Some people are tired of Sofia Vergara. I’m not. I got a little bit tired of her a few years back, but I fell back in love with her during the drama last year with her ex, Nick Loeb, a drama which has no end in sight. Sofia covers the new issue of The Edit, and she talks about a lot of the same stuff: accepting who you are, her giant rack, her hair, her red carpet styling and more. But she has thoughts about other stuff too, like diversity in entertainment and playing a stereotype. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Stereotypes are not always bad: “I’m not afraid of them, and they don’t have to be bad, either. I mean, Gloria is an amazing character: a really good woman with this hilarious accent, so why criticize her for being a stereotype? Plus, all the Latinas I know are loud, they dress sexy and are really involved with their families: that’s Gloria!”
She’s not Zen about aging: “Watching myself age on screen is awful! There is nothing more disturbing than watching an episode of Modern Family from the first season, then one from seven years later. It just makes me want to kill myself, but what can I do? I’ll be sad when the wolf whistles stop. I’m already sad that men have started calling me ‘Señora’. I get really pissed off: ‘What? It’s Señorita!’”
How she’s changed in her 40s: “Back in my mum’s era, 40 was considered old, but now I don’t think it is. You have to accept that you can look beautiful, but in a different way. Nowadays I don’t do miniskirts and low-cut tops: it’s one or the other. I don’t do shorts or pink anymore, and I’ve softened my eye makeup. In Colombia, once women hit 40, they automatically cut their hair short. I used to think I would do that too, but when it came to it I thought, ‘Why should I f***ing cut my hair? It makes you look older!’”
Motherhood: “I became a mother very young – at 20 – so I feel like I’ve been a mother my whole life, but I love that. Now that I’m 43 and my son is 23, it’s funny to see some of my girlfriends raising young kids. In the US, women postpone motherhood, but in Latin America most of my friends have kids my son’s age. I wouldn’t mind another child: my husband is younger than me and he wants kids so we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do. The idea of doing it all again doesn’t scare me but, hey, it’s not like it’s going to happen naturally, is it?”
Complaints about diversity: “I’m really not one to complain. I mean, seriously, how dare I! Here I am on prime-time television with this stupid accent, I can’t trash anyone. It would be so ungrateful of me because, trust me, I’ve been treated like a queen. Of course [the opportunities] can’t compare to an American or Caucasian woman’s, but things are changing. The problem is not the networks or directors: it’s that there aren’t enough writers creating things for Latinos. Once we have more Latinos writing, that’s when things may really start to change…”
Her breasts: “My body has changed with age. People will often say that I wear the same thing on the red carpet, but I know my body: it’s very voluptuous and I’ve got the boobs of a stripper. They’re a 32DDD and because they’re real, they’re everywhere, so I need my dresses to have structure – and under armor. There is so much going on under my dresses that I bleed at the end of award ceremonies. In ten years I think it would be good to have a reduction. I don’t think it’s even going to be an option not to [have surgery], because I’m going to start having back pains. I wouldn’t make them too small – just enough that I don’t end up looking like an old stripper.”
How she feels about being objectified: “I’ve never understood why women get so offended. I just don’t believe in all that drama, which is why I’ve made a whole joke out of it. I am secure enough not to take it all that seriously, and I like to laugh at myself.”
I wouldn’t hold it against her if she did complain about diversity, because she seriously toiled away, looking for a break for more than a decade. Once she had a hit, she leveraged that into her own empire through her own hard work. As for the other stuff… here are my Hot Takes: you don’t have to cut your hair when you hit 40, but I disagree that a short haircut makes everyone look older. I don’t think it’s bad idea to say breast reduction might be in the future for Sofia: it might happen. Also, if your dresses make you bleed, you should choose different dresses!
Photos courtesy of The Edit.
Surely 32DDD = 32E? Anyway, I am more concerned about the cover picture, which is making me think she secretly wants to lay eggs in my abdomen and is just looking for the best place for the ovipositor. That is either a very odd camera angle or photoshop gone wrong.
hahahaha! I guess the photographer hated her.
Agree, she looks maniacal.
I’m a DDD or E too, and it is not fun. I call my size DDD because that’s what it’s called in all the pull-down menus online when I order them.
I don’t parade those puppies around like Sofia. I’m seriously considering have them reduced big time.
She’s the Columbian Fran Dresher
She’s still going with they are real? lol. Please Sofia. Just stop. Not only can we see your aging from watching the first episode of your show and the current one, we can also see all the work you had done in between.
I read the full story and she sounds incredibly shallow, vain and exhausting. She wants to “kill herself” because she looks a bit older???? If some women want to act like that, whatever, but I could never deal with a person like that.
