Latinitas Hot Topic: Brown skin and blond hair: what do you think?

[Vanessa Rodriguez]

Lately, I can't help but notice that a lot of female celebrities have died their hair blond. The most recent one that comes to mind is Beyonce. I saw her new hair on one of the last shows of Oprah and I have to say, as beautiful as she is, I didn't like it. The biggest reason why I wasn't very convinced was because it actually made her skin tone lighter. Another celebrity that decided to go lighter was Shakira. She's been blond for a while but just like Beyonce's new look, I'm not very excited about the blond and it's also because it seems like her latina skin tone was lightened. A lot of Latinas can relate to Beyonce and Shakira's skin tone because, naturally, the majority of us have a light brown tone, and I feel it should be celebrated! I don't think these women are necessarily hiding their roots (after all they're role models for women of a minority) but I feel that their also not celebrating them either. Do you feel that blond hair doesn't really celebrate these celebrities' natural heritage?

What about this? Blond hair can aslo be very contraversal for latinas because there are a few of us who are actually light complected and have the natrual blond hair. Believe it or not, Cameron Diaz is actually a latina too! I was surprised to find that out and I feel that the biggest reason why her hispanic heretage isn't highly known like Shakira's is because she's light complected and blond. I do understand that she is natrually light complected but does her skin tone and hair color not represent her Hispanic background?

What exactly represents a Hispanic background?

[Dominique Gonzalez]

Vanessa, this is a very interesting observation! I am light skinned, have light brown hair and colored eyes. Everyone always called me gringa, and for a while I actually believed I didn't fit in with the Hispanic race and forgot a lot of my Spanish. Us Latinas come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Our differences are what make us such a beautiful and interesting race. It took me a while to realize that, but I'm glad I did. Regardless of what I look like on the outside, I'm proud to be Latina on the inside. And it's whats inside that counts! :)

[Sonia Rangel]

Well let me tell you Latinas come in all sizes and colors. I have friends born and raised in Mexico City that have blond hair and colored eyes and their native language is Spanish. 

I understand how you feel about Shakira and Beyonce too. I once read a very academic article for my history class about Shakira and how if she wanted to go to appeal to the US market, she had to change her look. If you remember, she had the whole dark long hair with red streaks and a guitar in hand when she would sing (that's when I liked her the best). Now she has to have more sex appeal and well have that American "look." Kinda sad really, I miss her dark hair and rocker style. Also, artists are like people and they grow and change and are into different things just like us. At least she still sings in Spanish, it's a beautiful language. :) 

On a side note though, I have blonde highlights right now and I completely embrace and love my Latina background. I just love gold (a lot).....and I love having a gold tan and gold hair and wearing gold. It's just a pretty color for me. So I think it's also a matter of style. I LOVE dark hair too and plan on going back to dark when my hair is super long.  But for right now, I'm sticking to this. 

[Bethany Ward]

I think this is a challenging topic that many Latina girls face. I for instance am light skinned and don't necessarily look hispanic, just because my mother is hispanic but my father is not. Many people don't believe that I am hispanic and it can become quite frustrating at times. However, I've learned that it is not so much about appearance as it is about embracing and representing your Hispanic background. Although others may not know that I am hispanic, I know that I am and those important to me know that I am. I think this is a great topic and I hope that many girls learn to love who they are no matter what they look like.