ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the interlocking questions of Latino masculinity, representation, and audience dynamics in contemporary Latina/o music video. It seeks to dedicate a textual analysis of “Propuesta Indecente,” the first single from Romeo Santos’s album Formula Vol. 2. The resulting textual, methodological, and reception-based analysis underscores the pervasive role of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities in Bronx-born US-Dominican singer Santos’ 2013 music video “Propuesta Indecente” and audience reactions to them. “Propuesta Indecente” touches on a variety of themes including masculinity, ethno-racial identity, colonialism, sexual consent, and hybridity, and centers primarily on the heterosexual love affair between its protagonists Romeo Santos and Eiza Gonzalez. The gender roles in “Propuesta Indecente” ’s visuals, lyrics, and musical composition are pronounced and primarily demonstrate various archetypical examples of hegemonic masculinity. “Propuesta Indecente” commences as a black and white music video but color is incorporated in a striking fashion that visually traces Gonzalez and Santos’s love affair.
