Jesell Andrade

Banks

English 101

26 February 2018

Gina the Role Model

Gina Rodriguez is a successful actress, director, producer, and writer. She is well-known

for her role in the television show Jane the Virgin. Although she is a celebrity who may seem out

of reach, Rodriguez uses various social media networks to connect with her followers and

portray her own image of herself to the world.

Gina Rodriguez utilizes her social media as a platform to encourage others with her own

achievements. The overall purpose of her posts is to support and motivate women, regardless of

age or color, to persevere for their dreams and goals. Gina

Rodriguez’s personal motto is “I can and I will,” which is now a

hashtag that some of her followers use when they have overcome

an obstacle, or when they have accomplished something in their

lives. With this simple phrase, Rodriguez creates a sort of

understood conversation among her followers, where they know

they have a support system. The instance to the left which

includes a retweet of a fan’s art, Rodriguez’s comment “You

don’t need any allowance from me but you most definitely

have my blessing!! This is so cool.”, and the fan’s reply is a

perfect example that coincides with her purpose.

Gina Rodriguez has accounts on Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram; however, the different

genres of each social media application come with limitations to some extent. For instance, she

rarely posts on Snapchat at all, perhaps because followers expect to be a part of the celebrity’s

everyday life. Moreover, Rodriguez is active more frequently on Twitter than she is on

Instagram. On Twitter, she can retweet or post an original tweet that has character limits while

she can post a picture with a limitless caption on Instagram. Although the genres differ in how

one can express his or her thoughts, Gina Rodriguez maintains her personality on both social

media networks but follows protocol for each—succinct messages or retweets versus captions for

Instagram photos. Furthermore, a celebrity should ideally transmit his or her purpose on social

media to a specific group of followers in order to be effective. Gina Rodriguez’s audience

consists of men and women of all ages, including Jane the Virgin fans and underrepresented

women who may view her as a role model. She luckily disseminates her message directly

reaching her target audience of women from a wide age range.

Social media has evolved to

be more narcissistic,

depending on the user.

Some people post selfies

for the likes and comments

while others inevitably promote their work through their various

accounts. Gina Rodriguez make up part of this group that self-

promotes their work; she has various posts about her new movie Annihilation sprinkled

throughout her Instagram since September 2017, and she promoted the movie almost every day

on her Twitter feed over the last two months until February 23 rd when it finally premiered. It was

personally a little frustrating constantly seeing promotion after promotion for the movie, but I

can see and understand that self-promoter’s intentions are to be successful. Other than promoting

her movie and television show, Gina Rodriguez is guilty of sharing her own rise in the

entertainment industry. On February 9th, she posted the caption and image, which is her in a

“behind the scenes” director setting, on Instagram: “Feb 9th. A dream realized. My debut as a

Director. #janethevirgin #nextStop Tonight on the CW!” Meanwhile the same day on Twitter,

Rodriguez expressed, “Today is a great day. Within hours my Directorial Debut on Jane The

Virgin will be out in the world and I can release a piece of my art and heart to the Jane warriors.

I hope you get to tune in and I hope you laugh and cry! With love, Directora Gina.

@CWJaneTheVirgin.” By posting these indirectly inspirational messages, Rodriguez is implying

that dreams do come true and that it is acceptable to celebrate yourself and your achievements

without being excessive.

Gina Rodriguez presents her image as a successful woman who

is humble about what she has achieved yet still working to advance

within her career. When a fan tweeted “she really did THAT” with

three images where Gina Rodriguez is in the credits as

“starring,” “co-executive producer,” and “director,”

Rodriguez replied a heart-warming message. Additionally, she demonstrates

that she is an activist for change in the media as well as in society. On

February 18th, Gina Rodriguez retweeted Mira Sorvino’s repost of Wanda

McDaniel’s Instagram post explaining “how to get a gun in Japan” and comparing the number of

gun-related deaths in 2008 in Japan versus the United States. This rhetorical situation is a thread

where women of high status with a large following— Sorvino, the

actress, McDaniel, the Executive Vice President of Entertainment

Industry Communications Worldwide at Giorgio Armani, and

Rodriguez, the director— show interest in a political and human rights issue, which influences

the importance and coverage of the problem. The kairos of this thread is the recent Stone

