Wikipedia:WikiProject Jennifer Lopez/Sandbox/Cultural impact of Jennifer Lopez

Influence and fame

Lopez was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2018. Previously, Time listed her as one of the most influential Hispanics in America, remarking: "...over a decade ago, she was an anonymous background dancer on the second-rated sketch-comedy show. Today she's known by two syllables." In 2012, Forbes ranked her as the world's most powerful celebrity and the 38th most powerful woman, while suggesting that she "may be the most powerful entertainer on the planet."

Noted for her contributions to music, film, television, fashion, and dance, Lopez is regarded as the most influential Latin entertainer of all time, credited with breaking racial barriers in the entertainment industry.

She was described as "the first Latina superstar" by Ned Zeman of Vanity Fair due to her multimedia career. In Icons of American Popular Culture (2009), Robert C. Cottrell described Lopez as a "multidimensional artist who had turned into a financial powerhouse" and the "embodiment of the American Dream." "a star who, at her peak, had been the biggest female star in the world"

Lopez is considered a pop icon, with VH1 ranking her at number 15 on their list of 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, number 16 on 100 Greatest Women In Music, and number 21 on 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era.

She has been noted for her ability to start trends, which has prompted the usage of the phrase "the J.Lo effect" in popular culture. Academics have observed the phrase's application to a phenomenon that resembles mate choice copying.

Entertainment industry

Film

Lopez's film career has been credited with paving the way for greater representation of Latino Americans in Hollywood. Biographer Kathleen Tracy opined that "Lopez blazed a trail no openly Latin actress had gone before", noting that previous stars like Raquel Welch had cosmetically downplayed their ethnicity and changed their names. Cindy Pearlman of The Record stated that she was responsible for introducing a "Latina presence" to the film industry, which was historically a "whites-only preserve".

Lopez is the highest-paid Latina actress in history, making up to US$15 million per film during the 2000s. With her role in Selena (1997), she became the first Latin actress in history to earn $1 million for a film role. Writer Camila Barbeito said Lopez was "a pioneer in helping Latina stars get paid their true worth, and changed the game forevermore." In her early films such as Blood and Wine (1996), Lopez played stereotypical roles which signified her as a "racialized, exoticized" other, where her body is fetishized and "framed as animalistic, primitive, and irresistibly dangerous to the Anglo American male characters." Her roles also saw her typecast as the "maid" and "dishwasher". This shifted with Selena, which "affirmed her Latinx identity, and won her the loyalty of that significant section of the US and global audience." Lopez was also regarded as the "first Latina actress to have a lead role in a major Hollywood film since Rita Hayworth." Her next film Anaconda, in which she starred opposite Ice Cube, was the highest-grossing film of 1997 which featured a Latino in a starring role. Critic Joe Leydon said Anaconda subverted genre conventions by being "the first movie of its kind to have a Latina and an African-America" as its stars.

With Out of Sight (1998), where her character's ethnicity is a mere sidenote, Lopez became an "anomaly in the traditionally white space" of mainstream Hollywood at the time. Scholar Frances Negrón-Muntaner observed that Lopez had achieved "achieved what generations of Hollywood Latino actors continue to dream about: ethnic 'blind' casting", adding that "[If Selena] made her the top Latina actress in Hollywood, Out of Sight secured her place as a top talent, period." By deliberately avoiding stereotypical roles, biographer James Robert Parish said Lopez "helped minimize racial boundaries in show business." Other Latin actresses such as Jessica Alba were said to be "following in the path set by Lopez" by securing "non-ethnic-specified roles", which contrasted with their earlier work.

Lopez's role in her first romantic comedy, The Wedding Planner (2001), was a "major departure" from stereotypical parts for Latina actresses. Wanting to break away from her earlier typecasting, Lopez and her agents had to convince director Adam Shankman and studio executives to cast her, and to agree to her $9 million salary rate. Lopez said: "...the idea of a Latina girl starring in a romantic comedy was like, what? ... Why can’t I be the girl in the movie? Just the girl. And I used to say, I don’t want to be named any specific thing, just give me a first name. That was very important to me so that we could start seeing different types of people in lead roles." However, Lopez has been criticized for playing ethnically ambiguous or non-Latin parts, and tapping into "the ability to perform a panethnic other" to commodify herself. This was evidenced by her playing an Italian woman in The Wedding Planner, which is described as "a case of classic Hollywood whitewashing." She was described as espousing a "pan-Latina" identity, having played Cuban, Mexican and mestiza roles. She also plays ambiguous, non-specific ethnicities in The Cell (2000) and Enough (2002). Lopez would later become known for starring in romantic comedies, and has been described as the "Queen of Romantic Comedies".

