Meet Judy Reyes
You may recognize Judy Reyes from TV. She’s a theater and TV actor who is best known for playing nurse Carla Espinosa on the long-running hospital comedy series Scrubs, and, more recently, Zoila Díaz in Devious Maids, the first prime-time program featuring an all-Latina leading cast. Some people initially criticized the show for depicting Latinas as maids because this could reinforce an old stereotype.
Reyes has learned to resist stereotypes when she encounters them in her work. Above all, she focuses on portraying Latina characters accurately. She says she immediately connected with her character in Devious Maids because it mirrored her own mother’s experience. Even more than that, the role was authentic to the lives of so many Latinas who put their own dreams on hold to work hard and make a living.
What Is a Stereotype?
A stereotype is a generalized belief that many people share about members of a particular group—for example, that everyone of a certain race or ethnicity looks, acts, or thinks in the same way. Stereotypes are often negative and almost always untrue and unfair. However, because stereotypes tend to be commonly held throughout society, members of a stereotyped group may grow up adopting negative views of themselves.