I think she’s just using it as a figure of speech. It’s kinda refreshing from the usual “I never felt more beautiful” thing we hear from most actresses ( Goop’s the first that springs to mind).
And I do believe it’s hard for her. She’s someone who has been stunning her entire life and she’s used to people treating her a certain way. She is still stunning now ( although I wish she would go back to dark hair, it was so much more flattering), but maybe the way people treat her has slightly changed.
She’s naturally blonde, so she went back to her natural color.
But she looks a lot better with dark hair. In my opinion of course.
And is she really blonde? I know a lot of people who were blonde as little kids then went darker but claim to be naturally blonde.
There are modeling pictures of her in her 20’s and she’s a natural ‘blonde’ I would describe it more as a very very light brown and not blonde ala Reese Witherspoon blonde. But yea, she went back to her natural hair color.
Everyone in Hollywood says they’re a “natural blonde”. It’s usually more like light-ish brown.
I agree Locke! It is nice to hear someone say it does bother them to age and it has to be hard to see yourself age on tv or movies, etc. I find it a lot more believable than the crap Goop says, especially since we know 99% of these people have work done even though they love “aging gracefully”
I enjoyed the interview and have softened toward her this past year too. I used to find her over the top and annoying, but I see she has worked her butt off to make this role on Modern Family into something more. She used her stereotype in her favor and made it work for her.
Figure of speech or not, it’s a pretty stupid thing to say. People have real issues in the world, starving and cancer, and she sounds vain and clueless saying she wants to kill herself because she is aging instead of embracing it. Lots of people don’t get the chance to age. I never understand why it bothers people.
@jib: The thought of aging would bother me because it means your life is ending, you’re going to have to deal with health problems and physical pain, and there are certain things in life you won’t be able to enjoy as much anymore. The looks part doesn’t seem as scary (my opinion on that might change later in life though) because it’s expected. Outside of Hollywood, it just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. But she has a career where a woman’s looks really matter.
Honestly she looks better today compared to some photos I saw of her from before modern family. I’m really happy a woman her age (not that I think shes old) is still being celebrated as being beautiful. You don’t see it happen often.
This.
She just grates on me like no other. She doesn’t wear pink anymore? Didn’t I just see pics of her in a hot pink dress?
I was going to say the same. She JUST wore a pink dress. Not an understated pink either. Nothing wrong with it but weird after reading what she said.
Us latinos are particularly fond of hyperboles as figures of speech. I think Sofia in particular is fond of it.
That was the WORST movie I’ve ever seen! -> The movie sucked.
EVERYONE was wearing black at Andrea’s party -> 40% were wearing black.
Rodrigo was like 5 hours late -> Rodrigo was late by 15 minutes.
I don’t do pink anymore -> I don’t do pink as often as I used to.
Fair enough Josefina. Admittedly, it’s a silly thing for me to pick on her about but it just struck me as amusing because the last dress I saw her in was hot pink.
“She grates on me like no other.” Same here 😩 This interview made it even worse.
Yes, 100% yes @ Josefina.
As a fellow Latina, I can vouch for that.
As a fellow Latina I also vouch for most of that with the exception of Rodrigo. As a Latino he was most definitely at least 5 hours late….
Haha 3rd that hyperbole thing. Quartarican here and as Latina-Ish as I am, that over the top emotive speaking makes me my mothers daughter.
I think she’s being very honest when she says she doesn’t want to age.. how is that vain or shallow? I mean who does?
Really? My friend’s daughter who died at the age of 19, she wanted to age. And lots of young people killed in war or fleeing their countries, they wanted to age. I want to age. It’s that or die. I know she was speaking in hyperbole, but it was a shallow and stupid thing to say.
aging is a privilege denied to many.
Who does want to age? Ask all the people doing chemotherapy who are pouring poison into their bodies so they might age.
So, she’s just honestly shallow and vain. Does she deserve a praise for that?
My best friend’s husband died unexpectedly at 33. She would have loved to be able to grow old with him. The shallowness and vapidity of some celebs is nauseating.
Some people just have so little interesting to say, really.
For real. She never did much for me to begin with, but after this? Ugh.
then you should never ever complaint about anything, ever. there si someone having a worst time than you in the world always
Tbh, I think I like her a bit better after reading that. Of course, she’s not being literal about killing herself, but, who likes seeing themselves getting older? Let be real here.
Of course she’s fawned upon. She’s the modern Charo. That big busted coochy coo is an ancient formula. Puhleeeze.
Yeah, Lane, agree it’s silly to say. Aging is a privilege that many don’t get to experience. Sure, health issues suck the big wazoo, but it’s better than the alternative (and I’m saying that as a person who has had chronic health problems my entire life).
absolutely. aging is a privilege denied to many.