Music

With her musical debut, Lopez contributed to the "Latin explosion" occurring in entertainment during the late 1990s. Historian Roger Bruns considered her "an influential force in driving a growing Latin cultural influence in popular music" at time, and The Recording Academy called her the "breakout female star" of the Latin pop movement in American music. Considered "one of the most important Latina pop stars", Rolling Stone said she paved "the way for other American-born Latina pop stars" including Selena Gomez and Becky G. Her "transnational focus" also influenced Latin American pop artists to enter the U.S. market by recording English music, including Shakira, Thalía and Paulina Rubio. Billboard observed that she has "never been one to downplay her Latinidad, and always makes sure to display it" in her music, "regardless of genre". Along with Ricky Martin, Lopez was noted to have increased the visibility of Latin music in international markets including East Asia and Canada. In 2002, the Chicago Tribune opined that Lopez had "emerged as the next-generation Madonna" due to her "multitasking career". In 2024, the New Statesman wrote: "She was the first woman to demonstrate that a Madonna could be a Latina, and Latina voices are one of the dominant forces in global pop now."

Lopez's music has been credited with helping influence the trajectory of 2000s music. With songs such as "Waiting for Tonight" and "Let's Get Loud", the St. Louis Post-Dispatch regarded her as the lead artist in the dance-pop genre at the time. Her music has also been noted for its impact on Latin dance music, electronic dance music, and R&B. Lopez's collaboration with rapper Ja Rule, "I'm Real (Murder Remix)", had an influence on future pop rap collaborations, having "helped cement the lasting power of the pop/hip-hop composite." Moreover, the chart position of "I'm Real", which reached number one in the US, was boosted by the remix and the original song, which is essentially a different song with the same title; the same occured with "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)". This led to a change of Billboard policy in 2002. Afterwards, airplay of identically named songs but with substantially different melodies was not combined when computing chart positions. Billboard named Lopez the "Greatest Pop Star" of the year 2001.

Crossover

Often described as a triple threat performer, she was one of the few actors to successfully cross over into music. Bruns noted the "extraordinary difficulty" for film stars to transition into the music industry, most of whom "had suffered embarrassing setbacks". Rachel Sklar of The Huffington Post called Lopez a "trailblazer" and noted the influence of her crossover: "Beyoncé, Miley, Gaga, any actress who's ever released an album — they are all standing on the shoulders of J.Lo. She was a true triple threat — actress, singer, dancer ... and packaged it sometimes outrageously but always sexily." With her second album J.Lo and film The Wedding Planner released in the same week in 2001, she became the first woman to have a number one film and album simultaneously in the United States, and remains the only woman to do so. She was described as the third female performer, after Barbara Streisand and Whitney Houston, "to achieve such a level of success" in both industries.

Television

Making her television debut on the sketch comedy series In Living Color, Lopez's "role as one of the leading 'Fly Girls' helped expose mainstream American audiences to urban dance styles, music, and fashion." Beginning in 2011, Lopez had a well-received run as a judge on American Idol, which made her one of the highest-paid American television stars. Lopez became a "major audience draw" for the series, and the rating success of her casting led to a trend of networks hiring high-profile judges for similar shows such as The X Factor and The Voice, which The Hollywood Reporter branded "the J.Lo effect". Lopez, whose popularity had dwindled in the late 2000s, parlayed her return to prominence on American Idol into what Billboard called "the most impressive reality-TV-based rejuvenation of a music career ever." She was deemed the "world's greatest musical comeback act", based on a study which analysed over one billion Google searches since 2004. Lopez has been credited with beginning the trend of musicians using series like American Idol and The Voice to "raise their musical profiles". This paved the way for other high-profile stars to join judging panels on reality television shows, including Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Katy Perry. Lopez had other successful television ventures in the late 2010s, including the series Shades of Blue and World of Dance.

Influence on other performers

Actresses Kerry Washington (left) and Brie Larson (right) have credited Lopez with inspiring them to enter show business.

Kerry Washington, who grew up in the same neighborhood as Lopez, said she would not have "taken a risk in [her] career" if not for Lopez, calling her "a powerful example—not just for women of color but for anyone who has been made to feel 'other'". Brie Larson stated that seeing Lopez in Selena made her want to be an actor. Her performance in Selena also inspired the careers of Selena Gomez and Q'orianka Kilcher.

