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Reclaiming ‘Identidad’: How Colonialism and Patriarchy Shaped the Hispanic/Latino Identity

Luis Torres

Arizona State University

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Topic Proposal: For centuries, colonialism and patriarchy have dominated the world as we

know. Through this paper, the goal is to unpack how both colonization and patriarchy have

played a major role in the Spanish language. Words such as “Latino,” “Hispanic,” “Mestizo,”

and many more will be examined in this paper. The end goal for this paper is to have a deeper

understanding as to how and why colonization and patriarchy plague the Hispanic/Latino identity

in the United States through the Spanish language.

Keywords: Chicano, Chicanx, Latino, Latinx, LGBTQI, Hispanic, Identity, Patriarchy, Colonialism
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When Spain and its conquistadores overthrew the Aztec Empire in the 1500s,

Tenochtitlan was no more as conquistador Hernan Cortes renamed the country “Mexico.” From

that moment on, Mexico and the rest of the Americas were heavily influenced by Spain, its

language and customs. As the Americas have developed and emerged through the colonial era,

one could argue that colonialism continues to influence the Americas by a means of traditions,

religion and specifically language. For example, terms such as “Latino,” “Hispanic” and

“Mestizo” emerged through the influence of Spain as a means to either promote national identity

or a means to define race and/or ethnicity. However, there have been many oppositions to the

way in which colonialism continuously manages to permeate itself in the Hispanic/Latino

identity. In addition to that, the Spanish language in and of itself has come under scrutiny since it

is a gendered language (catering to only the male and female genders by having words end in -o

for most masculine words and -a for most feminine words). The gendered language of Spanish is

criticized for the lack of representation and the disregard of the non-binary and/or transgender

folks that identify with a portion of the Hispanic/Latino identity. This paper will be written

specifically from the perspective of how colonialism and patriarchy have shaped the

Latino/Hispanic identity within the United States and the continuous evolution of the language.

This paper will examine how and why a variety of terms have been adopted and refuted by those

that speak language of Spanish.

When Hernan Cortés overthrew the Moctezuma and the Aztec Empire, he did not do it

alone. Nor did his army. The Conquistadores were aided by an indigenous Nahua woman named

Malintzin. While the exact details about her role with Cortés are still debated, the truth of the

matter is that her understanding and insight led to the capsize of the Aztec Empire. Cortés and

her later had a kid—Martín. He was referred to as the first “mestizo” (Khanacademy.org). The
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word mestizo means someone born from indigenous and European descent. When the word was

initially introduced and even to this day, the term “mestizo” contains a negative connotation of

being un-pure. That is, the mix of “pure” European blood and “un-pure” indigenous blood.

However, the word was heavily adopted in the Americas especially in the mid to late 1900s when

a handful of Latin American countries adopted the “mestizaje” movement to “promote national

identity and rid of racial tensions” by claiming that citizens belonged to the same mixed blood

and ancestry (Gonzalez-Barrera, 2015). However, many “mestizos” were upset about the

adoption of the slur as it negated indigenous roots and prioritized European colonialism along

with the rape and pillage of their ancestors. In addition to that, the term “mulatto” referred to

mixed-race individuals who had indigenous roots tied to African indigeneity. While the word

was not as widely adopted, the racial slur dismisses indigenous roots and dehumanizes the

individual as concoction of both “pure” and “un-pure” ancestry similarly to “mestizo” (Marinez-

Echazabal, 1998). While “mulatto” and “mestizo” began to be phased out due to the lack of

acknowledging indigenous roots while simultaneously dehumanizing a wide population of

people by degrading them to a lesser racial class, the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” soon arose

along with its complex and layered definitions which will be examined thoroughly.

Soon after the racially insensitive terms “mulatto” and “mestizo” were regarded as

offensive, the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” were the newest addition to the vocabulary in

which many people from and/or descended from Latin America began to use as a way to identify

as. The term “Hispanic” “is generally accepted as a narrower term that includes people only from

Spanish-speaking Latin America, including those countries/territories of the Caribbean or from

Spain itself” while the term “Latino” refers to “(almost) anyone born in or with ancestors from

Latin America and living in the U.S., including Brazilians,” (Britannica.com). While the terms
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are not as racially insensitive as “mulatto” and “mestizo,” both terms raise a level of concern as

they contain problematic connotations and usages.

For example, the word Hispanic continues the narrative of prioritizing colonization by

emphasizing the connection one has to Spain by completely excluding oneself from their Latin

American and/or indigenous roots. In addition to that, the elitist term is a subtler derivative of

“mestizo” and “mulatto.” Lastly, most U.S. demographic documents and surveys including the

Census and college applications list “Hispanic” as an ethnicity but only having

“White/Black/Asian/Other” as options for race which leads to individuals to further push the

agenda of assimilation by incorrectly connecting Hispanic to white (Gonzalez-Barrera, 2015). By

inaccurately using white and “Hispanic” interchangeably, most if not all U.S. Hispanics/Latinos

adopt the language of “Hispanic” without realizing the implications it contains such as

completely dismissing indigenous roots while simultaneously prioritizing the connection to

Spain and “racial purity” in an elitist fashion.

While the term “Hispanic” is still heavily used and has become an engrained staple to the

identity of many in the U.S., there are a plethora of individuals that resist the term as they do not

accurately feel that “Hispanic” is the proper way to identify and encompass their roots. Thus, the

term “Latino” was a counter argument to the usage of “Hispanic” in an effort to a.) dismiss the

colonization narrative that was normalized in the language and b.) focus more on one’s roots

specifically those from Latin America. The problem with Latino, however, is within the language

of Spanish. While the term is a better adaptation to previous identifiers in the language, the term

“Latino” continuous underrepresent a handful of individuals. As mentioned earlier, the Spanish

language is gender oriented by having a majority of feminine and masculine words that end in

either –o or –a. Due to this, the term “Latino” only caters to gender binary folks, that is only men
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and women. In doing so, the term “Latino/a” fail to incorporate non-gender binary folks and

those that identify with a fluid-gender. As a result, many LGBTQIA

(Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer/Intersex/Asexual) activists have advocated for certain

terms to be adopted in replace of “Latino/a” such as “Latin@” and “Latinx.” The next few

paragraphs will analyze how both of those terms fail in the ongoing effort to accurately and fairy

identify a mass population of individuals in a layered and complex language.

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References

Gonzalez-Barrera, A. (2015, July 10). ‘Mestizo’ and ‘mulatto’: Mixed-race identities among U.S.

Hispanics. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/10/mestizo-

and-mulatto-mixed-race-identities-unique-to-hispanics/

González, H. M. (2018, January 08). Why I Chose to Not Be Latinx. Retrieved from

http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/07/20/why-i-chose-to-not-be-latinx/

Hernandez, D. (2017, December 17). The case against 'Latinx'. Retrieved from

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-hernandez-the-case-against-latinx-

20171217-story.html

Matinez-Echazabal, L. (1998, May). Mestizaje and The Discourse of National/Cultural Identity

in Latin America. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/stable/pdf/2634165.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3

A8b056b39eae64b826340e301ce71cba1

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https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-1/apush-spanish-

colonization/a/the-spanish-conquistadores-and-colonial-empire

Stavans, I. (2017, July 14). El significado del ‘latinx’. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/es/2017/11/14/el-significado-del-latinx/

What’s the Difference Between Hispanic and Latino? (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-hispanic-and-latino