Reviews For Latina Magazine


Latina for Everyone!

This is one of the best magazines I've ever read. It's not full of ads. It has articles on topics which interest me. It helps me to brush up on my Spanish. The clothing and makeup featured are suitable to the everyday woman. Unlike other magazines, you won't see clothes that are only suitable on a runway and that aren't really affordable. What I love is that they always tell you where an item can be found and the cost of the item on the same page. You don't have to root through ridiculously small print in the back of the magazine to find out where you can locate the clothes or makeup. Because Latin women come in all shades, they give makeup tips which can be used by everyone. I'm an African American woman who has had subscriptions to Elle and to Honey Magazine. I have found Latina to be far more helpful and to have better fashions.

LATINA SOUL

This magazine, is so GOOD and well written and I can't wait for the next issue to arrive each month!!!... It covers so many areas that Hispanic people are not open to talk about with their peers. The Spanglish is GREAT, because its like you're reading in two languages. One of my favorite areas of the magazine is the "Dice Delores" because the columnist keeps it real with you and replies with funny little remarks. Oh! and I can't forget about all the Papi Chulos they feature, and how sexy they are!

Great Magazine

This magazine has good stories for anyone. Livng in a global economic society means thinking with a multicultural lens. This magazine gives you some insight into Latino culture.

A fun, thoughtful magazine for trendy women

I don't think it's fair to make Latina magazine be the be-all, end-all magazine for American Latinas. It's not like we throw a fit when Cosmopolitan perpetuates "female" stereotypes. I understand that for minorities, it would be nice to hold mainstream media to a higher standard, but sometimes, don't you just want to kick back on the couch and not stress?

For those moments of kicking back, not stressing, and not finding fault with everything around me, I love reading Latina magazine. Thoughtful articles and first-person essays, easy recipes, and great trends.

And, I'm not even Latina -- I'm Asian-American. And I have to say, reading this magazine has made me appreciate just that much more how we are all sisters in this world, just trying to find happiness, love, and a hot pair of shoes.

Try it!

Latina is a great, easy-to-read magazine that attempts to incorporate everything an 18 to 30 something year old Latina would care about. It scratches the surface of fashion, beauty, politics, and culture. The articles are informative, but unfortunately not too in-depth. However, it's just about the only magazine out there that addresses make-up for the Latina skin tone, clothes for the Latina body, and Latino political, health and cultural issues...so give it a try!

Bridging the Gap Between Hispanics and Americans

Latina is a cultural magazine designed to appeal to the modern, trendy Hispanic woman who resides in the USA. This magazine features a mixture of entertainment, fashion, and practical advice on topics ranging from personal finance to family life and its primary audience is young woman, both married and single.

This magazine is designed with the female consumer in mind but there are several departments and monthly features that offer more widespread appeal. Latina Life, for example, is a collection of articles in each issue that contains many relevant articles offering good reading that will appeal to a broad range of people. Here, the reader can find articles about money, health, fitness, travel, and other subjects that most anyone can relate. In addition to this, it is common to find articles that focus on specific Latina women (both celebrity and non- celebrity) who have overcome adversity. These are often the best articles in each magazine because they often present inspirational stories where a challenge or difficult circumstance was overcome. These articles offer good reading that can apply to anyone regardless of age or gender.

Most of the remaining featured articles in Latina are geared in the direction of strictly feminine topics and I tend to skip over these when I read. These articles talk about things such as manicures, hair styling, clothing selection, and other things that are intended for the female market. But in spite of the limited appeal, there is one thing that men will like: The photos. These articles about women and their fashion options are usually accompanied by plenty of pictures of hot Latin babes making them worthy of a look or two.

Advertisements are common in this magazine and one interesting fact is that part of the ads are written in Spanish. This is only true, however, of the ads- the articles themselves are all composed in English. This surprised me when I first read Latina because I always thought the magazine contained English and Spanish in equal or nearly equal quantities and that Spanish was used in some of the featured articles. This isn't true, and while Latina does try to bridge the gap between Hispanic and American differences it is obvious that Latina assumes its readers already know a good deal of English.

Latina contains a large amount of reading material that has little or no relevance to men but it redeems itself by including a good deal of articles that can appeal to anyone. There is an emphasis on stories relating to Latin women who have achieved success and overcome barriers and these are usually Latina's best articles. The personal touch is nice and the reading is inspiring. But most of the magazine is geared toward women and for this reason most men will not rate Latina very highly. I'm going to rate this publication with a small recommendation nonetheless because I can see its value and I can understand how the female market would enjoy this magazine.


A Weak Read - Filled with Ads and Stereotypes

I like the idea of a bilingual magazine, but LATINA's self-involved "spanglish" can be juvenile and borders on offensive at times. Although attempting to bridge the gap between the two languages that dominate US Hispanic society, it fails to make a connection in either one.

I've subscribed for a year and although I enjoy some of the articles and beauty tips as much as the next woman, I feel the magazine reads like a "poor-chica's" Nancy Drew mystery, with all its "buy-it-for-less" ads strategically inserted in the actual articles. That smacks of editorial sell out and lack of integrity. Plus, most of the articles seem to be written for 18-22 year olds. I don't know about you, but I grew up a long time ago!

Besides - Latinas (and all Latinos for that matter) have much more on their minds than the latest trends in mascara, runway fashion or shampoo! The magazine, though occassionally interesting, makes us appear two-dimensional, reinforcing negative images with its made-up language and limited editorial focus. It's as if LATINA is written for just one kind of Hispanic woman - a "Nuyorkina teen" with nothing on her mind except boys, sex and cosmetics!

For a much better read about Latinos in the US and our many contributions to the arts, culture and language of America, Hispanics would do far better to read Selecciones, Cristina or People en Español. At least those magazine offer more depth, news-worthiness, and expertise on fashion, beauty and the arts. Plus, reading in spanish means nothing if real MEANING is lost in translation - something LATINA succeeds at. With made up words and VERY loose use of both languages the magazine doesn't connect with either culture or present a unifying identity. Instead it often reinforces the finger-snappin'-salsa-lovin'-big-hipped vision of women of color. That's not something Latinas need these days - we can read AND think AND shop AND learn AND work in two languages - why do we feel we have to choose one or the other? Latina seems to think we must or - GOD forbid - we'll miss out on the latest trends for Fall Fashion! Que pena!

Sad thing is...advertisers seem to love it for all the wrong reasons (probably because they can read the english and dismiss the spanish.) That's too bad - our language should not be wrapped up in a neat package like LATINA as that undermines our common Hispanic identity. Instead, our bond of language should be celebrated and encouraged among Latino youth (the very target LATINA goes after.) We acculturate, not assimilate. We must incorporate the many worlds of Hispanic America (Spaniards and Boricuas, Cubanos and Argentinas, Mexicanas, Colombianas y Peruanos, etc.)through our beautiful language rather than kow-towing to advertisers and companies who dismiss us because they cannot read our words. That means they prefer we read THEIRs and at least for this reader, I CHOOSE to do both regardless of whether or not advertisers like it. Reading "en español" sets me apart and gives me an edge, plus it gives me a unique perspective I never get in LATINA.

Celebrate our culture AND our language - and maintain it for generations to come --- a good magazine like People Español or Vanidades can help you do that. A poor product like LATINA just undermines our own future.

Not for the average latina

I subscribed to Latina for 2 years but I decided to stop throwing away my money. The quality of the magazine has been steadily declining. It now seems to be geared toward teenagers. Since there has been a new editor, the quality is even worst. The fashion, make-up and some articles seem to be aimed for people who want to look skanky. Definitely avoid it!

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