A Real Woman - America Ferrera

Many know her as goofy fashionably-challenged braces-wearing Betty Suarez on ABC's "Ugly Betty." Sadly, the show is in its last season due to falling ratings. But that's not what I want to discuss here. I remember Ferrera from the first film she ever starred in, "Real Women Have Curves." Ferrera played a Mexican- American teen struggling to find a balance between her dream to go to college and the traditional values of her parents. The starlet won an acting award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002 for her part and the film put Ferrera on the map. She was cast for "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and its sequel, and then landed the lead role in "Ugly Betty." She shot to stardom. I wish that I could say that Ferrera's ethnicity has never been a roadblock in her career but sadly, I cannot.

Ferrera is an American citizen, born to Honduran parents, raised in San Fernando Valley, California, and has the beautiful curves of a Latina. It was this last attribute that garnered rejection at hundreds of commercial auditions. Directors also had issue with her Latin looks, and American accent and carriage: It was as though they couldn't reconcile the two elements: Latina talking and acting ... American!? In some instances, she even was asked to sound more Latina!




In "Real Women," it is clear that she fits her character Ana - an 18-year-old high school student - very well. Ferrera yet and still, before her successes, didn't fit the mold of an actress. Latin actresses usually get type cast into Latina roles, whereas a wafer-thin blonde could fit any role possible. And that is the reason I loved the film so much. Ferrera was real - very real.



In one scene, she is in the family's factory ironing dresses. It bothers Ana that none of the dresses were larger than size seven, despite the fact that all the women working there were heavier set, curvy latin women! While ironing the dresses, Ana becomes too hot for comfort and takes off her shirt revealing her round frame. The other women follow suite, freeing themselves from the shame of being "fat." That scene drew tears in my eyes; I will never forget how I felt seeing Ferrera dancing around in bra and panties, and the thought that came to mind was, "Wow, she loves who she is."

It bugs me when the typical stars are glamorized. Words like, "perfect," "gorgeous," "flawless," "sexy," are thrown around the usual skinny, Caucasian models and actresses. I'm not at all saying that they aren't beautiful, but our outlook on what beauty is needs to change. America Ferrera prancing around in her undies is beautiful! Not many of us love ourselves enough to not care about what others say about our size, hair, skin, lips, breasts and legs. "Perfection" holds celebrities slave to the knife of their plastice surgeons. Heidi Montag had 10 procedures done in one day!

If I'm only going to be happy "when I lose weight," "when I have a six-pack" "when I'm a size two," "when I can fit that little black dress," what emotional state am I going to be in the interim? Am I to be dissatisfied, miserable and disappointed till then? I'm sorry; life is too short. It's okay to have goals and to move towards those goals, but I'd also like to enjoy the journey, and to do that, I must be content and secure with what I have and with who I am ...right now. That is my challenge to myself and to you.




America Ferrera taught me a lot 8 years ago. Sometimes I just need to be reminded.