Mexican Stereotypes
So let me start with less controversial and well received stereotypes and then gradually move on to the more offensive stereotypes.
Mexican Parenting
I love this topic. Everyone knows that the western style parenting is so forgiving and thoughtful, the whole paradigm behind it is this: “I brought this kid into this world and I will do everything I can to make him or her happy, even if it means that I have to work twice as hard and that my kid might become a spoiled little brat.”
Asian Parenting is very strict and the paradigm behind it is this: “My kids have to work so hard to achieve all the things that I dreamed of but I couldn’t achieve myself”.
Now comes Mexican parenting, just watch these hilarious videos about Mexican parenting as described by the comedian, George Lopez:
Mexican Food
When you order a Shawarma sandwich here in Dubai or back in my home country, Lebanon, (i.e. thousands of miles away from Mexico and USA where stereotyping is a sensitive topic), you may order the regular type of Shawarma or the Mexican type of Shawarma (Ofcource, the Mexican type is always synonymous to the spicy version).
Mexican people love spicy food and surprisingly, both Mexican and non-Mexican people seem to agree about this stereotype.
What irritates the hell out of Mexican people is stereotypes like “Mexcians only eat beans or Tortlillas or Tacos or Borritos or Fajitas”. I am sure most Mexican people won’t mind a conservative stereotype as such:
Many Mexican people love to eat beans. What pisses everyone of is the use of “ALL”.
Mexican Food
From Flickr
User: Tristen
Original: https://flic.kr/p/a1h5XR
Mexicans are lazy
Since most Mexican stereotypes originate in the United States, let me dissect this stereotype in two halves, keeping in mind that I have no first hand experience in this area and I am just relaying the general beliefs based on my research:
- Americans from Mexican Origin: reading through many Yahoo Q&A and Reddit threads, I noticed that almost everyone agrees that first generation Mexican Americans are very hardworking; so where does this “lazy reputation” come from? Apparently, it is the result of the clash between America’s over-achieving working culture and the Mexican Siesta habits, one of many Spanish influences on the Mexican ways.
- Mexicans in Mexico: Again from all of the comments I have read, I came to a conclusion that it is believed that the poorer-class Mexican population is very hard working in contrast to the middle and upper class Mexicans are more relaxed and simply pay the lower-class to do their work.
I like hypatiakierkegaard’s answer, here is a quote:
I lived in Mexico for a while and the Mexicans will be the first to admit that they are lax. Now, when they say this, they are referring to the fact that they’re not going to worry too much about doing things exactly right. They don’t care too much about deadlines, for example. They also claim that they are mainly concerned with watching TV, eating and maybe having sex. That’s actually one of the things I love about the Mexicans, they don’t take themselves too seriously and they are very honest. On the other hand, once they get to the USA and start working, that’s a completely different story. They have a reputation in the USA for being very hard workers, and deservedly so. USA employers *like* hiring Mexicans. If they are willing to cross a desert and risk their lives, they are hard workers. They do this because they want to work.
Mexicans have many children
The fertility rate in Mexico is 2.3 child births / woman VS 2.4 child births/ Woman worldwide and 2.0 / Woman in the United States. So keeping that in mind, I was objectively saying to my self, this stereotype couldn’t be true, Mexican women have only a slightly higher fertility rate than the National average (15% higher)… but being who I am and being culturally curious, I dug deeper to find out this.
According to the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Report (Page 23), here are the birth rates per 1000 people per year for Mexican Americans compared to White Americans:
| Year | Average birth rates per 1000 people (Mexican American) | Average birth rates per 1000 people (White American) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 25.0 | 12.2 |
| 2001 | 24.7 | 11.9 |
| 2002 | 24.3 | 11.7 |
| 2003 | 24.6 | 11.8 |
| 2004 | 24.8 | 11.7 |
| 2005 | 24.5 | 11.6 |
| 2006 | 24.6 | 11.7 |
| 2007 | 23.9 | 11.7 |
| 2008 | 21.7 | 11.5 |
| 2009 | 19.8 | 11.2 |
| 2010 | 18.2 | 10.9 |
| 2011 | 16.9 | 10.8 |
| 2012 | 16.3 | 10.7 |
So, to put that table into practical terms, a Mexican couple married in year 2000, is likely to have had twice as many children as a white couple married at the exact same time. This leads to me to conclude that this stereotype is true for Americans from Mexican origin and is less applicable to Mexicans living in Mexico.