Douglas High School shooting in Florida that preceded the post. This post’s exigence is the

government’s preference to voice that mental illness funding should be increased and avoidance

of any sort of gun control. After analyzing this specific post and all it entails, I personally am

astonished at these women for using their platforms to push for change in the broken system

leading our country. In another Instagram photo, Gina Rodriguez refers to her connection with

the #timesup movement for the advancement and empowerment of women, which is the only

website link on her Twitter and Instagram bio. Posts like these from celebrities truly make me

admire the women for their sincerity because they are doing it for the betterment of society, not

to gain more followers or reverence.

Hashtags tend to be popular and impactful on social media audiences, whether they

represent a joke or a serious matter. Gina Rodriguez uses hashtags such as

#representationmatters or #womensupportingwomen for some of her posts where she or other

women are making as difference as underrepresented females in the entertainment industry. A

couple years back she started her own consistent hashtag #MovementMondays on Instagram

where she posts a person of color and describes their journey to success or their most recent

accomplishments. As these posts require research of the information, it shows Rodriguez’s

dedication to empowering minorities and showing her appreciation for

their presence in the media.

Through my exploration of her online presence, I regard Gina Rodriguez an inspirational

and admirable public figure. Rodriguez is a unique celebrity who chooses to use her social media

as a supportive space for all her followers. She is genuine and humble in her posts, making her a

positive role model for men and women all around the world. They can take her messages and

implement them universally in their own lives and countries.

Works Cited

@bridgetsrose. “she really did THAT.” Twitter, 10 Feb. 2018, 3:06 p.m.,

twitter.com/bridgetsrose/status/962462815075405824.

@cirquedepapier. “Something that I really needed. Thank you @HereIsGina for this motto. If

you don't believe in yourself, this is for you too 💙 #illustration #IcanandIwill.” Twitter,

5 Feb. 2018, 1:07 p.m., twitter.com/cirquedepapier/status/960620952915726337.

@hereisgina. “Feb 9th. A dream realized. My debut as a Director. #janethevirgin #nextStop

Tonight on the CW!” Instagram, 9 Feb. 2018, instagram.com/p/Be_FhN3j1Rm/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “I signed a solidarity letter to stand with women across every industry to say

#TIMESUP on abuse, harassment, marginalization & underrepresentation. Join me! Sign

the statement of solidarity & donate to the @timesupnow Legal Defense Fund: link in

bio.” Instagram, 1 Jan. 2018, instagram.com/p/BdaqPmng8v0/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “You’ve never seen anything like it. #annihilation @annihilationmovie Feb 23rd.”

Instagram, 30 Jan. 2018, instagram.com/p/BelX3YpA5P6/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “ANNIHILATION. In theatres tomorrow. Are you ready to enter the Shimmer?

#FromJanetoAnya @annihilationmovie #whoWantsAKiss.” Instagram, 22 Feb. 2018,

instagram.com/p/BfgxMbIAI5A/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “#MovementMondays Herizen F. Guardiola is a 21-year-old American singer,

songwriter, and actress. Native to Miami, Guardiola is of Cuban and Jamaican descent. In

2016, Guardiola got her breakout role in The Get Down, a Netflix original musical drama

series set in the 1970s from Baz Luhrmann. Her character, Mylene Cruz, was a tenacious

girl with an incredible voice who dreamt of becoming a disco star, a dream that is far

outside the realm of her fiercely religious background. Luhrmann told Deadline, "It’s

always thrilling to find a fresh unknown talent, particularly one who is not only a terrific

actor but a magnificent vocalist." Four days after the show released, Guardiola’s social

presence went from 3,000 Instagram followers to over 21,000. She now holds 178,000

followers. Recently, Guardiola has been working on her music and has released a song

alongside Absofacto called “Done with Love.” Can’t wait to see / hear what’s next. Go

follow and support this young lady’s success!” Instagram, 19 Feb. 2018,

instagram.com/p/BfZCc0pnuQN/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “#MovementMondays Selenis Leyva is a Cuban-born American actress of both

Cuban and Dominican descent. She has appeared on shows such as Law & Order: SVU,

Third Watch, The Sopranos, The Good Wife, Girls and Elementary. However, Leyva is

best known for her role as Gloria Mendoza in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.

