Disussion Question: Chavez and A Glass Half Empty

Chavez’s article, “A Glass Half Empty: Latina Reproduction and Public Discourse,” discusses the bias that Americans, particularly Californians, have against pregnant Latinas. He discusses the prejudice that Latinas are essentially more sexually rampant, less likely to use birth control responsibly, and thus more likely to get pregnant by accident. He then disproves these prejudices by showing that rates of pregnancy and birth control use among Latinas are not significantly different than those of white American women. This relates back to the clip of the congressman we watched in class last week, in which he said, “they reproduce like rats.” Ignoring for now the racism of him using the word “rats” instead of the more commonly used “rabbits,” why do you think he had the idea that Latinas reproduce more? What are some possible social/psychological explanations? Two potential reasons for this bias include 1) the notion that Latinas are more likely to be catholic and thus not use birth control, and 2) they get pregnant once they get to the US so that their children can be US citizens and “anchor babies” for them (and help them get citizenship later). Do you think either of these ideas causes this prejudice? Are there other explanations for this? How have you seen this happen in your hometown or around Stanford?