Do You See What I See?

The pervasiveness of harmful stereotypes about Latinos has led to concern over the effects of these on individuals. The mass media play a central role in perpetuating these stereotypes, yet we know very little about how Latinos perceive them. The purpose of this study was to examine how Latino adolescents view portrayals of Latino characters on Spanish- and English-language television programs. Thirty-seven Latino high school students participated in the questionnaire and focus group study. The adolescents were aware of the negative and stereotypical portrayals of Latinos presented on English-language television but considered Spanish-language television to present more balanced portrayals. Gender, immigrant generation, and regular television-viewing behaviors were all important factors that related to how the participants viewed the programs.

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