Becoming a Latina Baddie
- carolinacastro81
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
The ultimate guide to learning Hispanic culture and living out your Latino dreams
By: Carolina Castro
Since Bad Bunny’s rise in popularity and his epic Super Bowl halftime show, many have been thinking the same thing: “I love this song, but what the f**k is he saying???”
To bridge the gap between Bad Bunny-driven curiosity and the language barrier he poses in the United States, I present: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Latina Baddie (written by one herself). So, in Conejo Malo’s very own words: “Ahora todos quieren ser Latino, pero les falta sazón” — So let’s get you all the spice you’re missing!
I recently attended a Bad Bunny-themed mat pilates class taught by a purely English-speaking instructor. She kept reminding us that she was supposed to be playing “clean” music, but since she didn’t know Spanish, we couldn’t blame her if the songs were vulgar. So when lyrics such as “si tu novio no te mama el culo” (“if your boyfriend doesn’t eat your a**") played, every Spanish-speaker in the room laughed out loud.
To avoid a situation like this from happening to you, let's start with some key phrases and words that every Latina Baddie should know.
1. Common phrases
Since Bad Bunny inspired this guide, the vocabulary used in his songs will be our subjects of study:
“Perrear” is a way of saying “twerk” or dance in general.
“Yo hago lo que me da la gana” means “I do whatever I want.”
“Cabrón” can either be used for emphasis or it can be hurled as an insult to someone, depending on the context.
“Acho,” “Acere,” “Animal/Salvaje” are all typically used as terms of endearment used to refer to close friends.
With these basic phrases, you can get around Puerto Rico, or any Caribbean country for that matter, pretty comfortably. You are now one step closer to being a Latina baddie yourself.
2. The Miami Kiss
Next, we will take a look at the art of the “Miami Kiss”. As a born-and-bred citizen of the greatest city in the world, I, as many others, have had the extremely awkward experience of going to cheek kiss someone who had no intention of making any physical contact with me. To stop this from happening, I’d suggest everyone to have the “Miami Kiss” as their go-to greeting. To do so, both parties must initially go in for a kiss, but swerve to instead press opposite cheeks together. Once cheeks have made contact, both parties kiss the air.
A quick, but extremely effective greeting that is much more efficient than a hug, but more intimate than a wave, and, personally, my favorite aspect of growing up around so many Hispanics.
Below is a demonstration to guarantee your success:
3. Dancing
Lastly, we need to catch you up with the beautiful world of Latin dance. I’m not talking about “Dancing With The Stars” remixes, but the true origin of the dance styles we all know and love.
To start, in the Caribbean, we take dance extremely seriously and are the originators of various styles. Salsa comes from Cuba and Puerto Rico, and is heavily influenced by Afro-Cuban rhythms popularized in the 1940s. Cuba is also responsible for the cha-cha-cha and mambo. Our neighbors to the East, the Dominican Republic is known for the birth of bachata and merengue, two extremely popular dance styles with lots of hip movement (learn to let loose!).
Outside of the Caribbean, Argentina is credited with the creation of tango and Colombia is the origin of cumbia, which is similar to the country’s own style of salsa. There are a plethora of Latin-originated dance styles to familiarize yourself with, but these ones are a great way to begin to understand the vast world of dance.
Now that you know the basic steps to becoming a Latina baddie, I ask that you use your powers for good. This title comes with great responsibility, and great sass, so be careful as you transition into this new version of yourself!
Carolina is a second-year marketing major who is insanely homesick and has been listening to Buena Vista Social Club to cope. Someone please take her back to the beach ASAP.
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