6 TV Characters That Are Changing Professional Representation For Latinas

You cannot be what you cannot see. This refrain serves as my reminder that there is a trickle effect when people from underrepresented communities succeed. Their success breeds inspiration, and they become role models for their communities. Yet for many of us growing up, professional role models aren’t always easy to come by. Our close family and friends may offer foundational values and shape our worldview, but they can’t always guide us when it comes to our careers. Which is why we often look to the media to get a sense of what is possible.

For decades, that has meant looking up to athletes and pop stars, whose success is as rare as it is dangerous in defining our expectations. While our peers have always been able to turn on the TV set and see characters like them with professions ranging from brain surgeon to professor to banker, a study last year showed that half of Latino Immigrant characters on TV are portrayed as criminals.

That’s probably why as a teenager, I related most to American-born, white characters like Rory Gilmore and Felicity Porter. But today the media landscape is changing quickly. Thanks to the growing conversation about representation, we’ve started seeing professional representations of Latinx characters evolve. It’s been particularly exciting to see Latina professional become anchors for some of my favorite television shows. For younger Latinas coming of age today, it isn’t hard to scroll through Netflix or Hulu and stumble on a show depicting characters from their communities who are excelling professionally. Here are a few of my favorite Latina characters currently gracing the small screen:

Brooklyn 99’s Amy Santiago

Portrayed by: Melissa Fumero
Profession: Sergeant
Inspiration Factor: Amy is unapologetically studious, deeply organized, and intensely obsessive. While her teacher’s pet tendencies offer plenty of laughs, they are also cause for admiration. It’s thanks to these characteristics that Amy is promoted to Sergeant before many of her peers, to which we say “well deserved.”

Brooklyn 99’s Rosa Diaz

Portrayed by: Stephanie Beatriz
Profession: Detective
Inspiration Factor: Though she’s known to be tight lipped about her personal life, Rosa is a fiercely loyal colleague who commands everyone’s respect. It great to see Stephanie Beatriz portray traditionally masculine characteristics like physical strength and handiness. Plus Rosa’s coming out storyline in season 5 also made her one of a handful of queer Latinx characters to appear on broadcast television.

Jane The Virgin’s Jane Villanueva

Portrayed by: Gina Rodriguez
Profession: Novelist
Inspiration Factor: Jane The Virgin is an absolute panacea of complex, nuanced Latinx representation. The title character stands out as a very different kind of Latina than we’re used to seeing. Jane is driven but flawed, bold but vulnerable. She’s the first in her family to earn a college degree, and later in the series she even becomes published author. Yet her life is never glamorous or unattainable. She’s the kind of role model I love because she’s not perfect, but she tries and she cares.

One Day At A Time’s Penelope Alvarez

Portrayed by: Justina Machado
Profession: Nurse (and former Staff Sergeant in the United States Army)
Inspiration Factor: Penelope is a former soldier, single mother, and nurse (who is also in school to become a nurse practitioner). She is the definition of a striver who puts in the hard work to support her family, but also prioritizes herself. When she finds out her less competent colleague is earning more money than her, she’s not afraid to stand up and demand her worth.

Grownish’s Ana Torres

Portrayed by: Francia Raisa
Profession: College Student
Inspiration Factor: While I wouldn’t necessarily call her a full-on role model (none of the characters on Grownish really are, they’re all just figuring themselves out), Ana has some refreshing nuances as a young Latina character. She’s a devout Catholic and a Republican, which puts her at odds with many of her close friends, but is able to negotiate those differences in the end. It’s unclear what direction her career will take her in, but Ana is clearly committed to carving out her path on her own terms.

Vida’s Emma Hernandez

Portrayed by: Mishel Prada
Profession: Corporate Whiz
Inspiration Factor: In the pilot of the new Starz show (featuring the first all-Latinx writers’ room), we see Emma begrudgingly removed from her corporate duties in Chicago to fly home to LA after her mother’s death. While we don’t know much about the protagonist’s job, it’s clear she worked hard to escape her circumstances and excel in the business world. In Vida, Emma is on a journey to reconcile her past, her family, and her Latinx Los Angeles community with this new version she has created of herself. It’s an inner battle many of us know well, and welcome onto our screens.

Honorable Mention: Grey’s Anatomy’s Callie Torres

Portrayed by: Sara Ramirez
Profession: Chief of Orthopedic Surgery
Inspiration Factor: Though she left the show in 2016, we thought it was worth mentioning doctor Callie Torres for her groundbreaking representation of a queer, Latina doctor on Grey’s Anatomy. Callie’s character stood her ground and defined herself on her own terms from day one, never allowing any one aspect of her multifaceted identity determine what people thought of her. She was undeniably the best orthopedic surgeon at Seattle Grace, which eventually led to her promotion to Chief of Surgery. She even gave a TED Talk on the science of cartilage. Hats off, Callie.