gina rodriguez – SittingOverHereDreaming

“I didn’t become an artist to be a millionaire. I didn’t become an actor to wear Louis Vuitton. I have to give this dress back when we’re done. I became an actor to change the way I grew up. The way I grew up, I never saw myself on screen. I have two older sisters. One’s an investment banker. The other one is a doctor, and I never saw us being played as investment bankers. And I realized how limiting that was for me. I would look at the screen and think, ‘Well, there’s no way I can do it, because I’m not there.’ And it’s like as soon as you follow your dreams, you give other people the allowance to follow theirs.

And for me, to look on younger girls and to say, ‘Well, Gina’s like me, maybe not necessarily the same skin color, maybe not necessarily the same background, but like that’s me. I’m not alone. I can do it too.’ So every role that I’ve chosen has been ones that I think are going to push forward the idea of my culture, of women, of beauty, my idea of liberating young girls, of feeling that they have to look at a specific beauty type. And I wasn’t going to let my introduction to the world be one of a story that I think has been told many times.” – Gina Rodriguez

The nomination alone was a win for me because it allowed our culture, it allowed Latinos to see themselves in a beautiful light. It allowed them to see themselves where we all desire to be; invited to the same party. So for me, the win, it meant everything. It meant a lot more than just me. When I look up into that screen we changed the way we feel about ourselves. We changed our perceptions about ourselves by the way art has, you know, created such a ripple effect and if we can create an effect that shows the Latinos like the investors, the doctors, the lawyers, that exist in my own home, that can change the way young girls, young boys look at themselves and that’s needed. Especially now in a time where we have dealt with Eric Garner and Michael Brown. We are dealing with a society that… That is so diverse. That is so human. That is so beautiful. We all need to remember that we all have the same stories. And see them as such.

Gina Rodriguez after being asked what the award meant to her for a show that represents so many women of color, backstage at the Golden Globes (via cyberqueer)