Latino Culture is Growing - Research Paper Example

?Latino Culture is Growing Hispanic Americans are a large part of the US culture. They currently comprise over 15% of the population (US Census Bureau, 2008), and as such are the largest ethnic minority in the country. However, in the past Latin Americans have often been compartmentalised and their influence has not been felt in the mainstream, and they were not well represented within culture. A good example is how Madonna played Evita in the 1980s, showing that Latin American actors were not widely found within the movie industry (Stapinski, 1999). However, this is all changing as the population of Latin Americans grows faster than the population of Anglo Americans and as several elements of Latino culture can be found within music, dancing, film, food, and several other areas where they could not before. Latino culture is certainly changing, but it is the aim of this essay to provide evidence that Latino culture is growing within the United States and as such is becoming more influential and powerful than ever before. The hypothesis of this paper is that the literature will support the notion that Latino culture is growing within the United States, and as such the operational definition will seek to define the statement above by describing the number of Latin Americans in the United States and the areas in which their culture is growing. We will define the weight of the Latin American culture in terms of number and evidence provided within the literature that it is becoming more and more influential in all areas of cultural interest. According to our hypothesis, Latino culture is growing and as such we will expect the tests we do (in this case measuring qualitative and quantitative evidence for the growth of Latino culture) to support this, providing us with an operational definition. To understand the growth of Latino culture, it is important to understand what exactly comprises it. Latino culture at its most basic level involves anything cultural that can be found predominantly amongst those within the Latin American ethnic group. It also generally refers to movements that have come from Latin America directly, or modern adaptations of this. For example, Roman Catholicism is generally thought to be a large part of Latin American culture (Phol, 1998). Music is found within all cultures, and Latino culture is no different. Latino music generally refers to music made by those of a Latin American origin, whether it be traditional forms such as salsa or adaptations of more modern American trends such as hip-hop or rock music with a distinctly Latin flavour, such as involving traditional rhythms or singing in Spanish. Language is often associated with culture too, and we will look at how the Spanish language is the most important growing language in the United States and how Spanglish (a fusion of Spanish and English) is becoming more common amongst Latin American and Anglo American teens. It is hard with Latino culture, as with any culture, to pin down exactly what makes it unique, as culture changes so rapidly. However, it is safe to assume that Latino culture can be attributed to those of Latin American origin and as such most of the cultural elements discussed within this essay will be those directly formed under the influence of people of this ethnic origin. It is widely recognised that Latino culture is growing, particularly within adolescent groups. Latino teenagers now have more spending power than Anglo teens, spending over $320 a month, which is 4% more than the average American teenager (Stapinski, 1999). This means that advertising companies have had to adapt and begin to target Latino adolescents to improve profit margins, and new advertising companies such as Lazos Latinos have started to appear, primarily targeting the Latino Youth. With this increased targeted advertising, more elements of Latino culture have been reaching a wider audience, meaning that Anglo teenagers pick up on the trends that are currently defining Latino culture and as such the trends are spreading to a wider demographic. Latin break-dancing is an excellent example of how the culture is growing and spreading to other ethnic groups. Jovan Flores is of Hispanic origin and is one of the most influential individuals in hip-hop circles, and he takes time out of his professional career to teach break-dancing to a group of white children (Stapinski, 1999). Teaching this style has also brought with it changes in language amongst the Anglo youth, who Flores notes have started using Latino slang such as ‘moms and pops’ (Stapinski, 1999, p62). This is an example of how one element of Latino culture has grown and brought with it other elements, ensuring that it is the entire Latino culture that is growing rather than certain stereotypical features. Latin music is also particularly popular. Not only does it appeal to the large group of Latin Americans living in the country (around 15% of the population [US Census Bureau, 2008]) but it has a wide cross-over appeal. Artists like Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez have hit the big time, selling millions of albums and singles, but there are also musicians outside of the mass-market pop music genre, and can be found within rock music, hip-hop and various other musical styles. It is widely recognised that the explosion of a cultural movement always begins with a wide acceptance of the relevant musical style (Stapinski, 1999) and it is evident that Latino music has become more mainstream in the United States since the death of popular artist Selena in the 1990s and as such it is easy to assume that Latino culture will become even more prominent from here. Where music goes, fashion will follow. Latino females are known for their heavy use of eyeliner (Stapinski, 1999) and this trend is crossing over into other cultures, just