>>21469035Well, latino(a) is a cultural term, as you said it. And, just as you said it, it's comparable to American ─ it implies more of your culture than your ethnicity. There are, however, the stereotypical looks associated with those cultural labels. The fact there is a stereotypical look, though, doesn't mean the person can't deviate from it. All of that is obvious and all. But your question is a different one. I think your aswer has been staring at you all along. Instead of asking for a "latina" thread, which is the same as asking for an "American" thread (nobody would be wrong to post black women in an american women thread, as those women are american as well), ask for a "mediterranean women" thread, and get him to specify the look (because there are italians who people would say are "mediterranean" and look much more "germanic" than that). Latinas, in this context, are only a group that has some overlap with mediterraneans.
Hell, people don't ask for "american girls" to see the stereotypical american woman, they ask for "white girls", because that is a surefire way to have that stereotype popping up. Latinas shuldn't be any different, as being latino/latina is a cultural thing. We can go on for hours on this, but I think the reason people associate that look with latinos is that the majority of immigrants ─ who usually indeed have that look ─ are the ones that go to America and ended up forming the stereotype that got spread across the globe through american media. If you visit Latin America, you won't feel like a foreigner, because nobody looks like one.
TL;DR: Ask for mediterraneans and specify what you mean, don't ask for Latinas because that is a cultural concept, not an ethnic one. Anybody can be latino, just as anybody can be an American ─ you can't use cultural terms to describe an ethnicity, only when you look at extrmely homogenous societies, like Poland, Japan, Korea, etc.
