For all Orange Is The New Black fans, June 12, 2015 was a day to be remembered. That fateful Friday marked the release of the hit Netflix show’s third season thus giving OITNB junkies a reason to hibernate during the summer, and rekindle the romance with their favorite inmates.

Significant in the new episodes is an onslaught of new backstories of beloved characters. Season three expands upon the stories of Big Boo, Chang, and Aleida, helping viewers understand them beyond their criminal pasts.

Season three also tackles many new issues regarding motherhood, abandonment and even sexual assault. However, one of the most insightful moments in this new season is when Marisol "Flaca" Gonzalez (played by Jackie Cruz) blessed us with some reality about Latino diversity and the misrepresentation of such in the media

In a central story line to the season, several inmates find themselves sowing stylish underwear sweatshop style in a work program within the prison. When former track star Janae brings up the fact that none of the brand’s underwear models are Latina, Flaca responds with the pivotal quote that "If you talking about Latinas, there's like twenty different countries that all look different. See this blond chick? She could be Latina. We just don't know."



All over the Internet, Latinos of every race, eye color, hair color and nationality breathed a collective sigh of relief. Flaca’s words about Latino diversity are by no means a new discovery, however it is a fact left painfully unaddressed by the media, and dramatically misrepresented by pop culture.

Many Latinos frequently find themselves in situations where non-Latinos cannot fathom their cultural identity due to the oppressive yet popularized image of the typical Latino. Oftentimes, mass media characterizes Latin women as bodacious, hypersexual, having thick accents, tan skin and darker hair. Many cannot fathom that actresses such as Sofia Vergara and Alexis Bledel both have roots in Spanish-speaking countries. In reality there are white Latinos, black Latinos, and indigenous Latinos all of whom speak Spanish with varying accents and have different and equally valid perceptions of Latino culture.


(Photos: Getty Images)

Unfortunately, many Latinos who do not fit this stereotype are frequently confronted with the classic Mean Girls question with a latino twist: "but if you're from South America...why are you white?"

Well, America, allow us to break it down for you.

The history of South and Central American immigration and emigration is complex, and vastly oversimplified by the mainstream media. People of Spanish descent can have any skin color, hair color or eye color due to hundreds of years of mixing between African, European and indigenous cultures.

Furthermore, as Flaca pointed out, currently twenty-one countries have Spanish as their national language. Therefore, consolidating the "Latino" or “Hispanic” into one singular image is not only incorrect and unrealistic, but also offensive.

The history of Latinos further diversifies when analyzing Hispanic-Americans and the continuation of culture within a English-dominant society. A 2007 study by the Pew Research Center found that only half of the adult children of Latino immigrants speak some Spanish at home. By the 3rd and higher generations, that number decreases one-in-four, resulting in a dramatic loss of language.

In a Florida International University News op-ed, Linguistics Professor Philip M. Carter, advocates for the expansion of bilingual programs within Miami. Carter explains that many schools may fail to teach Spanish because it is assumed that Spanish is already taught in the home. However, many bilingual parents lack the resources to continue teaching a language that is not being used during the academic day, and therefore switch to the majority language.

In the first season of OITNB, Daya Diaz (played by Dascha Polanco) reflects this new generation of Hispanic-Americans who do not speak Spanish despite living in a Spanish-speaking household. The other Hispanic inmates, lead by Gloria, call Daya a "coconut" because she cannot speak Spanish.

That same Pew Research study also notes that the number of Spanish-speakers in the United States (both of Spanish decent and not) is notably on the rise. This statistic tells us that there is a desire for involvement in the Spanish language, and with this demand the supply will hopefully follow. Spanish is currently spoken by more non-Hispanics in U.S. homes than any other non-English language.

Currently Latino actors are achieving great feats by breaking into roles a part from Spanish-only audiences. Many Latino actors are pursuing roles that show a different side of Latino identity, one that fights the established stereotype and strives for accuracy in representation.

According to Actress Selenis Leyva, who plays Gloria Mendoza on OITNB, the show is making leaps for Latinos by featuring six Latina actresses with a variety of different backstories. For Leyva, OITNB’s Latina characters show varying levels of relationship with separate Hispanic cultures.

With this evolving definition of what it means to be Latino in America, we need the media to modernize and stop portraying one stereotyped image. Flaca’s message is not new information, and with the proper promotion of media that displays latinos of every ethnicity, the misrepresentation of hispanic culture can reach a natural end.

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Orange is the New Black