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How Selena Quintanilla influenced modern day society?

Juan Ramón Mariscal

Date: 31, March,2017

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How Selena Influenced Modern-Day Society
Juan Ramón Mariscal

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was a tejano-pop artist growing in popularity in the 1990’s. She was

fatally shot and murdered by her fan-club manager and her death was mourned by many people of

different ages and ethnic backgrounds. While her death and movie made her grow in popularity, her

legacy continues to live on and inspire people today. Although she was becoming known in the music

industry, she also influenced people through fashion; she owned her own fashion boutique, Selena Ect,

and designed her on stage costumes. She was also had an impact in the Latino-American community and

showed women that it was possible to be a part of a male-dominated music industry. Overall, she was a

major influence for women, music, fashion and the Latino-American community.

Selena was a big influence of today’s music; She was able to combine Latin music and pop

music. Chron writes, “Selena was a multi platinum crossover pop star who changed how the world

perceived Tejano Music”. Selena brought a new sound to mainstream pop music and she was one of the

first Latina artists to debut in the mainstream pop charts. She opened a door for future latina pop stars

such as: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Selena Gomez etc. Raul A. Reyes from NBC news states, “Her

fusion of musical genres won her a wide and enduring fan base”. She had a huge variety in genres in her

music from Pop, to Cumbia, to Mariachi and even to Afro-Caribbean which made her have a large fan

base. She was able to create sounds that many people identified with and enjoyed. Reyes added, “ she

signaled across a lot of cultural identities” She had very many different sounds to her music that made it

unique. Selena’s music influenced music by having a variety of different genres in her music and creating

unique sounds.

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Although Selena introduced a new sound to mainstream pop music, she was also an inspiration to modern

day artists. One of the artists who was influenced by selena was Jennifer Lopez, who also
played the role of Selena in her movie. In an interview Lopez pointed out that she was a huge impact on

her life and career. She added, “It was a great thing for her to be my mentor, and it was a great thing to

have her teach me so much how to navigate this business, but also how to navigate through life.”

Although Lopez never met Selena, she stated that Selena was a major part of her life. Playing the role of

Selena was her first major role and allowed her to enter the music industry. While, Selena influenced

many latin artists, she also was an inspiration for many other artists of different races; She was also able

to influence African-American pop- singer, Beyoncé. In an interview she said, “even though I didn't know

exactly what she was saying- it helped me in the studio with my pronunciation. I think she is a legend. I

admire her. She was so talented” This proves how influential Selena was in the music industry because

she was able to break racial barriers and influence artists other than latinos or spanish speakers. Beyoncé

is one of today’s biggest pop stars so it is an outstanding thought that Selena was able to inspire many

women of other cultures to enter the music industry. Selena continues to break racial barriers and inspire

many other artists today.

While Selena influenced music, she also was an inspiration for fashion. She was known for for

designing clothes and on-stage costumes; she even had her own boutique. According to MySanAntonio,

“Her crop tops were a major fashion staple of the 1990’s”. She was part of making the crop top a major

trend of the 1990’s and today they are still popular. The fact of Selena making trends is a huge inspiration

because this trend is still relevant today, while most trends tend to fade away within less than a year.

When Selena was not working on her successful music career or designing trendy clothes, she was

working on managing her boutique. According to Greg Smith “She was so captivated by fashion that she

had a clothing line -- certainly not the first celebrity to do so, but long before the practice became

common”. She was one of the first celebrities to own a fashion line, but influenced future celebrities to do

so. Nowadays most celebrities have clothing lines, but selena was one of the first to do so. She was

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able to do something she enjoyed, make money but most importantly, she influenced celebrities to have

clothing lines and made it common. Selena influenced fashion clothing wise by being a part of popular

trends and owning her own fashion boutique.

Another way that selena influenced fashion was cosmetically. M.A.C introduced a new limited

edition Selena palette to their brand. On their website, they write, “Your overwhelming passion and

excitement inspired the creation of M.A.C Selena and is the reason for its sell-out”. Although, Selena had

a clothing line, she was able to have a M.A.C makeup palette inspired by her image. It is said that it was

sold out within minutes. As of a matter of fact, many people attempted Selena’s “famous updo”.