I’m pretty sure she’s being hyperbolic.
I love her too. She’s beautiful, funny and real – what’s not to like?
Eh, so she’s got no problem with being objectified, but wants to kill herself because she’s getting old? …?
Yep, she seems completely oblivious to the fact that those two things are related…..
Came to the tags to say the same thing. It’s so frustrating when women do not understand that.
I had no problem with her interview until she said she doesn’t understand why women don’t want to be objectified. Um, because if you’re just an object it means it doesn’t matter if you’re hit, paid less, never promoted or (in it’s most extreme interpretation) straight up murdered. Afterall and object is not a person. When you are objectified you are being viewed as a ‘thing’ not a person. Decorative, fun, object to be used.
I cringed when she said that.
Yeah, until that, I was with her.
At least you actually get what objectification actually means. She, like a lot of people, seems to confuse being objectified with being seen in a sexy/sexual way. So when people think that’s what objectification is, it’s easy to see why so many people say they’re ok with being objectified when what they really mean is that they like or don’t mind being seen as sexy/sexual. One isn’t a bad thing while the other is.
Hm, she comes across as being really unaware/ignorant in this interview…everything is from HER perspective, with not much consideration for others. For instance, “I’ve never understood why women get so offended…[about being objectified]”. It seems like she lacks or does not want to acknowledge a deeper level of thinking in regards to objectification, sexism, stereotypes – they have not been harmful to her, so it feels like she is questioning why others would or should feel offended.
Used to like Sofia but now not so sure!
I just read it as her being aware of how objectified she is sexually and decided to make fun of it. The wording is weird, but Spanish is her first language, not English. Us latinos usually don’t go crazy for language like people do in the USA so our statements can sometimes sound more dramatic than they are intended to be.
I think she doesn’t want to knock these things because she benefited from them so much. I mean, she is hilarious and a great comedy actress, but her looks have been a major part of her success and she playes an interesting, but highly stereotyped character. She could have worded things a lot better though.
It’s not just that comment. It’s a bunch of things she said in this interview which bugged me, this in particular; “Plus all the Latinas I know are loud, dress sexy…” – yes, that’s fine if they are your priorities but being a public figure and ‘lump’ stereotyping rubs me the wrong way. I’m Chinese Australian, and it’s like me saying “all the Chinese people I know are good at maths, doctors and the women are all tiger mums”.
@Locke Lamora
That’s how I read it too. If she complained about sexism and representation of minorities we’d all be going HAM on her for being so hypocritical. She’s just speaking her truth.
@Sophie
Well yeah, that bothered me too and it was a pretty stupid statement. But I still think it could just be language. When I say “everyone” I usually mean just a lot of people. She was born and raised in Colombia. It’s virtually impossible that literally every woman she knew there was like Gloria.
I’m giving her a break. I don’t think there is anything wrong with her saying she hates getting old. A lot of actresses hate getting older. They just won’t admit that they do but secretly go out and get plastic surgery, Botox and fillers. At least she admits it. I don’t buy into a lot of actresses that says I love aging and I like how I look now that I’m older. If so then why try so hard to turn back the hands of time with cosmetic surgery.
And I also don’t think she means all Latinos are loud. My friend talks like that but when she says everyone, she just means some or a lot. I wish she would have said something better regarding diversity. She has a good thing going but what about other Latinos. Let’s see if she still feels this way when Modern Family comes to an end. She doesn’t have much of a movie career.
I understand that she can’t complain about diversity because she’s got her break & she’s in a successful prime time show. What she could’ve said was the she would urge tv shows to cast Latinos & support her colleagues you know. She just says meh I can’t complain I got my break that’s it. Then the objectifying idk this interview does give me a view of Sofia that I don’t like very much.
Strange clueless commentary and pov from her, I agree.
I mean ffs lady, Rita Moreno is 82 years old, has the coveted EGOT and she knows what’s up, and how little has changed, and how more opportunities have to come. Yet you, cuz you nabbed a sitcom role and a few commercials, ‘can’t complain?’ Ugh. What a dummy.
But one part killed me…
Did you hear that Latinos?!!! Sofia sez, ‘Get to writing!!!!
She said that.
“The problem is not the networks or directors: it’s that there aren’t enough writers creating things for Latinos. Once we have more Latinos writing, that’s when things may really start to change…”
While taking the blame away from networks and directors entirely is stupid, she is showing support for other latinos in that statement.
But is there a flood of Latino scripts that networks are rejecting out of hand? I can’t help but go back to Shonda Rimes, who wondered if before her people weren’t even asking. I’m not placing the burden away from The Powers That Be, but simply asking whether or not there’s at least something valid in her point. As much as the upper echelon of decision-makers need to make sure that a variety of faces get to come in their doors, there needs to be people willing to ask and pitch.
