With Jessica, I can imagine that she had a harder time than me growing up because she is half Caucasian and is definitely American to Mexicans. I remember that the Anglos had the hardest time being accepted in the primarily Mexican community that I grew up in. I had a hard time because I was only half Mexican, not born in Mexico, didn’t speak Spanish and therefore “shouldn’t be considered Mexican” (Even though at first people assume I am Mexican and speak Spanish to me until I tell them I don’t pero hablo un poquito). When other Mexicans and Latinos told me that I wasn’t Mexican, I never knew how to respond except to say that I am Mexican because my mom is…my grandma is…and they cook me Mexican food and my grandma sings to me in Spanish… and the list goes on… I just don’t speak it even though I wish I did… As a person I don’t define myself by my ethnicity but I define myself based on beliefs and experiences and my ethnicity does play a strong role to the things I’ve experienced. But when people politely ask me my nationality I’m like American because nationality is where you were born/have citizenship. Then I say “So don’t you wanna know my ethnicity? Cuz that is different. Ethnically I am Mexican & Persian….” The word Latina can shed in image in people’s minds. This image of being a Latina – a woman that is a native Spanish speaker with that sexy Latina accent ( I know cuz men wanted me to speak all sexy Spanish to them and I was like lol sorry can't do that for ya..) That image may also consist of being a full Latino and socially tob be very associated with other Latinos. She could easily fail to identify with this image. Maybe she felt like she was being asked to define herself too. So many times people ask you about your background and it’s as if you are being asked to define who you are by your ethnicity which is ridiculous. Being confused is natural and happens to half bred people because of the rejection or just exclusion you constantly have to experience. Still it is important to be proud of your heritage and your ethnicity and be proud of the person that you are whether ethnicity has strongly influenced you or not and whether people of the same ethnicities accept you or reject you. It's very important to be able to distinguish between self-identity and ethnic background. She probably has a hard time putting these things into perspective. Maybe people shouldn’t be so hard on her. I can imagine her as a child, kids talking about her right in front of her saying “she isn’t Mexican, look at her, ella es una gringa y no habla…”

She's never done porn no matter what you've seen on your brother's computer. She hasn't even posed nude and has used a body double for movies when anything like nudity was needed. I think it's sad that she thought people wouldn't just automatically assume every single negative thing that was said about her was true, and had to find out how many people will just hate someone, even when it's shown that they're being lied about. I wish people weren't so cynical about celebrities, always expecting them to be the worst. Most of the time, they're decent people. And I think Alba definitely is! Oh, and she said in the interview she didn't want to be known as a Latina actress, but just an actress. Andy Garcia said the same thing recently, do you hate him now? It's so frustrating when people will just believe the worst and not look further.

I think that you miss out when you don't grow up learning about your culture. Jessica didn't grow up speaking Spanish or eating Spanish food, etc., so she doesn't know about it or understand it. That's not her fault. I don't think she was trying to deny it, she doesn't feel it because she didn't grow up that way. I can't make up any excuses for her acting though.

It's totally ridiculous to expect one person to represent an hugely diverse and vibrant community like us Latinas. In Jessica's specific case, I think that she just strives to be herself, an AMERICAN Latina. Just because she doesn't speak Spanish doesn't make her any less Latina! Those of us who are bilingual should count our lucky stars. I think that the interview Jessica gave in Latina last year was very brave of her. After getting slammed by so many people who put words in her mouth, it was awesome to see her stand up for herself and speak about how important her family is to her. Over the last year, she has proven that to be true time and again with her actions. We should always applaud and support our fellow successful Latinas instead of trying to tear them down or hold them to hypocritical standards!

i don't mind her at all. in fact, i think she is quite beautiful. i wish her well in hollywood, even though the industry is not looking good for anyone, even the highest paid actresses of the world.