Mexican Women Stereotypes
Physical features and general appearance
In general, both Mexican Men and Women are stereotyped to be short and to have dark skin and hair. This could accurately describe some of Mexico’s population but not all and that is why this stereotype seems to be very upsetting to most Mexican people.
Mexico is demographically very diverse, having 9% of its population from European origin (mostly Spanish, others include British, Irish, Italian, German, French and Dutch), 30 % pure or predominantly Amerindians, 60 % Mestizo ( Mixed Spanish and Amerindians), 1 % other and this includes immigrants from the Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon and Syria and from Asian countries like China and Korea.
So you simply can’t paint a stereotypical image of a Mexican girl, here are few photos from Flickr, all photos are for Mexican girls and they look nothing like each other:
Beautiful Mexican Girl, If I had to guess, I would say she is from Spanish Origin
From Flickr, user: nhojleunamme
Original: https://flic.kr/p/dNyRn6
Beautiful Mexican Girl, probably from Northern European origins
From Flickr
User: nhojleunamme
Original: https://flic.kr/p/9kCUK7
Very attractive eyes
She looks Some how Middle Eastern, Iranian, or Indian
From Flickr
User: Esparta Palma
Original: https://flic.kr/p/6iRhQ3
A street juicer in Guadalajara Mexico, possibly from Mestizo ethnicity
From Flickr
User: Wonderlane
Original: https://flic.kr/p/3s1NK
Mexican girl
From Flickr
User: Mindaugas Danys
Original: https://flic.kr/p/6cd5sX
Character and personality stereotypes
This is the tricky part. If you don’t live in Mexico, then you probably see Mexican women through the binoculars of the media. Have you watched “Devious Maids”? I love it, it is very entertaining, but it is obvious that it sheds a light only on a small fraction of the hardworking class of the Mexican American population living in the United States.
Here are few very common stereotypes about Mexican girls, there is certainly a great overlap between Mexican girls stereotypes and Latin girls stereotypes. I do not have enough exposure to the Mexican culture or enough Mexican connections to deny or confirm any of these stereotypes, so I will simply list what I’ve read, heard and watched (in my own words):
- Mexican girls are very passionate
- Love dancing and love music
- Possess a strange mix of sexuality and religious reservedness
- Are often seen by non-Mexican guys as exotic beautiful girls, sexy accent, wild, add to that the occasional Spanish magic… makes the perfect mix of temptation and beauty.
- Are jealous girl friends
- Are Family oriented and good Moms
- Are good cooks (sorry, I know this stereotypes pisses you girls off)
So what about the girlfriend experience? I like how this guy described dating a Mexican girl:
The first thing you need to realize is that Mexican woman are more used to being spoiled by their man. You will be expected to pay for dinner, and she may take great offense at the idea of splitting the bill. If you want to get to date number two, you will need to get in the habit of opening doors, offering her your coat if you are cold, and walking on the street side of the sidewalk, preferably holding her hand, even if you just met her.
Sounds to me like this is the case almost everywhere except for advanced economies where women are very independent and see them selves as equals to men. Non the less, I haven’t been to Mexico, so I have no option but to trust that guy’s judgement and observations.
Mexican Men Stereotypes
Most of the harsh Mexican stereotypes are addressed towards Mexican men rather than Mexican women. Here are few:
Related to Clothing
- “Mexican men wear white pants, cowboy boots, leather belt, cowboy hat, gold chains”. I am guessing that this is true for 5 % of the Mexican people? or is this just a Hollywood inflicted stereotypes?
- “Men wear sombreros and pointy shoes”, that is possibly true for Mexicans living in rural areas and is definitely not the case in big Mexican cities.