Right? Like she’s never felt unsafe in a strange place because of leering men?
I love her. I can’t help it. I just do. She’s not really bright, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously at all so it doesn’t really matter to me.
She looks good more natural here.
Really? No comments from Kaiser about her thoughts on women being objectified? “Hey, take a compliment”, am I right? This tells me all I need to know about her and her priorities. Women, take it as a compliment that men objectify you, you’re considered sexy and therefore worthy! I haven’t read the whole interview, however she seems focused on being young and sexy and will drop dead as soon as she stops getting attention for it and her stripper boobs. What else do you have about yourself that will keep you interested and interesting for the rest of your life? Also, I’m Mexican and I am not loud and obnoxious, i dress pretty conservatively, just like there’s plenty of Latinos who are different and all over the map… so, no, that stereotype is annoying. And her diversity comment is just stupid. Doesn’t affect me so I’m. It going to complain. Even Halle Berry said it was lonely being the only black best actress winner. How hard to say something like that?
totally agree, she comes off like a prize tit here.
+100000 vapid af
Thank you.
She said she’ll be sad when the “wolf whistles” stop. What’s sad is that she views harassment as positive reinforcement….she is so exhausting with the constant need for validation and attention.
She didn’t say the problem didn’t exist, though. She explicitly said her opportunities don’t compare to those of a white woman. I felt her point was pretty clear: She’s really happy with the career she has, so she won’t complain about it.
I was with her on the stereotype comment until she said all latinas are like Gloria. Eh, no. Defintiely not. But I don’t have a problem with stereotypes as long as they are still fledged-out characters. OITNB borrows HEAVILY from stereotypes on black, latin and lesbian women but nobody complains because those characters are much more than those stereotypical traits, and within each group you still see diversity in personalities.
OITNB borrowed heavily from prison culture (as it should) and did a fantastic job showcasing what is essentially a microcosm of our current society.
OITNB shattered stereotypes. From the multi-dimensional relationships between the female characters to the pointed exploration of white privilege, that show was one of the first to really highlight the underlying issues that permeate from inherent social inequalities faced by minorities, PoC, and the LGBT community.
@Kitten
And it did all of that with butch and promiscuous lesbian women, glamorous and hyper feminine trans women, and sassy and lous black girls.
There’s a lot more to those characters than just those traits. Yes the show has explored the inequality faced by minorities in a way few shows do. Yes, it shattered stereotypes…. by using stereotypical characters and fledging them out.
Alex Vause is a perfect example in that she was neither butch nor promiscuous. A large premise of that show is displaying the complexity, dimension, and individuality of the central characters.
Initially the viewer might stereotype the characters, but that’s absolutely intentional on the part of the writers. They’re setting the viewer up so that they can shatter our preconceived notions. To me, that’s not presenting (borrowing? maybe a bit yeah) stereotypes, that’s playing upon the viewer’s inherent need to judge, classify, and generalize. They’re flipping the script on us, and loving every second of it.
@Kitten
And Daya is a great example of a non-stereotypical latina. The fact she’s kind of an otaku shows great knowledge of the subject people from the writers’ part, since the otaku subculture is actually very prominent in Latin America.
I guess “borrowing” wasn’t the right word. My point was stereotypes are not necessarily detrimental to a series. They can be used in original ways like OITNB did.
Thank you. Of all the times this site has called out women, even younger women who are probably still learning, we’re not going to call out this grown woman? We’re not going to call out someone who should know better? I think the whole issue is that Sofia Vergara is likable and people view her as harmless because she doesn’t take herself seriously. The issue is that she’s still in a position in which her words have implications for others. So she may not mind a wolf whistle, but it’s harmful to women. She may not mind objectification, but it’s harmful to women. She may not mind stereotypes, but they are harmful for minority and marginalized groups. She sounds shallow, she’s just likable and shallow. Nothing she said here was any better/worse than a Kardashian/Jenner.
I’m latina too and what I understand of what she says is that she doesn’t feel objectified in certain situations that other people feel that she’s being objectified. Like in that awards ceremony, she was standing there while people looked at her and she didn’t feel that way and everyone got upset but she had control of the situation, she wasn’t vulnerable, that’s the difference she is noting.
You know what.. I like her interview.
Nowadays you are not even allowed to lovingly criticize YOURSELF in case it makes other people feel bad.
I like that she’s open about who she is instead of pretending like lots of other actresses. She’s hot, has always been hot and loves it. I’d rather hear that that hear a bunch of fake “relatable” stories about how she loves burgers, hates salad, never goes to the gym and was bullied at school.
