresses in flowy clothes, to be more exact in flowy sun dresses, or just pants and a regular blouse. Vanity Fair states that Gina Rodriguez, “breaks down the ugly ethnic and gender stereotypes.” Gina Rodriguez tells Vanity Fair, “Latinos are not just our nanny’s and our landscape artist, although both of those jobs are very admirable and pay a lot of money, but that’s not all we do.” (Buckner). Overall, one can agree with Gina since Latinos are capable of doing so much more. Gina also mentions that we have come to the era where television is finally noticing that we too are doctors, lawyers, and even