Cosas de Chicas (Girl Talk) deconstructs the term Latina in a series of three video essays: Beauty Standards, Motherhood, and Define Latina. In these videos, women of different backgrounds, racial identities and sexualities, deconstruct Western Latin stereotypes and traditional gender roles in Latin-America, in order to redefine the term Latina according to their personal experiences. Cosas de Chicas (Girl Talk) advocates for the visibility and inclusion of WOC experiences, defying the misrepresentation and expectations placed on ethnical minorities to satisfy a Eurocentric perspective. All individual videos invite the audience to evaluate their own biases and prejudices about Latin-American women.

Latinas face two opposing, rigid ideals of femininity: their culture’s conservative marianismo, and North-American’s Spicy Latina stereotype. Marianismo is a social concept that compares women to the Virgin Mary, and gives them the role of a selfless and virginal caretaker. Whereas, the Spicy Latina is an overly sexual temptress with a hot temper, who lures in white men. Cosas de Chicas (Girl Talk) challenges this normalized simplicity and introduces alternative representations of Latin femininity, through real women reclaiming their identities and varied realities in dialogue.

Girls’ conversations have usually being associated with gossip and the term “girl talk” has limited female-only interactions to center on negative rumors, physical appearance and romantic relationships. Cosas de Chicas (Girl Talk) subverts this association and recontextualizes “girl talk” as a space built on trust and common understanding. Therefore, this digital space becomes a safe space exclusive for Latin-American women to reclaim their narratives through casual dialogue. The video intervenes threatening spaces through its exhibition and interaction with a virtual audience, where the video’s nature as a prerecorded material holds is narrative and presence, wherever it is seen.

The conversations were recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and emphasize on maintaining social relationships and support in a digital environment. They also reinforce how social activism remains present and conversations regarding misrepresentation and inequality are atemporal.