Sexualizing Señoritas: Portrayals of Mexican Women during World War I

Abstract

The obstacles that white women had to face during WWI have been widely documented in books such as Elizabeth Cobbs’, Hello Girls and Diane North’s California at War: The State and People During World War I. However, less attention has been paid to the obstacles faced by Mexican women. My paper draws on newspaper articles, fictionalized accounts, and recent scholarly work to examine how Mexican women were portrayed in contrast to portrayals of white women during this period. The portrayal of Mexican women in the media as illiterate, ignorant, and in need of white saviors, reinforced the stereotype of a hypersexualized damsel in distress. These portrayals of Mexican women reflected existing racism, sexism, and classism by neglecting/diminishing their accomplishments. Recovering the contributions and lived experiences of Mexican American women during this time are crucial to understanding California history in World War I.