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SNL stereotypes Latinas...again

Lately, Saturday Night Live has been under fire for lacking ethnic and gender diversity in their cast. Last December, the comedy show added an African…

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Lately, Saturday Night Live has been under fire for lacking ethnic and gender diversity in their cast. Last December, the comedy show announced they were adding Sasheer Zamata, the first African American female comedian to their cast since 2007.

However, SNL does not have any Latina cast members, and never did. They previous had two Latino cast members, but they are no longer on the show — Horatio Sanz left the show in 2006, and Fred Armisen left the show last season.

The show has had many Latino/a hosts including Bruno Mars, Jennifer Lopez, Sofia Vergara and Salma Hayek, but where are the Latino/a cast members?

Not only does the skit show's cast lack representation, but those Latina characters that are featured in the show are depicted stereotypically by non-Latinas. In the latest episode hosted by Lena Dunham, a skit features non-Latina cast member Cecily Strong playing a heavily-accented, loud Latina who finds out that her American boyfriend is a misogynist at a jewelry party.

 

 

The skit has been criticized by media, such as Latino Rebels, for its unnecessary use of a Latina stereotype. Critics argued she could have been any woman. Instead, the writers of SNL chose to show white women talking down to an ignorant Latina.

For the historically white male-dominated cast, more diversity could mean fewer offensive skits, especially in the face of a rapidly growing Latino population in the United States.

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