Recently, Leyva played a science professor Mrs. Warren in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

In a 2013 Leyva spoke with Huffington Post about the importance of OITNB for Latinas:

“In Hollywood, we always have to deal with the one Latina representing us…” She says,

“With OITNB I think there is celebration in the Latino community. I don’t think we’ve

ever had five, six Latinas in a show this huge worldwide. We haven’t. And I think that

the writers aren’t focusing on any stereotypes, they’re telling stories, real stories that can

happen to anyone regardless of race.” Not only is Leyva a talented actress, she is an

activist for the LGBTQ community through the Stonewall Foundation and The Anti-

Violence Project (she has spoken out about her sister being transgender). Leyva told

People Chica: “I am a true believer that everyone should be entitled to live their truth

without fear of discrimination and of violence against them.” Instagram, 5 Feb. 2018,

instagram.com/p/Be0-T_YDJGj/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “#MovemnentMondays CORAL PENA Coral Pena is a Dominican-American

actress born in Dominican Republic and raised in Harlem, New York. Pena graduated

from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Peña's first screen role was a guest

starring role in CBS's Blue Bloods. She is best known for her role as Mariana Stiles on

Fox’s 24: Legacy. Most recently, she landed the only speaking role by a person of color

in Steven Spielberg’s new political drama The Post, which stars Meryl Streep and Tom

Hanks. The film has garnered 6 Golden Globe nominations. On learning she was the only

person of color with a speaking role, Pena told Remezcla, “This is something I knew very

early on, especially since we were doing a movie based on real events. Every person is

based off a real person. And surprise! This is what America looked like during that time.

A lot of these high-profile positions were white people. This is really the only fictional

character [in the film]. It was kind of amazing they had room for this character.” She

went on to talk about how she only started to act professionally two years ago and

thought she should change her last name for the Screen Actors Guild to make it more

ambiguous, “I actually talked to a professor about changing my name. He told me that

now is actually the time to be an individual. He said people are really excited about

individuality and that I shouldn’t change it. I don’t think I would’ve anyway because I

know I would’ve been a lot happier representing my true self instead of having to hide

behind ethnic ambiguity.” The Post is in theaters now - go support Coral! Can’t wait to

see what the future has in store for this young lady.” Instagram, 29 Jan. 2018,

instagram.com/p/BeieyUwAj1r/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “#MovementMondays MLK.” Instagram, 15 Jan. 2018, instagram.com/p/Bd-

79_pAf5R/?hl=en.

@hereisgina. “#MovementMondays #TimesUp Because #TimesUp on Silence. Because

#TimesUp on Discrimination. Because #TimesUp on Waiting. Because #TimesUp on

Harassment. Because #TimesUp on Abuse. Thank you @oprah for opening the doors, for

your bravery, and for being the Woman who stood there and did that because

#TimesUp.” Instagram, 8 Jan. 2018, instagram.com/p/BdsfDlUAdmF/?hl=en.

@HereIsGina. “Rosa. I look up to you. I am inspired by your work everyday. To get this from

you is the tops. Thank you hermana.” Twitter, 9 Feb. 2018, 2:27 p.m.,

twitter.com/HereIsGina/status/962090699230298112.

@HereIsGina. “Today is a great day. Within hours my Directorial Debut on Jane The Virgin will

be out in the world and I can release a piece of my art and heart to the Jane warriors. I

hope you get to tune in and I hope you laugh and cry! With love, Directora Gina.

@CWJaneTheVirgin.” Twitter, 9 Feb. 2018, 10:02 a.m.,

twitter.com/HereIsGina/status/962023877625880577.

@MiraSorvino. “This:.” Twitter, 18 Feb. 2018, 6:27 p.m.,

twitter.com/MiraSorvino/status/965412515025846272.