August 12, 2009

A Celebration of Latina Bloggers

On more than one occasion I’ve been told that I don’t appear to be a Latina. In some cases it’s because of the way I look; in others it’s the fact that I speak English with no Spanish accent. Sometimes it’s my name (Jennifer) or that I was born in Chicago to an American mother. Never mind that I was raised in Central America, my father and two younger siblings were born in El Salvador, and I speak Spanish fluently. Or that I make a mean Huevos Rancheros, would eat rice and beans daily if I could, and I love all kinds of musica latina (except maybe Rancheras). I guess you could say that I’m cursed by the stereotype of how a Latina is supposed to look and sound.

I realize that this is nothing new. But recently, I chatted on Twitter with some Latina bloggers about how the stereotype issue has extended to the blogoshphere; one of them blogged about it here http://tikitikiblog.com/your-typical-latina/. We laughed heartily as we talked about our “gringa” names and whether or not we wear the stereotypical hoop earrings (we do – silver only). But the undertone of the conversation was that, while we can laugh about it, the issue of stereotypes is a serious one. One blogger says she’s had PR people ask her to “sound more Latina” in her blog posts. And at the recent BlogHer (http://www.blogher.com/)%20conferenceconference, Latina bloggers were clearly under-represented. To be clear, I’m in no way implying that there’s any discrimination going on here. Rather I’m making the point that – to the surprise of many – a really broad community of talented Latina bloggers exists.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have met many of them over the last several months. They’re an impressive and diverse bunch of women who write about everything you’d expect ANY blogger to write about. They’re talented, funny, insightful, political, creative, and more. Yet they approach their craft with a Latina flair that makes their blogs extra special. They blog in English. Or in Spanglish. Or in Spanish. Some even keep bilingual blogs.

While these talented women are working feverishly to connect and network with each other, I can’t say they were easy to find. I found them the way you’d meet friends “IRL” (that’s online speak for “in real life”). I found one, who led me to another and so on through blog rolls, Twitter streams and old-fashioned “hey, check this out” referrals. And while I’ve only met a few of these fabulous women in person, I consider many of them my friends.

I wish more people knew about them and read their blogs. Because maybe then people would understand that being a Latina is not about your name or what you look like. It’s about a shared cultura that brings us all together. So it’s in that spirit that we’re kicking off our company’s blog roll with a list of some of the chicas fabulosas we’ve come to know and love. The list is by no means exhaustive. Rather, it’s intended to demonstrate the diversity of talent in the Latina blogging world. It’s meant to celebrate the collective force of their voices – of their words and their opinions. And we look forward to adding more.

Please support them. And I hope any of you Latina bloggers who are not on this list – or who we haven’t connected with yet – will reach out. We’d like to get to know you.

A sampling of some of the bloggers we know:
http://www.nycitymama.com/ (NY City based travel blogger and mami to 3 boys)
http://www.latinaonamission.com/ (Single mami to 2 boys enjoying NY life to its fullest – frugally)
http://www.spanglishbaby.com/ (Two Latina mamis whose site is dedicated to the subject of raising bilingual kids)
http://www.mamalatinatips.com/ (L.A.-based Latina mami whose posts are written in both English and Spanish)
http://www.bilingualintheboonies.com/ (Una Cubanita living in Tennessee!)
http://www.mamaheartsbaby.com/ (Otra Cubanita who writes about balancing living as woman and Mami in New England)
http://www.modernmami.com/ (Orlando-based Puerto Rican working mom who blogs about all things mom)
http://www.thathappenedtome.com/ (LA-based Latina whose site is a resource for women who have found themselves single as a result as a break-up, divorce or death)www.mybigfatcubanfamily.com/ (SoCal based Cuban mami blogging about living life as a Cuban-American)

Jennifer Vides is Senior Vice President at RL Public Relations. She can be reached at jennifer.vides@rlpublicrelations.com

19 comments:

Carolyn G said...

That is a fantastic list of some Latina bloggers, thank you. I think I read most of them now but will check out the new ones.

I am a Latina blogger too so it;s nice to find my hermanas!!

Yoly said...

Thank you for putting this list together. As a Latina blogger can relate to your article.

Ana L. Flores said...

Thanks so much for including us (SpanglishBaby). I want to see this list growing and growing!!

Carrie-in-TN said...

Gracias for the great post and the love for all of us...
Note that Carla, Marta and I (along with partner Violeta) write together regularly at www.tikitikiblog.com -- a cultura blog. We welcome contributors!
Abrazos...

Everydaytreats said...

Hi! I got here through Carrie's tweet - thank you for the shout out to all Latina bloggers. As you say, we're out there - and we're not letting others define who we are or what we blog about.

Roxanna

www.diary.blogs.com
Twitter: @miguelina

Marcela said...

Great list! Lot of these I have had the pleasure to meet!

I would love to be added( :

web.me.com/marcelabeatty

(8 year olds & babies)

RLPR said...

I love to see you all coming out to see us. I keep adding. Keep referring! Besotes, hermanas!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for putting this list together and including me! I'm connecting with more and more Latinas every day.

Dr. Daisy said...

Excellent Post! :)

I'm a Latina also and many don't realize it:)

My main page is http://drmommyllc.com and my personal blog is http://drmommychronicles.com

Would love to meet all the wonderful Latinas IRL one day:)

Lisa said...

As Latina blogger, I'm glad to know there are so many talented ladies.

This list is great. I love all those blogs you stated. Thanks for showing your Latina support!

Nikki said...

What a great blog to see. I have the pleasure of knowing some of these latina bloggers. Some of the other women are new to me so I'm happy for a chance to get to know them now. Thanks!

Latina Beauty said...

Great list! I'm glad to see that there are many Latina's out there blogging and I am glad to be one of them. I am a beauty blogger and can be found at LatinaBeautyBlog.com and on Twitter @LatinaBeautyBlo.

Carla said...

Thank you so much for the kind mention! I have really enjoyed connecting with you and the many other Latina bloggers I've recently "met". This is a great list, gracias!

Marta said...

Love the list! And thanks for the mention.
MUAH! (*Cuban air kiss*)

ScoringDeals said...

That's a great list! I have read most of the featured blogs and twittered with some of this great chicas, too!

I blog at www.scoringdeals.com
www.twitter.com/ScoringDeals

It's nice to find more latinas around!

Where do I find you on Twitter, RLPR?

Veronica said...

Here I am!

Viva la Feminista at http://www.vivalafeminista.com

And I was also at Blogher! Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet. Perhaps because we weren't wearing our "I'm a Latina, ask me how!" buttons. ;-)

Thanks for this post.

RLPR said...

Wow! Thanks for all of the comments! I can't wait to read all of your blogs and to connect. Adding, adding... :)

Jennifer Vides

Silvia said...

Hi Jennifer, great list, thanks for having me on it.

And thanks for your efforts to get us all together.

I hope the list keep growing

Silvia

www.mamamalatinatips.com

Vivi said...

With this one blog post I am now connecting to so many fellow Latina bloggers. How wonderful is that? My afternoon will be spent reading all these great blogs and adding to my blog listing. ;)