That’s why I love her too. She’s so unapologetic about who she is.
@ Ellie I agree with you, she seems honest to me and I appreciate that she admits that she is pretty and that it has given her opportunities.
Also, there are a lot of negative things that can be said about wolf whistles. It is a way of objectifying women, yes, but there is also a more light-hearted and playful aspect to it. In the end, most men are very visually oriented. Is it always wrong for them to express that? I am honestly wondering.
(By the way, I personally always felt uncomfortable when I got wolf whistles, and also when I didn’t get them. And now I don’t have to worry about it anymore, because I am 40+ and definitely not Sofia Vergara).
“It is a way of objectifying women, yes, but there is also a more light-hearted and playful aspect to it. In the end, most men are very visually oriented. Is it always wrong for them to express that?”
followed by:
“I personally always felt uncomfortable when I got wolf whistles.”
I think you answered your own question here.
@ Kitten I guess you are right, thanks for that insight. But even if you would eliminate all wolf whistles from the world, it doesn’t take away from the fact that girls and women are judged for their looks. It’s burdensome if you think about it. And I don’t think it has become any better with social media like Instagram.
I liked the interview a lot and don’t think she sounded ignorant, she’s very honest and discussing her own lived experience.
Of course aging can be painful and many of us our vain, why are we holding someone who capitalizes on their looks to a higher standard?
“Of course aging can be painful and many of us our vain, why are we holding someone who capitalizes on their looks to a higher standard?”
I agree. If this was Gisele people would be saying where she makes her money off how she looks so aging might be difficult for her. Sofia makes her money off how she loos as well.
Sofia is spectacularly beautiful, in a way that’s probably shaped how she perceives the world. People can call it vapid, but the reality is that likely none of us will understand what it’s like to have that incredible asset, and understand what it means to age when it could diminish a huge part of her physical identity. I don’t really get the heat for Sofia here either.
She is honest. I think she has always been beautiful and pampered .She does not have the life experiences of other women, or other actresses.
She is who she is. Like someone said upthread, she’d be hypocrytical to say otherwise. She has also been consistent. I recall her saying more or less the same things way before Modern family, I recall that she was in a comed series where she was also the latin sex bomb. She does not complain because she has benefited a lot from it. She knows she is not a great actress, and these roles are the most she is going to get. Many actresses would like to earn the money she makes, and be known, even as a stereotype.
It is like the actress (the “Salvadorian” maid)from Will and Grace, who was actually from Spanish descent but was always doing hispanic/maid roles. She got jobs and she was stereotyped, but she got work and benefited from that.
She can’t really be as shallow and immature as she comes off here, can she? Is she still acting? Is this just the image that she wants to project or is this the real Sofia?? I feel bad about saying this, but she seems so empty-headed.
I never understand women who think being whistled at means they are still hot. Being whistled at it humiliating, it makes me feel like a piece of meat and totally disrespected. And it has nothing to do with how you look usually. When I lived in the city nearby I used to get whistled at wearing sweatpants and a ponytail and with an overweight belly too. It’s not a form of validation it’s a form of belittlement, to me at least.
She’s so vapid.
Exactly! It’s a way of making us feel less than, as if we exist solely for the male gaze. I RESENT that sh*t and I hate the way it makes me feel–so exposed and vulnerable. It’s gross.
My mom is a 70-year-old woman with white hair and she was cat-called a while back. She thought it was the funniest thing: “They probably saw me from a distance and thought my hair was platinum blonde!”
I have weird feelings about this. Theoretically I agree–I’m a staunch feminist. But…and I feel awful saying this, but until very recently I’d always been a little envious of women who get this kind of attention. I’m not pretty, and I’m basically built like an Olsen–very short, bird bones, struggle to reach 100 pounds. I’ve never been bought a drink, hit on, or asked for my number in my life.
However: I was recently having a discussion with a good friend of mine, who is an ex-model (she’s 29 so mostly aged out of it, but she’s still stunning by “normal person” standards). She was Saying that someone had asked for her number earlier and she was glad she “still had it”, as it had been happening less frequently. This is a woman who has probably never paid for a drink in her life. Most of us will never understand what it’s like to be that beautiful–it comes with its own unique set of problems. When people have commented on your beauty literally every single day of your life (as is the case with my friend, and I’m sure is the case for Sofia as well), its all you’ve ever known–I can see why it would be difficult to see that change. It’s actually made me grateful, in a strange way, that I’ve never experienced that type of attention and don’t know what I’m missing, now that I’ve seen firsthand what happens when it goes away.