Man wearing sombreros
From Flickr
User: Neal Stewart
Original: https://flic.kr/p/7YXM8U
Related to Behavior
- “Mexican men cheat on their wives, yet they are very possessive and controlling”. This stereotype is very common, it certainly can’t be true for all Mexican men.
- “Mexican men expect their wives to do all the house chores and are very demanding”. I believe that this stereotype is true for older generations; only partially true for newer and more educated younger Mexican generations.
Music
Again, the whole world is a small village now. Have you watched any of the seasons of “The Voice Kids Germany” on Youtube ? In that show, about 90 % of the songs performed by the talented children are English and not German. Why? Because everyone nowadays listens to all kinds of music. Statements such as, “Mexicans only listen to Mariachi or Ranchera”, are just silly.
Speaking of The Voice Kids Germany, I would like to share with you my favorite song on the show:
Alcoholism & Tequila
According to Wikipedia, the average annual alcohol consumption per person in Mexico is 5.6 liters; that makes Mexico the 31st country out of 33 countries in the OECD in terms of alcohol consumption. It is safe to conclude that the stereotype about Mexicans being heavy drinkers is wrong.
I hope you enjoyed reading. Please leave a comment and let me know If I missed anything or If my research or conclusions were not accurate. From previous experiences, I know that most of my readers find the comments more entertaining than the original post.
P.S. : I read all the comments, I try to reply whenever possible but because of lack of time, my reply might come pretty late (Sorry in advance).
Yay! So happy to see you posted again! Keep it up!
Reblogged this on ashlynt90 and commented:
LOVE THIS BLOG!
I am Mexican and I am glad you realize that not all stereotypes are true. In fact, after having moved to the US as a teenager for my father’s work, I was amazed at all the stereotypes American people have for us Mexican people. But even worse, I was very disappointed that some people, including Mexican Americans, believe them, because they truly don’t know real Mexican culture. That is, they are not a good representation of my country, because they simply have never even been there, in many cases. As for your question about the clothing stereotype, Mexican people don’t wear white pants, sombreros and large quantities of gold chains, hahahha. On the contrary, the way people dress in Mexico is very elegant (especially for work) and very similar to what you would see in a city like NYC, in the business area. Although it is true that people in rural areas dress differently, by no means do they wear the stereotypical sombrero, although they can wear hats as protection from the sun. If you have any questions, just ask me 🙂
Andy, Right on! I refer to myself as a Chicano or Tejano since I can’t represent a Mexican (born in Mexico) since I was born in the USA (6 generations). Unless a Chicano or Tejano is taught the Mexican culture, it’s technically not the same. Since you are a Mexican, do you have European or Indian culture habits? Reason, many of the European (Spanish & Portugal) culture customs are present in the Tejano culture.
I think other factors would not only be generations, but the type of family.
My gpa and gma were both full Mexican. Gpa did expect gma to clean and cook. Gpa was a hard worker, but rare;y spent time with the whole family at gatherings. Dance and music was common, especially in Spanish in the house. They never cheated on each other. Been together since teens. Both were alcoholics but became completely sober. My gma wore regular clothes if not old fashioned and my gpa lounged in his boxers at home or was in work boots, flannel and a jacket, he worked at the sugar beets in Montana and died there this month. Has big families and cooking Mexican food. I was surprised when my friends have never had certain Mexican foods because it was normal to me.
P.s. i know this all scattered but i’m too LAZY to put it in proper paragraph. Our new generations are in fact lazy.
-Brittany (very american name_Mexican american)
That’s Cool & Beautiful.
Many , many mostly northern provincial and a substantial amount of city mexicans termed all as “Nacos ” by me , according to a long history of observation … Are very hateful and jelouse towards thee Americanized mexican that has grown up and or born in the USA especially more hated if they are well established and posses Fluent english & spanish vocabulary .. especially in the work place you will see it … They will team up amongst themselves and conspire individually or as a concerted effort to see you fired ( Very primitive and brutal) , for one reason, they fear you will show them up ( wich we do anyhow with no effort )because they are worried you will take their position. … More facts where this came from .
I find your comments very accurate.
