At young ages, we’re taught the pretty, blonde cheerleader who gets straight A’s and goes to parties will eventually marry her football jock boyfriend who has a D1 scholarship to the school of his dreams. Many of these stereotypes involve physical characteristics that are impossible for most to manifest -- blonde hair, white skin, straight-identifying. The 2009 hit TV show Glee, however, does something incredible: they recognize the importance of structure while embedding the possibility of human potential once we embrace our natural identities.
Structure, orientation, organization are all things we need to function in society. Glee plays with these structures and redefines the commonly accepted status quo. The show depicts these indoctrinated stereotypes -- the perfect cheerleader, the football jock, the nerd, the musical theater fan -- while also empowering their societally deemed flaws in an effort to humanize them. While men stereotypically dominate any high school arena, Santana Lopez, played by Naya Rivera, and her fellow female characters use their talents and individuality to erase gender norms. Disregarding predetermined social standings, Santana reminds the audience of all that’s possible when we start perceiving our flaws as our strengths. That’s why Santana matters so much to countless female, minority, and LGBTQ+ identifying Glee fans.
Editorial by Gaby Diaz
7/22/20
Oftentimes, gay women suffer from objectification due to internalized misogyny; we often hear men chant, “make out, make out, make out!” to the two girls fighting in mud. Or maybe when you hear the word “lesbian,” your mind immediately envisions a lumberjack-patterned sweater carefully dressed on a woman with braided pigtails. While these images and stereotypes exist and are generally accepted within the LGBTQ+ community, it’s a narrow scope to a larger problem: representation.
Many struggle with their sexual identity. One minute you see Harry Styles belting a song revolving around love confessions, but then you question, “is it him or the feminine makeup I like?” You see people like Zendaya walking on the Met Gala red carpet and think she’s stunning, but you restrict your mind from staring at her for much longer. Conflicting emotions boil within yourself as you question the little details of your everyday life. You feel restrained and restricted from exploring other sexual possibilities due to the internalized fear of being different. For a split second, you entertain the chance of being gay. What would that look like? How would I act? What would I wear? As you ponder, you question if everything about yourself already fits the connotations, but your accustomed straight-perspective blinds you from perceiving yourself any differently. Then you stare at the reflection in the mirror and conjure the belief, “no, I can’t be queer. I don’t act queer. I don’t look queer. How could I be queer?”. Such limited LGBTQ+ representation ingrains the idea that no gay women exist beyond the stereotype images.
Santana Lopez broadened the horizon for Latinx LGBTQ+ representation. Up until Santana’s character, gay female characters maintained shy and introverted personas in popular media. Being gay in the early 2000s meant you would receive death threats, verbal abuse, and physical abuse. Being gay messed with the structure of the social hierarchy, and any disruptions with the image of perfection result in automatic punishment. While these are all still plausible consequences to outing oneself as LGBTQ+ identifying, the community grows each day and builds enough support to overcome the waves of pain.
Santana starts the show as a bold audacious cheerleader. When she walks the school hallways, her persona radiates and exudes confidence. As a Latina, she’s managed to do two things that are nearly impossible (especially in 2009): she’s considered at the top of the hierarchy, and she carries herself with pride. Although her character initially displays a rancorous attitude, she’s already broadening the scope of possibility. Latinxs and other minorities work twice as hard for half the benefits. With Santana at the top of the hierarchy, she opens the door to the table of possibility and reveals there’s a chair for each of us. By portraying a Latina woman as a person in power (I know high school hierarchies are dumb, but we’ll work with what we have), Santana discloses to the young Latinx audience watching that you don’t have to be the pretty, blonde cheerleader who gets straight A’s and goes to parties in order to be successful-- you can find comfort and success in exactly who you are.
Santana opens another door for the whole LGBTQ+ identifying audience in season three when she comes out as lesbian. In the Latinx community, especially in 2009, it’s extremely taboo for a Latinx of her confidence and assertiveness to out herself. Coming from personal experience, as a Latina woman myself, the Latinx community is notorious for their homophobia. As a minority, they generally associate being LGBTQ+ identifying as another hindrance on the road towards acceptance. Not only do the hardships of being an LGBTQ+ Latinx further ostracize Latinxs from American society, but Latinxs internalize it as an impinging factor to cultural expression. Latinx culture carries pride within its monuments of success and romantic expression, whether it be through music, food, or heritage; being gay is not one of the successes many typically want to celebrate. While this is not the case for all Latinxs, the abundance of derogatory and demeaning behavior overshadows the well-rounded families. Unfortunately, this prominent homophobia exists, and instead of identifying it as “homophobia,” many see it as a culturally-accepted norm.
Despite the waves of homophobia, whether it be familial or societal, Santana still outs herself because she knows she can’t be the audacious bold cheerleader without accepting her honest self. Sexuality is a key proponent to our lives. Although we don’t see it, sexuality governs how we perceive ourselves and others. Hiding such an integral part of yourself desensitizes you to eventually hiding all of yourself. As an open lesbian, Santana endures all the struggles and barriers of narrow-minded high schoolers: verbal abuse, physical abuse, complete destruction due to difference. But Santana knows she’s still a courageous Latina woman in power. Santana knows that labeling herself as a lesbian does not change anything about her personality expression; it solely allows her to live a liberated life.
Naya Rivera left this world with the achievement of changing the world. She fed her character the joy, humor, wittiness, and dominance necessary to revolutionize a stereotype. Her character, Santana, held a torch and guided us through a cave of the unknown. As we followed Santana through her sexual awakening, her journey embodies endless possibilities. Santana teaches all of us that these structured hierarchies are meaningless when it comes to personal tribulations. Sure, we need some sort of structure, and there will always be the popular kid, the nerd, the musical theater fan -- but Santana revolutionizes what these stereotypes look and act like. While there will always be some structured hierarchy, Santana Lopez manages to embody her true identity; being a Lesbian does not change how she acts or presents herself. Her character broadened the range of LGBTQ+ representation in pop culture media, which aided many who question their sexuality. Now, queer women are not only seen as the butch lumberjack stereotype but also the fearless, queen bee cheerleader. Naya Rivera did not only change this world, but she empowered those who felt lost in their identity and culture.
Thank you, Naya. We will never forget you and all that you have done for us.