@ Holmes Thank you for interesting take on this matter. You are right, the advantages and disadvantages of being good-looking (or not) are not as clear cut as one might think.
@Holmes – Good comments and I love the insight. For someone to feel attractive and have it validated just feels good. No way around it.
There’s no way of getting around what will seem like bragging in my response but I feel obligated to say something since I have a different perspective than Holmes and her attractive friend.
No, I’m not a model, but I have always ALWAYS gotten that kind of attention. I’m 37 now and I STILL get it (although nowhere near as much as I did in my 20s) and it STILL bugs the sh*t out of me.
So do I enjoy genuine compliments from BF, friends, family and others?
Abso-fu*cking-lutely. I’d be lying if I said that doesn’t make me feel good. Is aging really hard? Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s “really hard” but yeah it sucks to see those lines creeping in. Is it vain to be concerned about that? Yes, but it’s also entirely human and I don’t fault anyone for feeling like that, because I do too.
So now that we’ve answered those questions, can we clarify that none of these things have anything to do with being cat-called on the street?
A man approaching you at a bar, engaging in conversation, and then asking for your number is NOT the same as a construction worker eying you up and down and making the same sounds he makes when he wants his dog to come to him. Do you see the difference? In the former instance, a man is simply expressing interest in you. You go to a bar, you dress up, you know that this could potentially happen. Sometimes you even WANT it to happen.
The latter incident is simply a way of stealing women’s power, to the point where we don’t even feel safe or comfortable in a public place, going about our daily routine. Men don’t have to put up with this, but women do–that’s inequality. It is NOT flattering to be treated like an object, as if because we exist in a public space, we’re fair game.
There’s nothing wrong with being seen as attractive, but the thought of being whistled or howled at by some stranger in public feels more tacky and embarassing than flattering. It’s not the attraction, it’s the juvenile, old fashioned, backward way it’s being expressed.
I had sympathy for her frozen embryo story, but I’ve never liked her. I think her accent is fake or exaggerated and she plays a stereotype dumb big breasted woman. She’ll be sorry when the wolf whistles stop because cat calling is such a great compliment, as we all know. And you know what? You can complain about the lack of diversity even if it doesn’t affect you personally, you shallow bimbo. I’m white, so it doesn’t directly affect me, but I still think it needs to be changed. I am baffled by the love she gets on here. Shallow, not very bright, self-centered and tacky.
She’s playing a stereotypical and highly sexualised woman on national TV. It’s not that it doesn’t affect her. She’s benefitting from it. How could she possibly complain about the things she’s built a career off?
Because not every Latina is a 5’10 bombshell goddess like she is. She built a career not because of being a Latina, she built a career IN SPITE of being a Latina and her looks played a huge part in that. She could at least acknowledge that she’s the exception to the rule.
If your point is that she’s right to not criticize the Hollywood machine because they gave her a career then you have to extend that same courtesy to everyone from George Clooney to Will Smith. The thing if either of those dudes said “well it never affected me so I don’t feel that I’m in a place to criticize”, people would come down on them like a ton of bricks.
And if Sofía complained about objectification and lack of non-stereotypical roles people would be throwing those same bricks at her for playing exactly that, both in Modern Family and real life.
“I’m really not one to complain. I mean, seriously, how dare I! Here I am on prime-time television with this stupid accent, I can’t trash anyone. It would be so ungrateful of me because, trust me, I’ve been treated like a queen.”
I, I, I. Me, me, me. I think she’s speaking on her own behalf, from her own perspective. She likes her career. She won’t complain about it. She acknowledges white women have better opportunities exactly the sentence after that.
I have a problem with people like Charlotte Rampling or Michael Caine acting like the problem doesn’t exist. Sofia’s saying the problem exists, but she won’t complain about it because she’s very happy for the career she has. I don’t share her PoV, but I can understand it.
She isn’t talking about objectification. Clearly she has no problem being an object since she will be so sad when men stop cat calling her. She loves being an object. When she said she couldn’t complain, she was talking about discrimination and lack of diversity. Since she got a job, and has made a career out of playing a stereotype, she can’t complain that other women of color are excluded from most of the entertainment industry? Or that women are paid less than men in general? Because it isn’t the case with her. Mentioning it on behalf of other people would make her “ungrateful” as in she doesn’t want to rock her nice little boat. Or bother, in my opinion, to think about anything but herself and how great looking she is. Not that she cares about looks, she just wants to die when she realizes she has aged. Sorry, but I just can’t with this shallow light weight.
I have a problem with people acting like Sofia has to wave the flag for every struggling latin actor out there. That there’s this moral obligation from her to complain about the system. She’s benefitted from the system. She likes being a loud, sexualised latina with an incomprehensible accent. She was speaking on her own behalf and I insist – she acknowledged there actually is a problem. She’s not silencing the people who complain about it. If she personally has nothing to complain about, I don’t see why she must complain on behalf of everyone else.
