Stereotypes In Shakespeare's Othello

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In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the title character is a 16th century Moorish general of the Venetian army who, because of the cultural and historical background of the play’s setting, the playwright, and the original intended audience, is portrayed as both well-respected for his military prowess and disparaged for his race. Similarly, because of American media’s portrayal of them, Latinas in today’s American society are both praised for being perceived as nurturing and hardworking maternal figures and dismissively labelled the “spicy latina”.
The way Othello is treated is a juxtaposition to how valuable he truly is. The people of Venice talk down on him because of his race, but they respect him for his military expertise. Othello is a wealthy and powerful general. Throughout history, Moors were seen as “savage” and “uncivilized,” so the impressions of Othello were exactly those. In contrast, due to all his success, Othello was “promoted” and “highly regarded.” He commands a Venetian army. When in need the Duke makes Othello his first choice even if he already had soldiers. They needed one with “mighty preparation” to …show more content…

It’s not hard to find examples of the sexualization of latinas. For example, the role of Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez on Glee or Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s music videos or even shameless advertisements, display the depictions of Latinas in today’s media. This portrayal has also led people to blame the rate of teen pregnancies in the community on the “spicy latina”. (add spicy latina evidence) In reality, this does not reflect the hypersexuality of Latinas. Studies have shown that the same amount of non-latinas are having relations. Their pregnancies are questions of not being able to receive birth controls or having been raised through an “abstinence only” education, so they aren’t taught how to make safe and healthy decisions about their sexual

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