MyStatesMan reports, “During the 1990’s many young girls sported the Selena look, recreating her

famous updo for proms and quinceñeras”. Selena's famous updo refers to the hairstyle that she wore at the

1994 grammys. This look was used by many young women and became a trend for many years to come.

Many young women used this hairstyle when they attended elegant events. Selena influenced fashion not

only with clothing, but also with makeup and elegant hairstyles.

Selena influenced the the Latino-American community by demonstrating that it was a good thing

to embrace both, american and latino cultures. Selena didn’t grow up speaking spanish but learned

throughout her childhood, while singing spanish songs. Throughout her career, she showed how much of

a good thing it was to be a latino-american. Chron claims, “Selena was the first cross-over tejano singer

who embraced American culture as well as her Mexican roots. Her bilingual music and presence has

influenced many second third generation Mexican-Americans and hispanics”. She demonstrated how

good being both mexican and american is. Presently, it still may be a struggle to identify as both, Mexican

and American, Selena continues to inspire today. Monica Nevarez admits, “Selena showed me how

beautiful it is to be a Mexican-American and to be proud of it”. Monica was ignorant of her hispanic

roots and saw it as a bad thing but because of Selena, she was able to overcome that struggle

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and learned to embrace her mexican heritage. Selena taught many Latino-Americans to embrace both

cultures.
Lastly selena influenced the latin america by being a role model to young Latino-Americans.

Selena was a positive role model for many young Latino-Americans. According to the Houston

Chronicle,"Selena took the Mexican-American experience and elevated it very proudly, and she never

compromised her heritage". She showed the young Latino-American community to be proud of who you

are and promoted latino pride. This is good for young people who are insecure about their heritage

because it taught self worth and to be proud of who you are. She not only showed Latino-Americans to

be proud of the heritage but used her fame to be a good role model, unlike other celebrities. She was able

to be a positive latino role model and was more relatable to latino americans. According to Telegraph, “

In a world constantly bombarded with images of Hispanics as gang members, pregnant teens and high

school dropouts, Selena was to her fans and to the Hispanic community a refreshing role model who

focused a spotlight on the finest points of being Hispanic”. This was good for many young Latino-

Americans to have a good role model to look up to when there are influences out there such as: Miley

Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Kanye West etc. She was able to eliminate stereotypes of what

mexicans are like and showed that everyone was not characterized by stereotype, but rather their own

characteristics. Selena was a good role model for Latino-Americans because she was a positive latino

figure and she promoted people to be proud of the latino heritage.

In conclusion, Selena has been an influence on modern day society by impacting music, fashion,

and the latino american community. She was among one of the first crossover pop stars. She created

trends and designed her own clothes, but also inspired a makeup line by her.; She also made her famous

updo a popular hairstyle. But as well, was a good role model for Latino-Americans because she

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promoted latino pride and was a positive latino figure. Selena continues to inspire and touch people today

in many areas.
Works Cited

Blay, Zeba. "17 Artists Inspired By The Divine Glory Of Queen Selena Quintanilla." The Huffington

Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 Mar. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Camilo Smith on March 31, 2015 at 1:44 PM. "10 Things Selena Influenced, including Tejano Pop

Music." La Voz. 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"MAC Selena Line Sells out Online as Fans Await Store Arrivals Thursday | Texana." Dallas News. 03

Oct. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.


MICHAEL D. CLARK, Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle. "Selena Left a Cultural, Musical Legacy."

Houston Chronicle. 31 Mar. 2005. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Reyes, Raul A. NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"Selena's Signature Style Impacted Beauty, Fashion." Mystatesman. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Shewfelt, Raechal Leone. "The Original Selena: The Influence the Late Singer Has Had on Celebrity."

Yahoo! Yahoo!, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Smith, Chron.com Camilo. "10 Things Selena Influenced, including Tejano Pop Music." Connecticut

Post. Web. 27 Mar. 2017..

Steiner, Amanda Michelle. "Jennifer Lopez Cries Talking About Selena on Today Show: VIDEO."

PEOPLE.com. Time Inc, 01 May 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Valdivia, Pablo. "15 Reasons Selena Quintanilla Is An Inspiration To Us All." BuzzFeed. Web. 27 Mar.

2017.

Vincent, Alice. "Selena: The Mexican Madonna." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 31 Mar. 2015.

Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

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