April 17

Media plays a huge role in Cofer’s story. She is constantly being judged by images that people have seen of other Puerto Rican people. Media also portrays athletic people as strong, muscular and tall, where she was automatically looked down upon because she was short and skinny. When Cofer was going to go out with Ted and Ted’s father said he didn’t want him to go with a Puerto Rican, other pictures of Puerto Rican’s were being used to judge Cofer. Although media may not have been directly involved in this, the idea that all over Puerto Rican’s were portrayed like this shows that someone was getting this idea from the media. Media also influenced people looking at Cofer and saying that she was beautiful but that she was too skinny. She did not fit the “perfect” stereotype of a female so she was automatically looked down up. She only fit part of the media standards for a female.