Harvey Weinstein

  For this week, I will be deviating from my blog topic to discuss what is happening right now in the media concerning Harvey Weinstein and his disgusting treatment of women. So far, 27 women have spoken out against Weinstein and I bet more will come forward because this horrible man has been in the Hollywood business for so long, and I know he has harassed more women throughout his long career.
    All of these women are so brave for sharing their stories, and I applaud them for coming forward to the world, the media. Harvey Weinstein, thankfully, has been terminated from his job as head of the Weinstein Company but I know he was terminated because he was outed. His company must've known his terrible behavior and for the sake of money, they kept quiet. He now says he will seek help for his sex addiction by checking himself into rehab. Let's face it- he's just a very messed up man who gets off by degrading and harassing women.
    I hope this revelation about Weinstein manages to fix some of the corruption in Hollywood, that women rise up and are treated with respect as we deserve, that we're treated as equals and not as objects for men to get off to. We deserve more.

"Brown to the Bone"

    I recently re-watched the film Blood In, Blood Out which is about three Chicano cousins and gang life. I watched this film when I was younger and of the three cousins, I connected with Miklo the most. Now that I'm older, and I watched it again, I realized why. This character has white skin, looks like white, and he doesn't feel comfortable in his skin. His light skin is what makes him feel different from his Mexican blood. 

 

   As someone who is of Mexican and Honduran descent with light skin, I can relate to his plight. I inherited my mother's light skin but not my father's deeper skin tone. I have been confused for someone who's white by my own people and they always have this shocked look on their face when I reply in Spanish. It makes me feel like I'm "Other". Of course I know that light skin Latinas exist, but growing up, American media when portraying Latinas only shows people with caramel to coffee colored skin. The only media that shows off different colored Latino/a skin is the Latino/a media. Thank God I grew up watching Univision too... 

 

   Miklo's desperation to fit in with his Chicano family is something that resonates with me. I wouldn't go so far as to join a gang, but I can understand his need to feel like he is truly a part of his culture.