Core Post #3

Both Negron-Muntaner and Aubry address the social/racial significance of Jennifer Lopez’s butt. Each of them talks about the significance for minority women, and even men, to see a Hollywood star who con

forms to a more Latin or African-American standard of beauty. Aubry touches on the fact that Jennifer Lopez sits in that perfect ethnic sweet spot for Hollywood. Like Halle or Barrie Barrack Obama, she was “just ethnic enough” to seem exotic, but not enough not to freak out white America.The question is, to what degree does her popularity reflect a shift in American attitudes and standards, or a shift in demographics. Negron-Muntaner only deals with this question in discussing Hollywood’s interest in tapping the growing Latino market. I think her popularity is a result of both a change in the ethnic makeup of America and a not unrelated change in attitudes. As American changes, attitudes change. It becomes harder to hold racist or ethnocentric ideas as our exposure and mixing with other races increases.

What neither author addresses is the potential downside of the shifting of America’s standard of beauty from super-thin to a more voluptuous ideal. Obviously, holding girls to a largely unattainable standard of thinness has its harmful effects – eating disorders, negative self image, etc. But, a certain degree of thinness is healthy. We are in the middle of an epidemic of obesity and more teens are getting liposuction and other cosmetic procedures than ever. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/fashion/15skin.html) As Jennifer Lopez helps to shift standards of beauty from this:

to this:

which is great, we just have to make sure we’re not encouraging unhealthy behaviors.

Questions:

1. Compare Rachel Welsh's Latin identity to that of Jennifer Lopez. What does the difference have to say about the cultural context of each star?

2. Given the fact that Jennifer Lopez is Puerto Rican, how valid is it for ERIN J. AUBRY to read her status as a sex symbol as a victory for African-American women?

3. What role, if any, does the current epidemic of obesity in America play in shifting standards of beauty to a more voluptuous, curvy body type?