While doing the coursework and my own research there are clear distinctions not only between Spanish speaking cultures and the United States, but also between the various Hispanic cultures as well. I never knew that there was such diversity in the Hispanic cultures and it has helped me understand these cultures and nations a lot more. The way gender plays a role in many cultures was interesting to learn as well as their views on marriage and family.

While researching I found that many of the stereotypes that we are given here in the United States are either based on falsities or just misunderstandings by the different cultures. This tends to be the same across the globe and it stems mostly from ignorance reinforced by communities. One of the stereotypes I believed is that all Hispanic cultures are the same when it comes to equality of women and of the LGBT communities. In some Hispanic cultures women are more restrictive in what they can do in careers and education, either by family or social pressure. Whereas other cultures in the Hispanic world are more liberal and open to women having the same roles in society as men. The same can be said about LGBT people in these countries. As some are restrictive and still make being gay or gay marriage illegal while others are more open and some, like Mexico, have adopted more liberal laws and cultural views on this subject.

Another big stereotype about Hispanic cultures and countries are the foods that they eat. The foods are as diverse as anything else in the Hispanic world and they all don’t eat tacos and burritos. Although I do have think there is one commonality in their foods, that is the variety of spices and influences makes it the best food there is. Although I am a little bias on this as I lived with a Hispanic family for a short while in my teenage years, and I got spoiled with all the great homemade foods.