Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez sets the record straight on Latina stereotypes with her new book

In “Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us," author Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez wants to 'bring humanity' — and nuance — into the labels.

Spicy sex object, invisible servant or unruly troublemaker: These stereotypes about Latinas didn't describe the women who surrounded Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, 39, who was born in Nicaragua to two close families.

The women around her — including her grandmothers, aunts and cousins — were smart, strong and fearless. Where, Mojica Rodríguez wondered, were the stories of the women who had helped raise her?

Mojica Rodríguez decided to showcase the women who shaped her world in a new book, “Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us.” In it, she examines the archetypes that exist in Latino families: La Matriarch. The Tía Loca (crazy aunt) who is criticized for being nonconformist. The pretty prima, or cousin, who's considered beautiful because of her European — meaning more white — features. The "perfect" prima, straining under the weight of family expectations.

Author Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez sought to "peel back the layers" behind the way female relatives are categorized. Mercedes Zapata“I wanted to incarnate the women who made me: the good, the bad, the messiness and everything in between,” Mojica Rodríguez said. She said she wrote the book “to pay tribute to the women in our families and communities. These women are the pillars of our lives, and we have unique connections with them.”

Her book will be out Sept. 10.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/prisca-dorcas-mojica-rodriguez-tias-primas-book-rcna168463

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