The Daily Beast List of Influential Women Ignores U.S. Latinas

When I heard that The Daily Beast, a news website and Newsweek magazine had compiled the list of the 150 Most Influential Women in the world; I thought what a wonderful idea. It’s honoring local heroes and powerful women around the globe.

Tina Brown, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast and Newsweek enthusiastically talked about the list with the women of The View. In the back of my mind I kept thinking---I wonder how many Latinas in the U.S. were named.

I’m proud of the women who made the list, because they are outstanding women; 62 of the 150 are women in the U.S. But once again Latinas in the U.S. are not even an after thought in my opinion. How many U.S. Latinas made the cut? Listen closely----ONE! I know I'm just as shocked as you are.

Dara Torres

I must say a big congrats to U.S. Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres. She’s the only U.S. Latina who was named on the list. We all know she’s a role model to all women and Latinas for her huge accomplishments in sports.

Now no disrespect to actresses Ashley Judd and Angelina Jolie who are on the list for their accomplishments;but come on, how much did “star power” influence Brown and her research team? 

Latinas born in Mexico, Central and South America are on the list of 150. We're proud of them too. Congrats to Salma Hayek for her work on the issues of domestic violence.

But there are plenty of Latinas in the U.S. who have for decades made an impact in our country. They are leaders who have made sacrfices to make a difference in the life of others.

Did Brown’s research team not know some of them like:

• Dolores Huerta-civil and migrant rights activist
• Judge Sonia Sotomayor-the first Latina on the U.S. Supreme Court
• Sylvia Mendez: Recipient of the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work in equality in education for minorities.
• U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis

La Opinion’s columnist, Pilar Marrero nailed it right on the head in her column. Here’s a translation of part of her column in Spanish that examines the 62 women chosen from the U.S.  She writes...

“The majority of U.S. women in this list are white. There are African-American women such as Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Condoleezza Rice. There are immigrants such as the British-Iranian, reporter Christian Amanpour and the new media tycoon of Greek origin, Arianna Huffington.

But U.S. Latinas are absent.

Maybe it's because the same "mainstream media" usually does not present positive images of Latinos.

Perhaps because those who edit those websites and make editorial decisions do not include Latinos when they prepare lists of this nature.”


I know that right now many of the 3,000 members of Wise Latinas Linked are making a difference in cities and states across the country. Ok so not every Latina has a multi-million dollar movie coming out or owns a television network or multi-million dollar news website.

Tina Brown

Today it’s the list of 150 Influential Women. What about tomorrow when Brown and her people put out a list of the 150 Influential Men? Will any U.S. Latinos make the cut or will they be a dot on the list?

Any thoughts or comments on the absence of U.S. Latinas on the "influential" list?  Emails have power.  Why not shoot Ms. Brown an email.  editorial@thedailybeast.com

She even has a page on Facebook on “Women in the World.” Leave your comments.

I appeciate that Brown had the vision to organize such a list of women in the world, and the event that went along with it.  I just hope that next year she and her researchers really take note of the U.S. Latinas who have poured their blood, sweat and tears into projects to help others. 

Rebecca Aguilar
Founder of Wise Latinas Linked