The article “Blond thing a bombshell for Latinas” (Perspective, March 10) was interesting and, although I agree with author Teresa Puente’s basic premise, I feel that the problem is not just about Latinas trying to fit the ideal of the blond, thin, white American model (although it’s true that Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Penelope Cruz dyed their hair).
The truth is that Norma Jean was a brunette before she became Marilyn and most white females around the world who dye their manes blond aren’t exactly naturally blond.
We Latinas should be proud of our heritage and our skin colors. But the desire to change hair or eye color , be thin or in shape, to have curly or straight hair should not be seen just as an abnegation of our heritage, no more than Madonna’s hairstyle changes should be considered a denial of her Mediterranean darker looks.
The desire to look like someone else is not a monopoly of a given group. It’s a problem with our society, one that has been lying around for many centuries. (Marie Antoinette wore a white, curly, puffy wig and used fake birthmarks, and even before that, Cleopatra used make-up).
It’s nothing new in Hollywood; some male actors even wear hairpieces to cover their balding heads.
My problem with the article is that if a Latina does it, it’s not because she is trying to be Hollywood-like. No, it’s because she wants to be white.
I would never change my looks, and I am not totally satisfied with them. But if I ever did, as a Latina, what I look like does not alter the fact that I am fiercely proud of my heritage. If I wish to change for creative reasons, for professional reasons or just because I succumbed to the desire to look like a model (God forbid), good or bad, my doing so should not be considered or seen any differently than my white neighbor’s desire to dye her mousy brown curls red.
A makeover is makeover, whether you are white, Latina, Asian, African-American or Marilyn Monroe.