showing how Latino culture is growing and diversifying. Several well-known fashion brands that used to be primarily for white people, such as Donna Karan, are using Latino influences to sell their clothes, and are using the number 77 (the Puerto Rican area code) on different items of clothing (Stapinski, 1999). It is important to note that people all over the US understand this number and are happy to wear it on their clothing, and as such Latino culture is spreading and involving itself even more than in the past. Even traditional Latin American clothing items such as the guayabera shirt are gaining popularity with non-Hispanic individuals, with even politicians such as Jimmy Carter having been seen wearing it. This shows that Latino culture is not just growing within the youth faction, but is affecting even elderly white men (Sanchez, 2011). This type of growth means that not only is Latino culture found in the underbelly of America, but has found its way into the mainstream, a surefire sign of growth. It is important to note for a balanced report that Latin American teenagers are also absorbing some of the Anglo and African American culture too. The heavy influence of hip-hop and the aforementioned break-dancing within the Latino culture can be seen as evidence that African American culture is particularly influential among Latin youth (Ardila, 2005). It should also be noted that second and third generation immigrants are also abandoning the Roman Catholic religion that is so strongly associated with the culture (Lo et al., 2010). This particular element of Latino culture could be said to be avoiding growth and could be used as evidence that overall, it is not growing. However, the amount of evidence that suggests other elements of the culture are growing means that this loss of religion amongst the youth could just be a reaction to the current religious climate – more American youths are saying that they are atheist than in the past (Glenn, 1987). It is also evident that a lot of Latin Americans still identify with the faith in some way (Lo et al., 2010). Language too is important. More Americans speak Spanish than any other language apart from English (US Census Bureau, 2008), although there is some evidence that this is declining, as only 10% of Hispanic people now rely solely on Spanish in their daily lives (Stapinski, 1999). Again, this could be used as evidence that the Latino culture is not showing the exponential growth that the above figures have shown, but again this could just be a reaction that is being felt worldwide, with English becoming an increasingly important language across the world, not just in the United States. American youths are also increasingly using Spanglish, which involves an amalgamation of Spanish and English (Ardila, 2005) and as such the language and the traditions that go along with it are not being completely lost. There is also some evidence that Latin and Anglo American teenagers are using slang that was previously only found within the Latino culture (Stapinski, 1999) and as such the loss of Spanish is not as important as it first may have seemed. We can conclude from this evidence that our hypothesis was correct, and that Latino culture is growing within the United States. This is supported by evidence from all areas of culture. It has been shown that Central and South American food, which has always been popular, is now a massive part of the US culture. Music is also really influential and is growing and perhaps even overtaking some other elements of culture. Fashion and dancing styles have also begun to grow and respond to Latin American trends, with popular Latino celebrities endorsing all kinds of brands with a Latin flavour. There is some evidence that Latin American teenagers in the second and third generations of immigrants are becoming more Anglo American in their ways, but this can be seen to be a merging of the two cultures rather than an outright loss of Latino culture, particularly as we see so much evidence supporting the fact that Latino culture is influencing Anglo American individuals just as much as the reverse is true. This spread of culture from Latin America to the United States is evidence that the culture is not just growing, but it is changing, expanding and adapting. Culture needs to move with the times if it is to remain influential, and the evidence is that Latino culture is doing just that, proving that it will probably continue to go from strength to strength in the future and will perhaps even overtake Anglo American or African American cultures as being the dominant style by 2020 (Stapinski, 1999). The overall aim of this essay was to prove the hypothesis that Latino culture is growing and by supporting this by evidence from the literature, it has become clear that Latino culture is not one that should be ignored, and embracing this rich and diverse culture will become even more important in the future (Lexington, 2004). Works Cited Ardila, Alfredo. “Spanglish: An Anglicized Spanish Dialect.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 27.1 (2005) : 60 -81. Web. 24 Apr 2011. GLENN, NORVAL D. “THE TREND IN ‘NO RELIGION’ RESPONDENTS TO U.S. NATIONAL SURVEYS, LATE 1950s TO EARLY 1980s.” Public Opinion Quarterly 51.3 (1987) : 293 -314. Web. 24 Apr 2011. Lexington. “A Question of Identity.” The Economist 2004. Lo, Serena C. et al. “Cultural Beliefs, Partner Characteristics, Communication, and Sexual Risk Among Latino MSM.” AIDS and Behavior 15.3 (2010) : 613-620. Web. 24 Apr 2011. Pohl, Walter. Strategies of Distinction: The Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300-800. BRILL, 1998. Stapinski, Helene. “Generacion Latino.” American Demographics 21.7 (1999) : 62. Print. US Census Bureau. “2008 Population Estimates.” 2008. Yoani Sanchez. “What Jimmy Carter Can’t Change in Cuba.” 7 Apr 2011. Web. 24 Apr 2011. Read More