By Luz Garcia–

There is not enough variety in Spanish-speaking television; it seems they only transmit news and overrated telenovelas. In efforts to make TV more entertaining, I believe, stations like Univision and Telemundo create game shows like “Sabado Gigante” for example.

There is one show in particular just drew the line for me. “12 Corazones” or “12 Hearts,” is a game show similar to “Elimidate” on Telemundo. This game show does nothing but reduce the Latina image and is the main problem with all the shows in Hispanic television. They are all over-sexualized and feed into the blown-out of proportion stereotypes of “sex-crazed” Latinas.

On the show, there is a panel of 12 contestants. They do not have names but rather each person has a different zodiac sign. There are usually three men and nine women.

After some crude games such as the “Tubo, Tubo” which is literally a stripper pole where the “ladies” go and show their, uh, talents or the “Hot Chair” where the guys get a lap dance from the female contestants, who try to get his heartbeat up so they won’t be eliminated, and after talking about different sexual themes, during which process three of the women are eliminated. After all that is done, then the women one by one pick the guy they liked the most for their chance to be the chosen one. If she is, a sloppy exchange of saliva follows.

Penelope Menchaca, the host, is obnoxiously loud and shows lack of education. She is overly exaggerated in her movements and constantly talks about “cuchiplancheo” the special word they use for sex. Her outfits, along with those of the rest of the female contestants are less than appropriate. The women, regardless of their age, wear short skirts, revealing tops, platform stilettos, big hair and exaggerated makeup.

If by some kind of miracle, there is a decently dressed woman in the show, she is the first to be eliminated. Also, every contestant on the show fits the Latina stereotype of being a loud gold-digger who is remarkably demanding and sexually insatiable.

There is absolutely nothing decent in this show. The content as previously described is to raunchy and just plain disturbing. The show airs at 6:00 p.m. central time, a time when clearly many young kids are still up and browsing through the channels and then all of a sudden they see some girl halfway naked sliding down a pole.

Another thing to think about is what does this show tell our teenage girls, and society as a whole about dating? Is this the way we should behave to get a man? Is this the way we should allow men to treat us? Are these the values we really want? What is up with all this sexism? It’s worth mentioning that they occasionally exploit men too.

The sad part is that their ratings are good. Surely the ratings come from Latinas who tune in to watch the show every night.

People need to realize that shows like “12 Corazones” discredit Latinas. They make Latinas fit into the stereotypes where they portray us to be materialistic and uneducated, trying to find a man, a machista at that so that he can support us.

Sure it’s entertaining to see all these girls make fools out of themselves on national television, but it is also upsetting to know that those girls in a way represent the rest of us Latinas and then we are all placed in that same negative category right with them. And then we ask ourselves, “Why are we not being taken seriously?”

Luz Garcia is a journalism student at Columbia College Chicago.