I only partially disagree when you say: “envious and unfriendly towards those who breakaway to improve their condition” this is very true for the people in Mexico City and the south, but not on the North of Mexico where I’m from. Like you say it is a big country. And yes “Most Mexicans are really helpful towards those in need, specially the members of their close group (but also to foreigners in distress) even if they can’t really afford to help”.
Success!!
Mexico is a big country, of course you will find people that conform to those stereotypes but true is that the majority of Mexicans are neither lazy nor alcoholic, clothing is not too different from what you see in other western countries.
In my experience the true stereotypes are:
– Most women dress up and wear make up everyday. Even to go to the corner store.
– Most Mexicans are really helpful towards those in need, specially the members of their close group, but envious and unfriendly towards those who breakaway to improve their condition.
– Most Mexicans have a love-hate relationship with other developed countries. Either admire them or loath them. Little middle ground.
– Most Mexicans are extremely classist, and class is not defined only by money in many cases also by race, physical attractiveness and/or ties to foreign countries.
– Most Mexicans really know how to have fun. In few countries you will find the constant spirit of camaraderie.
– Most Mexicans don’t take life too seriously. Jokes about everything and everyone, no topic is too sensitive.
– Most Mexicans love their food. They eat Mexican food even when traveling abroad, and the thing that those living outside mexico miss the most is the food.
– Most Mexicans call their acquaintances friends and their friends “compadres”.
True. Again much of it has to do with what they were made to be by their Spanish masters.
We see that same stereotype-ism in other nations which were colonized by Spain which in the main was the pursuit of stupidity, slothfulness and sex.
Sorry, but most Mexican stereotypes are accurate. Plus the fact most Mexicans refuse to speak English, which really angers most Americans. I grew up with Mexicans, so I know it’s true. If they don’t like being treated poorly, then they should stay in Mexico and try to improve their country so they don’t feel the need to get into the U.S. any way they can. (mainly illegally)
Agreed. These illegal Mexicans should be angry at their government and rise to make change for themselves there. The fact they came into the US illegally and chose to have kids here is not America’s problem. They created this mess for themselves. We finally have a president courageous enough to stop these illegals and their kids from destroying America. American born kids could be an asset to Mexico and they need to stay in their country and make it better. Shame on Mexico’s president and government.
Do you ever watch Mexican news programming or entertainment shows? It is disgusting how the women are dressed like sluts/hookers and they wear an extreme amount of makeup. Even for family orientated shows women are presented this way. My parents fit into the Mexican stereotype. He was controlling, violent and abusive of our mother and six kids. Our mother was submissive and never defended herself or her children. He cheated on our mother several times. Mexicans do not value education. If Mexicans would learn English and get educated they wouldn’t have to work so hard physically. But they don’t get it cause they are so stupid. They drink and piss their money away, while Americans pay for their irresponsible breeding. Every American should reject the idea of paying taxes to pay for illegal Mexicans to drain American resources. It is also a fact that these Mexicans hate Americans. They refer to Americans in derogatory terms. These Mexicans do not love America, just the free ride. It’s time we had a courages president who will stop the devastation of our country by these Mexican vermin.
Hilda Mendez: Even if you are right and not doubting that in many cases, happens as you said, it doesn’t means that it’s the generality; It is important to mention that what you saiy happens exactly the same in the United States as in Mexico and, in my experience, it is worse than here in Mexico. I feel sorry for you. I hope life is kinder to you. I do not want to know what race, nationality, sex, age group or social status you are. It is enough that you are a sad person, bitter and hurt by life. God bless you and fill you with good fortune.
I forgot to include that Mexican men are pedophiles. It is quite common for an older Mexican man to date or marry extremely young girls. I don’t know what the Mexican age of consent is but Mexicans believe that a 12 year old girl is “ready.” The quinceanera ritual is perverted and disgusting. Mexican girls are not encouraged to be independent and strong. Mexican girls are raised to expect they will be taken care. Sex, breeding and being a slave to a man is what Mexican girls are told is their worth. They dress like sluts and get pregnant. They stay in poverty, abused and controlled while the “man” is out drinking and cheating. There is a definite double standard between the sexes. Here in America these women lie, lie, lie and Americans are paying to support them and their many kids that they are incompetent at raising.
