Humor and Latina/o Camp in Ugly Betty

Tanya González is associate professor in the English Department at Kansas State University.Eliza Rodriguez y Gibson is associate professor in the Department of Chicana/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University.

González and Rodriguez y Gibson use a ‘funny looking’ lens to analyze the popular television series Ugly Betty (2006–10). Featuring minority characters and taking a progressive stance on LGBTQ issues, the sitcom resides ‘on the border’—on one hand acclaimed for avoiding cliché, on the other derided for ‘humorous and campy manipulation of stereotypes.’ Embracing the ambiguities of borderland culture, the authors observe the main character’s attempt at auto-defining what it means to be a second-generation Mexican American/Chicana engaging with ‘race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality.’ Each chapter highlights specific episodes that make fun and make sense of a particular topic within Chicana/o culture. The series and thus this book give alternative representations of Latino masculinity and ‘familia.’ The authors also address immigration issues such as separation of families, adaptation of recent immigrants, and assimilation into mainstream culture of subsequent generations. They reflect on sexually charged masculine and feminine roles and new interpretations of Latina sexuality. This book illustrates a progressive ‘Latinidad’ that challenges the inequalities and injustices at the foundations of the American dream. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.

• Chapter 1.With His Spatula in His Hand: Remaking Masculinity and FamiliaChapter 2. First Class Tickets to Mexico!: Laughing at DeportationChapter 3. Life’s A Drag: Identity as Queer PerformanceChapter 4. Bringing Sexy Back: The Complexities of Latina Sexuality on Ugly BettyChapter 5. Wake Up Betty!: Feminism, Neoliberalism and the American Dream