The Portrayal of Latina Domestic Workers in the TV Series Devious Maids

Abstract

The Latinx audience is an increasingly important demographic for all television networks because they represent the fastest-growing U.S. minority. Therefore, producers attempt to target Latinx viewers who are more likely to watch the programs with their on-screen representation. This article examines how Hispanic women are portrayed in the comedy-drama series Devious Maids (Marc Cherry, 2013–2016). The first section presents the historical perspective of the ethnic typecasting for the roles of domestic workers in American motion pictures, accentuating the switch when Hispanic characters replaced African-American females as maids. This section has two additional functions: offering a selection of films and series featuring Hispanic protagonists cast as domestic workers, and providing background information about Latinx stereotyping in the U.S. media. The second part of the article combines analyses of the series Devious Maids, grouped into three subsections that consecutively examine class relations, reinforcing or destabilizing Latinx stereotypes. The series depicts Latina domestic workers who experience intersectional marginalization by being positioned as underclass ethnic females. The dramatic strain explores issues of family belonging, border crossing, split-family formation and pursuit of upward mobility. The comedy relies heavily on articulating ethnic traits such as exotic Otherness, which intrinsically intertwines with social class status. Hispanics in lead roles are evidence of a greater visibility of Latinx in American popular culture. However, by putting only Latinas in the roles of maids, the series contradicts the idea of “colourblind” casting; it offers empowerment to Hispanic actresses and diminishes the chances of women of colour who do not happen to be Latinas. Anglo-American protagonists are only a supporting cast, portrayed with a strong emphasis on their negative features. The noble images of Hispanic females are juxtaposed with the caricatured portrayal of the Whites.