You’re right. She can be as self-centered, selfish and unconcerned for others as she wants. And I can think she’s shallow and callous and uncaring. You can love her and I can not love her. You can think we have no moral obligation to right wrongs or help those less fortunate, and I can disagree. I doubt we will ever agree on that, but I respect your right to disagree with me and to like and defend her. I just don’t. I’m not saying she should be banned from the universe, I just don’t care for her.
I don’t know GNAT, I think Sofia acknowledges there is a problem. I don’t see it as her being selfish or unconcerned, I see it as her as really thinking she cannot complain because without Modern Family she wouldn’t have a career. It’s entirely possible that she thinks if she starts complaining about the lack of diversity she might not get cast again for another role or commercial. You might think she’s made it but how do you know she thinks that?
Her wolf whistle comment annoys me more but it’s sad that she places any value in her appearance. Again it could be years of being told she had nothing else to bring to the table other than her appearance.
@Josefina and Tammy
I hadn’t thought about her being afraid or intimidated as a reason, which was dumb of me. I will concede that her motives may not be as selfish as I said, or at least that I don’t know what her motives are. Thanks for the input.
Gnat, I agree on all accounts.
This feels a little like Kaley Cuoco’s “well I’m fine so who needs feminism?” interview. At least Sofia is acknowledging there needs to be more diversity behind the scenes in storytelling, but at the same time, she certainly can complain about lack of diversity on screen regardless of her own experience.
Way to generalize! All the Latinas she knows are loud and dress sexy? Well, I must be an outlier. I’m 28 years old with plans to postpone motherhood as far back as possible. The youngest a woman in my acquiantance has given birth to is 27 years old.
I’m sorry Sofía, but you must have just fallen for the old latin@ stereotype yourself.
Latins want diversity? Then first acknowledge the diversity withing ourselves instead of extending a stereotype doing us a great disservice,
She’s an idiot. I am a latina who happens to know many (duh!), and we’re not all loud and sexy. She probably spends too much time in front of the mirror.
why is the cover giving me a “oh hello! you caught me mid-dump? did i not lock the loo door? oh silly me. now.. Shoo!” vibe.
LMAO
Is she not Caucasian?
@REDD: She is Colombian. But as I explained to a classmate ages ago, Latin Americans don’t called themselves White Colombian or African Colombian. It’s just Colombian. Most know we are a mix of Spaniard, African and Amerindios how much from one to another that depends of course. You could have regionalism but that’s another convo.
Race and ethnicity are messy dramas with way too many complications in the USA.
I’m Brazilian, White and Latina with an Italian surname who lives in the USA and it’s a ridiculous mess here.
@Cassie Race and ethnicity drama isn’t an exclusive problem in the US.
It is not exclusive, but it is messy.
As a Mexican I accept we have many issues. I work in education and in my city (it varies, of course) I see the schools with many different looking children. Fairer, darker, curly/kinky hair native features, blue eyes, you name it. They are all Mexican. Even the odd half Canadian pops up and integrates as Mexican, because there are kids that look like her.
Then the Veracruzana girl that looks just Afro-Mexican, comes and none calls her names, they call her by her name. There is teasing, of course, but none is asking about ethnicities like in the USA most do.
Latin american countries have their own problems, but we are hardly checking boxes about our ethnicity, or whatever.
“What are you? You look Greek or Italian” (I am tallish, olive skin, brunette with green eyes, and my nose was beaked and wide).
Oddest question I got when I visited the USA for the first time.
Naive me, I answered “Mexican” and the lady wrinkled her nose at me, like if I smelled.
Maybe if I had said I was a mixture of Spanish and Native American I would have been better acknowledged?
I asked because this is what she says regarding diversity …
“It would be so ungrateful of me because, trust me, I’ve been treated like a queen. Of course [the opportunities] can’t compare to an American or Caucasian woman’s, but things are changing.”
As a Colombian she may not make a further distinction about herself, racially, but here she’s talking about a situation in Hollywood where opportunities are meted out differently based on race and claiming that white women have it better.
I was watching this thing on buzzfeed, where they were getting their DNA tested to see what their ethnicity make-up is. And the one guy was really surprised that their was no “Mexican” on the list. He had described himself as half Filipino and half mexican. She said that it doesn’t have its own classification because it made up from people from other countries. She explained it a lot better than I could Im sure, but it was interesting.
OMG, “Señora” I feel you woman! It pisses me off too…
Oh, not the dress that makes her bleed, the underware… or more to the point underware that controls the girls, that’s how I understood it.