Actress Eva Longoria credited Lopez with breaking barriers for Latin actors, stating that she "broke down so many doors so that we could walk through them." America Ferrera said there was "no roadmap" for succeeding in Hollywood as a Latin actress before Lopez. Gwen Stefani studied Lopez's Vegas residency while developing her own, saying that she "always looked up to her". Beyoncé cited Lopez as a figure she grew up admiring, stating: "I completely admire her story of growing up in the Bronx and the success that she's had and the empire she's created."

Other entertainers who have cited Lopez as an influence or inspiration include Jessica Alba, Adrienne Bailon, Camila Cabello, Sofia Carson, Kat DeLuna, Mike Doughty, Fifth Harmony, Becky G, Ryan Guzman, Vanessa Hudgens, Jessie James Decker, Kelly Key, Demi Lovato, Maluma, Tate McRae, Camila Mendes, Normani, Rita Ora, Pitbull, Princess Nokia, Keke Palmer, Francia Raisa, Naya Rivera, Bebe Rexha, Rosa Salazar, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift.

Culture and racial politics

Latino culture in the United States

In Race in American Television: Voices and Visions That Shaped a Nation (2021), anthropologist Justin D. García noted that, with Latino Americans becoming the nation's largest minority in the late 1990s, "Lopez’s ascent to international fame gave a public face to the dramatic growth and social, cultural, and economic influence of Latinos in the United States." Lopez contributed to increased Latino visibility in the media, which "enhanced group consciousness and identity" among Latinos. Scholar Priscilla Peña Ovalle wrote that Lopez rose to prominence "during a time of revoking affirmative action and other propositions against Latinos in the United States", which symbolized "the work ethic necessary to achieve the American Dream".

Lopez was among a group of Latin entertainers whose cultural impact was attributed to their being part of "Generation Ñ", "young Latinos who were bilingual and bicultural", speaking Spanglish or English rather than Spanish. Lopez's Spanish itself has been the subject of criticism; it is described as "classic Nuyorican" and "Bronx-inflected Spanish". Latina magazine founder Christy Haubegger attributed Lopez's influence to her being "the first icon that generationally fits" young Latino Americans who followed celebrity culture. Lopez was featured on the first cover of Latina in 1996, with editor Galina Espinoza writing in 2011 that there is "no recounting of modern Latina history without Jennifer". Journalist Isabel González Whitaker opined that Lopez "opened the door to [Latino culture having a] broader appeal". However, The Washington Post observed that she is also "a figure who straddles an amazing number of Latino fault lines, areas of often vehement disagreement about what is and isn't Latino."

The publicity surrounding Lopez's body has been considered a sign of her social power in "changing cultural standards within the mainstream media as a whole". Academic Jillian Báez suggested that "Lopez and her body functions as a site of struggle as a contestation for debating larger issues concerning the everyday lives of Latinas in the U.S."

Academics and journalists have extensively discussed Lopez and her work in relation to beauty norms, culture, race, gender, and class issues. In 2019, she was presented with keys to the city of Miami Beach, with July 24 being declared "Jennifer Lopez Day".

Puerto Rico

Lopez waving the Puerto Rican flag in 2009 at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Manhattan

Due to her Puerto Rican heritage, Lopez has become a "symbol" for the U.S. territory. According to scholar Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Lopez was among the entertainers who "made their Puerto Rican identity an important part of their star personas and at times conspired to raise the value attributed to boricuas in American culture. After decades of being ignored or humiliated by government institutions and the mass media, boricuas ... finally seemed to be blessed by God, civilization, and Billboard magazine."

Puerto Rico was the setting of Lopez's first concert, which was broadcast by NBC to twelve million viewers. Her clothing line prominently featured the Puerto Rican flag on various items. She has also taken part in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade multiple times. The flag was featured in her Super Bowl halftime performance in 2020. After the island was impacted by Hurricane Maria in 2017, Lopez promoted fundraising initiatives and donated $1 million of her concert proceeds to the island. Vogue said she was "the celebrity who perhaps worked the hardest and fastest toward getting aid to Puerto Rico."

In 2014, scientists named a species of aquatic mite found in Puerto Rico, Litarachna lopezae, after Lopez.

Black culture

Hip hop culture has featured prominently in Lopez's music, fashion, and personal life. In She Who Imagines: Feminist Theological Aesthetics (2012), Michelle González posits that "the highs and lows of her relationship with the black community reflect a broader ambiguity within black–Latino/a relations." Lopez became known for her foray into hip hop music and collaborations with rappers. The "black and Hispanic hip hop community" was viewed as her "core fan base" in the early 2000s, while her relationship with Sean Combs gave her "elevated status" in the black community. Her adoption of the stagename J.Lo, and musical output around this time, was a "culmination of her hip hop persona". In New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone (2003), Raquel Z. Rivera observed that Lopez "loomed large in the hip hop collective conscious as the embodiment of Latina desirability", with articles about her appearing regularly in hip hop magazines such as Vibe, XXL and Ego Trip.

