Mexican women are extremely fertile.
The informant asked that I not attach him name to this piece. He told me this stereotype in conversation as we walked back from the dining hall, and I later asked him if I could include it in my project. As we were walking, another individual stopped us and asked me if I happened to be Dominican. I replied that I was actually Nigerian, and we went on our way. I joked that I should pretend to be Dominican so that I could make free copies in the Latino Student Union when the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs was out of ink and the informant; I then made a comment about picking up a Latino boy while I was there, and the informant scoffed. He then stated that he couldnt date a Latina girl because, Mexican girls are so fertile that if you finger one shell end up pregnant. The other male that was traveling with us then stated Mexican houses have a six child minimum.
When I decided to use the comment in my project, the informant told me that he had heard it from a classmate in high school, but he believed the implications behind the comment to be true. He stated that Mexican women tend to have a lot of children, and that they usually start very young. When I went to ask the informant if I could use his comment for this project, a friend of his roommate was in their lounge. As he answered my questions, a very anti-Mexican sentiment arose. Their visitor stated that not only was it true that Mexican women are very fertile, but they breed enough to overpopulate their living areas. He then told the joke:
Q: What do you can a Mexican in the water?
A: Pollution
Both of these comments are examples of Blason Populaire. The anti immigration sentiment may be partially responsible for these individuals hearing these stereotypes. All of these individuals attended public schools in the Los Angeles school district, which in most cases are predominantly Hispanic. These facts most likely fostered an environment where the other students felt threatened enough to begin disparaging the Hispanic population in response to a perceived threat.