Dehumanization

My project in photography class is about how the media overlooks Latinos as school dropouts and kids who don’t care about their education. This topic is personal to me because I’m a Latina student and for someone to make an assumption that I’m botching up in school is very offensive. I attend school everyday and get good grades. I’m not into smoking and getting high like others assume me to be. I actually do care about my education and being someone in life. This affects the like of others around me because they are beginning to believe what the media is portraying them to be and are thinking it’s cool to actually get high and drop out. My image changes the way the media thinks about us by showing how Latinos do come to school and are able to be happy without getting high or popping a pill. I am teaching how many of us Latinos do care about our education and how were planning on doing something out of our lives instead of just kicking it out on the block.
“Through transforming action they can create a new situation,” This quote from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed means that if we change our actions, it can change the way people see us. It also shows how we can have the power to create a better name for ourselves; we just need to try harder.

Latinas and The Criminal Justice System

Prescription:

"Latinas are assumed to be welfare queens who raise young gang members." (Portillo, pg. 6)

"Comtemporary images of latinas emphasize their sexuality and drug use..... for many latinas juvenile officials see themselves as the ultimate saviors for them...." (Portillo, pg. 6)

• -Police and juvenile officials believe that if latina women are left alone in the streets they'll soon become pregnant
  
• -Latinos in general are portrayed as gang members, criminals, violent and drug abusers, undocumented immigrants etc...
  

Truth is many latinas are assumed to be screw ups if they live in a low economic neighborhood or if their parent aren't constantly keeping track of them. They are constantly being dehumanized and opressed. Thecriminal justice systems believes them to be welfare queens, who keep giving birth to kids to receive a bigger check in the mail. Many of the women that are arrested are for crimes that are explanatory and sometimes their not even at fault for it.

Many police officers question why there so much distrust between them and people from the barrio. Reasons are because many of the ones that patrol their neighborhoods are white and usually don't arrive on time during emergencies. Many residents have reasons to distrust them. For example, police beatings and racist overthrows are what is always going on in these neighborhoods.

Currently there's a 25 year old latina woman in jail. Her name is Lupe and she is serving a 10 year sentence for marijuana possesion with the intent to sell. She has a child who she used to live with accompanied by her boyfriend before she was arrested. Her boyfriend has a job to support Lupe and their child, but had to sell drugs because his job money wasn't enough. One day narcotic officers found drugs in her apartment. She was sent to prison and was convicted guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her child is now in foster care. Point is, she is serving time for something she did not do or belong to her. (Portillo, pg. 6)

-This causes fear of freedom because people feel they are discriminated by police officers and don't feel the need to listen to them. They also prefer to handle problems their way by having to be violent. From their point of view, that's the way problems are solved and they react faster than a white police officer would in their neighborhood.

Unperfect Skin

The pictures are dehumanizing because people think that celebrities have perfect skin. They think if they use the face products, they too will have perfect skin. People with acne, body image issues, and low self esteem are being affected by it. They think if they buy the product their skin will be beautiful. The people that sell it benefit from it because they make money out of what the people are buying from them. Celebrities make money from it because they get paid to lie to their audience.