Hilda- you are the “stereotypical” RACIST. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Wrong. I was bred by Mexico born Mexicans. This is my experience and I am ashamed of being Mexican. So in that sense I am ashamed of myself. They bred seven kids. None out of love, out of rape. We were born to provide for them, working in the field as soon as we could walk. Abused in every way. The only reason we sometimes went to school is because our government required it. They could give a shit about our grades, they were illiterate and could not help us with homework. Look around what positive role models do Mexicans have? Rare in spite of their over breeding. I’m not racist, I keep it real. I’m so glad our president is going to ship these breeders back. America has enabled and provided for these illegals for far too long.
They won’t help themselves so their abuse of our resources is over. Thank God.
I feel awful that you had to live through those experiences. I disagree with most of what you said. It seems to me that the ones doing all the stuff you pointed out are Hispanics of Mexican decent like you, but I can’t generalize since this has been only from experience. I have met many people of Mexican heritage who hate on their own but do nothing to improve their own conditions. These people do not take advantage of the opportunities of being in the country and having access to education and instead get pregnant, drop out of school, etc. But they still feel like they are better than Mexicans just because they are “American” by birth. You sound like one of those people. Self-loathing is a real thing.
If I came across sounding like “one of those people” then you misinterpreted my message. What I point out about Mexicans is they mostly do not aspire to succeed once they enter Mexico, whether legal or illegally. And they obviously do not model or support their too many kids to aspire to be successful. They do not seek to immediately or at any time learn English. They are satisfied to only be able to do manual labor. But they quickly learn to stick their hand out and take take take and our up our resources. Resources meant for American citizens. As a taxpayer, I mean federal and state tax, I resent my money going to pay for anything for them. These Mexican’s breed when they have no parenting skills and can not even provide for themselves. Taxpayers have to pay their way and that needs to end. Overpopulation is destroying our country and our world. Their culture imprisons them. They leave Mexico but you can’t get Mexico out of them. Disgusting and embarrassing. They are over breeders and ignorant. If you love them so much, have them move in with you and you pay their way. If an illegal alien has kids in our country those kids are illegal to. They don’t care about breaking up their families, they left their family to come into our country illegally. What angers me the most is how stupid they are. Stupid but they sure know how to breed. Rapists. They rape their women, our women and our country
I hope you do realize that Mexicans are perfectly legal to be in America as long as they have their visa. What an absurd standpoint you have on this topic. You define the Mexican stereotype. This past month I had the gift of going to Tlaxcala, Mexico, a lowly populated area just outside of Puebla. I stayed with a High school student and his family, and boy did I have the most life changing experience in my entire life. These REAL Mexicans are some of the nicest people I have Ever met. Now I do agree that there are some Mexicans who try to illegally enter our country, but those kind of people only make up about 8% of Mexican population. When i was staying with my student in his house, he got a package in the mail with his passport and visa lasting for 10 YEARS. I couldn’t express the excitement on my families face and how proud they were of him. We took a trip to Cuetzalan, which is just north east of Tlaxcala, and all the women there wore traditional outfits, and they were so nice to us. When I was in Mexico, I never felt threatened in the slightest. Its people like you that make others not want to go to Mexico, because they get scared of your description. Take a trip to the heart of Mexico, then make assumptions of it, because it’s the most beautiful country with the most beautiful people.
Why does that boy want to come to the U.S. then and leave his family then if it’s so wonderful and beautiful? If only 8% of Mexicans are in the U.S. illegally those numbers then prove the over breeding going on there. The wrong people are breeding. In Mexico and every where. Those that are least educated and least able to parent or able to provide even the basics are the stupid idiots guilty of child abuse and neglect because they aren’t willing to use birth control or abstain from sex. They force their kids into child labor, sex trafficking, child brides and other unspeakable child crimes. And of course the women wear traditional outfits. Women there, particularly uneducated women in villages, are conditioned that their role is to be in the kitchen and on their backs breeding. I don’t have to go to Mexico, all I have to do is go to any local Mexican market. All I hear is spanish and mexican music. They don’t want to learn English or evolve and progress. I find myself getting very angry when they pull out their food stamp card to pay for groceries and soda and junk food, while they pay cash for a 24 pack of beer while their numerous kids think this is the norm. For them it is the American Dream. American tax payers have paid for their all their kids hospital deliveries, are paying for their medical, dental, everything for their kids, their kids get fed at school. Wow they got it made.
