Celebrating the Diversity within Latinidad with Becky G and Isabela Merced

Face to Face with Becky G is examining and celebrating Latinidad with “Fulanito” singer Becky G and actress/singer Isabela Merced (Dora) who not only chat about their roots but also cook up something delicious in honor of their culture. Becky, who is of Mexican descent, and Merced, who is Peruvian, discussed the similarities in their cultures while also noting what’s unique about each. This is an important conversation to have as Latinxs are often viewed as a monolith so highlighting how culturally rich and diverse Latin America helps chip away at that limited perspective.

The ladies got together in the kitchen to prepare aguachile (Becky) and ceviche (Merced), two foods popular in their respective homelands that feature seafood. In the process, they began by discussing the assumptions that have placed them in boxes within the industry.  Merced, 20, shared how often when people discover she’s Latina the assumption is she’s Mexican, something many Latinxs in the U.S. can relate to since Mexicans are the largest population of Latin origin living in the United States. They account for 62 percent of the U.S. Latinx population in 2017, according to PEW Research.

“With me, it’s happened so often in my career, on auditions, even while we’re filming a movie, how everyone just assumes, if you’re Latina, you’re Mexican. I’ve gotten so, so much of it that, at a certain point, I’m like, I’m not even bothered anymore.”

Becky, 24, offered a solution of “course correcting”, saying that it is a matter of speaking up more often to educate people. She reflected on being compared to Selena Gomez in multiple occurrences in her career. “I look back at a certain moment in my career, where I could have very easily said–because the industry said, ‘Well, we already have Selena Gomez. Imagine if I never, you know, found the courage to say, no, but I have a different story to tell. You know, I’m from Inglewood. I’m from LA. I’m Chicana, Mexican-American, too.”

It’s great to see Becky use this platform to celebrate two cultures and discuss how important it is to continue to educate people on this topic. “It’s something that I feel for, and that I am very passionate about speaking on and educating on, because although we might share some similarities, there’s also a lot of differences that we should embrace each other for.”

New episodes of Face to Face with Becky G premiere on Tuesday on Facebook Watch. Tune in on Dec. 28 at 9 am PST to watch her and In the Heights star Anthony Ramos talk destigmatizing mental health.