Reaching for relevancy and not quite making it.
It’s funny when she said that bit about wanting to cry looking at herself in season 1 as compared to now, at first I honestly thought she meant because she knows she looked older then and it was before she had her tweaks and facelift (she has, Google it).
But then I realized she’s trying to say she thinks she looked better then.
Nice trick Sophia.
She looked older the first season of Modern Family….for a reason. It was pre cosmetic surgery.
i don’t have an issue with what she is saying AT ALL but now i’m going to sound like a crazed womynist (PCU anyone? hey hey ho ho this penis party’s got to go) but bear with me:
despite her success the system is still holding her down. if you feel that you aren’t entitled to “complain” patriarchy is still controlling you. it is not her fault to feel that way – it is burned in our brains and ingrained into society but that is the issue here. it doesn’t end once you get the opportunity. because once you get it, you have to be the best, hottest, most profitable person to ever get MORE opportunities and you can’t complain about anything ever again. it is BULLLLLLL$$HIITTTTT.
I like this toned down version, she looks much better than usual.
She’s great. I can’t clutch pearls or take offense to what she is saying because only she knows what it’s like to walk in her shoes. As far as her comments on being attractive or aging–the latin American market, especially in television, is well documented as being looks heavy. Burn her at the stake for lamenting what got her foot in the door? Unnecessary.
Omg she looks like her face has been pulled into “cat woman” face on that cover -does not look like her
I wish women who’re desperate for male validation would shut the fuck about it. It reinforces the myth that we all want & enjoy being objectified. Just this month, I had a male acquaintance tell me to stop complaining about catcalling and enjoy it while it lasted, because I “won’t be 23 forever”…
Wow really? What a jerk. Why do men feel the need to catcall in the first place? Dirty dogs.
I get what she’s saying, she was lucky and doesn’t want to be ungrateful but at the same time she addresses some of the industry’s problems. That’s good, I like her but I really can’t deal with her eyebrows.
I don’t want to dismiss her view but I think her queen like reception is due to others knowing she’ll be game to play the stereotype and/or not put up a fuss (see: Modern Family and the industry asking her to act as a human golden globe as she rotated on a small platform).
:sigh:
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her talk about how she’s going to get a breast reduction at least once before. To me, it’s just fishing for compliments “Oh poor little me with my giant boobies which are the main reason I have the lucrative career I do”. And she doesn’t wear low-cut tops anymore? Really? What’s that in the picture then? Looks pretty low-cut to me. And yes, I suppose she didn’t choose that top herself, but any time I’ve seen her on the red carpet, her tops are always cut low. I guess ‘low’ is relative.
No, she said she doesn’t wear low top shirts and a mini-skirt *together*. Now she picks one or the other.
I could never be a celebrity. I would curl up and die from the criticism and pressure. While I don’t agree with her and don’t share her experiences, I respect the fact she’s not pulling a Chris Pine and speaking in “what to say to appease everyone” cliches.
I guess I tolerate rude, unfortunate truths more than publicist puff pieces.
I never really felt one way or another about her but now I’m feeling active dislike. So much ridiculousness in her statements.
“I’ve never understood why women get so offended.”
You don’t have to understand it Sofia. You have no problem being objectified; you obviously value yourself on how attractive others find you but that’s not the case for other women. You’re not enlightened or cooler because it doesn’t bother you.
So because it didn’t happen to HER, it never happened to anyone?
God, she’s so annoying. I don’t watch Modern Family so maybe I’m missing something but I just do not get her appeal. She’s like Charo 2.0
Would she be able to play any other character though? I’ve never seen her in anything else but I’m guessing she probably would play a similar character.
she’s white, why would she complain about diversity? Latin media heavily favors white Latinas anyways,so I doubt she has found herself relegated to the same place that Brown Latina women are.
That cover looks like someone else. I don’t find her beautiful but she obviously thinks she is. I find her annoying and not funny at all. Her voice is grating. I am 61 and rock super short hair according to what a lot of people say. Many times long hair makes a person look older. She just sounds empty headed.
Well at least she’s honest. No one could fake being that vain and shallow but there are worse things in life
This.
Ouch
I love her. Try not to take everything people say in interviews so seriously, some people speak in hyperbole.
Wow Sofia, maybe there are women who dont like be objectified because they want to be known/seen for more than just their looks.
Oh, make no mistake, “queen”. Just dare to be more than a stupid stereotype and we’ll see how good it is to be objectified and treated well because of your looks. Try to direct or pursue a deep role.
“I’ve never understood why women get so offended.”
Almost everyone is hyper-offended these days.
[*Hyper-offended overload*]