If you say Mexico is so wonderful why are they so afraid of being deported. Why don’t they just go back on their own instead of living on welfare. The women all lie about no father in the house so they get more free stuff while the sperminator is in her bed and inbetween her legs. These are pretty disgusting people. And this is what they model for their kids, who then turn out pregnant at 13 or get a girl pregnant and on an on. Raping the American taxpayer. Vermin is what they are.
It’s sad and unfortunate that you had abusive parents. However, that is not just a Mexican problem, it’s found in all races. So blaming ALL Mexicans for your parent’s abuse is crazy. You should not be embarrassed about being Mexican. You should be adult enough now to realize that.
Well I will first like to say I’m an Hispanic of light skin and have Hispanic/tejano origins and my grandparents born here in the u.s. like me but if you go further back I’m sure there are Mexican origins although most of those orginal native tejanos where I live from have strong ties to the caymen islands.I want to say I never been to or lived in mexico what I say has come from my own experience or my mother who was a born in a redicously large house hold who’s parents march that of Hilda’s except worst believe it or not.Once again I can not speak for mexicans in general since I never lived in mexico and was born and raised in Texas I would like to say having a concern about immabout illegal imergration is not irrational but quite rational and is not racist espesically if you have security concerns I do not pose any special rights as a u.s. citizen but I want to say it only seems right to make sure the u.s. citizens come first just like the way it is in just about every other developed nation.I’m not against immigration but strong feel we need less of it.its only rational to want to know who your allowing into the country and the amounts of illegals from mexico is unacceptable and it also points out a disturbing truth about the Mexican government not taking care of its people proberly since work there is difficult and hard to come by and many get into the genocidal world of the cartals that live on drug money fueled by Americas illegal drug trade and failed war on drugs that the u.s. has great fault in never the less one principal thing I’ve noticed along with many others weather its the Mexican influence here or in mexico a disconcerning amount of them show little to no respect for the American way note most don’t know or don’t want to learn English.The ones who do come here and work very hard and deserve praise rarely giving back to the community or charity.The men seem to be too sexually active the wonen even worst.They have control issues over their women and both nearly have little to no education both have poor parenting skills and dislike or envy people around them who want to better themselves and seem to treat women like objects and the women let them.the girls and young women seem to be sexiually active at a very young age most have babies at an age to young. both sexes mainly men are quite often very violent, note see their news in spanish channels very disturbing imagery with their news that doesn’t seem to bother the women they have on wearing no underwear and hardly no clothing.this is just some of what I’ve seen just to name a few if they dont like this image than they really need to do something about it and Mexico needs to begin showing better ethics more respect and start showing its people how to recover from its moral and encomic crisis instead of having america having to do it for them.
I am Mexican but was born and raised here in the US. I think my siblings and I are very much Americanized. Although both parents were born and raised in Mexico, they both grew up in cities that border the US. The always came and went for a weekend trip and eventually moved over back in the 70’s and because U.S. citizens. I have family that live in smaller villages but I hardly ever see them. Last time was over a decade ago. I LOVE my aunt, but she is a Mexican house wife. The woman does everything for my uncle AND also takes care of the small shop they have in the front as well as tend to the chickens while my uncle sits back on his hammock. My parents tried to convince her to come with us to visit for a month to sort of give her a break. My uncle is not a nice man. She refused and said that she needed to stay. Why wouldn’t she want to visit? Sometimes I think it’s more of fear of the unknown, but fear of falling in love with the unknown and not wanting to go back. What can you do? She deserves a lot better but doesn’t see it.