Reading A Complex Latina Stereotype: An Analysis of Modern Family’s Gloria Pritchett, Intersectionality, and Audiences

Abstract

Gloria Pritchett – the fiery and caring Latina mother in Modern Family – is believed to recreate cultural and gender stereotypes. This audience study was interested in situating her as an intersectional representation to recognize that numerous social categories coproduce her characterization not just one. Textual analyses of open-ended questions reveal that participants tend to explicitly and exclusively discuss her stereotypes in ethnic and gender terms, with an emphasis on the former. However, a semantic analysis of the words/adjectives used to describe Gloria Pritchett suggested these share meaning across multiple social categories. Some aspects of her representation, like those based on ethnicity and gender (her Latina wisdom) or ethnicity and social class (her social mobility from Colombia to the United States), were found commendable, respectable, and likable. Eventually, the social identities encompassing Gloria Pritchett are taken apart and compounded, which in turn, suggest that her intersectionality was malleable for viewers.

Citation

Mora, A.R. (2018), "Reading A Complex Latina Stereotype: An Analysis of Modern Family’s Gloria Pritchett, Intersectionality, and Audiences", Williams, A.A., Tsuria, R., Robinson, L. and Khilnani, A. (Ed.) Media and Power in International Contexts: Perspectives on Agency and Identity (Studies in Media and Communications, Vol. 16), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 133-151. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2050-206020180000016010