I agree with you for the most part; there's a difference between "looking like" the prescribed race most people merely assume or know you're from, actually being apart of said race (whatever it may be). Lancelot is great example of a Person of Color that isn't restricted by the preconceived notions created by the social construct of race and was simply presented as a character and not what people have unfortunately come to prescribe to what "Black" is.
However, the fact that they've made a big to do to point out Sofia's Latina and her mother apparently has darker complexion than she, and then imply neither points won't even matter in the narrative is disingenuous, especially when you've got a community of people who'd appreciate the presence of a Latina character who may or may not share some level of their experience or physical appearance with them. There's about how Sofia's being represented that falls under the qualification of "white-passing" POC, arguably the only kind of Person of Color that is seen as desirable in our Eurocentric society. They can say she's Latina whilst never loosing the preferable appearance they can tolerate and therein lies one of the problems.
This "First Hispanic Princess" feels like an afterthought. To my knowledge, Sofia's ethnicity has never been mentioned before this press-release.
That's what a lot of people are saying about the billing in the news and I'd be inclined to agree with them given how Disney has handled the promotion. For the longest time I've been aware of it, there was no mention of her being a Latina Princess (or her mother being Latina) beyond a few people asking "wait, is she supposed to be the Latina Princess Disney has been talking about?" and they were often given no solid answers up until now. Hell, I thought she was a white princess until I read article and the unfortunate quotations about her family background.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-10-18 11:04 pm (UTC)However, the fact that they've made a big to do to point out Sofia's Latina and her mother apparently has darker complexion than she, and then imply neither points won't even matter in the narrative is disingenuous, especially when you've got a community of people who'd appreciate the presence of a Latina character who may or may not share some level of their experience or physical appearance with them. There's about how Sofia's being represented that falls under the qualification of "white-passing" POC, arguably the only kind of Person of Color that is seen as desirable in our Eurocentric society. They can say she's Latina whilst never loosing the preferable appearance they can tolerate and therein lies one of the problems.
This "First Hispanic Princess" feels like an afterthought. To my knowledge, Sofia's ethnicity has never been mentioned before this press-release.
That's what a lot of people are saying about the billing in the news and I'd be inclined to agree with them given how Disney has handled the promotion. For the longest time I've been aware of it, there was no mention of her being a Latina Princess (or her mother being Latina) beyond a few people asking "wait, is she supposed to be the Latina Princess Disney has been talking about?" and they were often given no solid answers up until now. Hell, I thought she was a white princess until I read article and the unfortunate quotations about her family background.