Lopez's use of the racial slur nigga in her song "I'm Real" generated controversy and debate regarding the word's usage by Latino Americans, with some critics accusing her of racism. Some in the black community protested and demanded that the song be pulled from radio. Comedian Paul Comedian said "Puerto Rican and Cubans please, they are just niggas that can swim. So it doesn't bother me." Author Earl Ofari Hutchinson felt that protesters "must aim the same fire at black entertainers who make a fetish out of using racially degrading words as they do at Lopez." Scholar Miriam Jiménez Román suggested that Lopez, who "represents an often-suppressed history of hip hop culture that in its inception was as much Jamaican and Puerto Rican as African American", was "able to traverse the difficult racial boundaries" by emphasizing "her connection to Bronx street culture." Lopez, however, has also attracted accusations of cultural appropriation for her hip hop-influenced music. The publicity surrounding Lopez's body has also been criticized in this context. Jocelynne Scutt remarks that figures like Lopez "are seen as leading the 'trend'" of curvaceous bodies, "rather than linking it with its preodminantly African source".

In 2020, controversy arose over Lopez using the term negrita in her song "Lonely" with Maluma; she sings "yo siempre seré tu negrita del Bronx", the rough translation of which is "I'll always be your little Black girl from the Bronx". As reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, this fuelled debates on social media (and amongst academics) surrounding "dissections of language and culture, literal versus figurative translations, personal intent and history, and evolutions in the ways that words are used and what they can mean over time". Some pointed out that negrita is a Spanish term of endearment which has extended to non-black people, while others labelled it problematic, tone deaf and offensive.

Racial ambiguity

Her ability to toggle between the "urban" and the "mainstream," the black and the white, is partially due to her embodiment of the "Latin look."

—The Washington Post

Scholar Todd Boyd describes race as an "important cultural marker" for Lopez's rise to fame, but opined that "much would be done to at least lessen her direct association with race" as her popularity grew. Lopez was criticized for perceived changes to her image which included "weight loss and lightening her hair". Petra Rivera-Rideau of The Washington Post observed that while Lopez's musical career "stressed her urban Puerto Rican roots, her film career has benefitted from her associations with whiteness" or "racially ambiguous" roles. Similarly, scholar Priscilla Peña Ovalle attributed Lopez's commercial appeal to her "nonwhite difference" or blackness being "compartmentalized in her music videos on MTV", whilst "her Hollywood image was increasingly lightened". Scholar Mayra Rivera found Lopez's "performative fluidity" problematic, arguing that it is "never some final transgressive liberating crossing of borders". Ovalle also posited that Lopez popularized a trend of utilizing racial ambiguity for branding purposes, writing: "In a post-Lopez period, a wave of brown women ― from Shakira to Beyoncé to even Hilary Duff in Middle Eastern brownface ― are utilizing the codes of in-betweenness in hopes of tapping the fashion or cosmetics industries."

Image and appearance

Body and beauty standards

Lopez has been widely discussed for her curvaceous figure and beauty, and has been credited with influencing a shift in mainstream body image and redefining cultural beauty standards. She is often celebrated for her curvaceous hourglass figure, which earned her the nickname La Guitarra (the guitar). Vanity Fair described her buttocks as "in and of themselves, a cultural icon". During her early film career, Lopez's body was viewed as a problem and required "camouflage by Hollywood costume designers". Lopez stated: "I've always had costume people looking at me a little weary and immediately fitting me out with things to hide my bottom." She often wears revealing outfits to accentuate her curves. Her body would soon be embraced by mainstream American media, and her buttocks became "a national obsession".

In Latin Sensations (2001), Herón Marquez wrote: "Because she wasn't rail thin, Lopez had broken the mold and allowed millions of women to feel good about their bodies. Suddenly, it was okay for women to have hips, curves, and a big backside." Anthropologist Justin D. García opines that "Lopez’s most profound cultural impact may have been her influence in prompting a shift in U.S. ideals of feminine beauty", noting: "Media attention on Lopez’s curvy figure and caramel complexion challenged pre-existing Eurocentric standards of feminine beauty dominant in North American society at the time, which emphasized a fair complexion, a tall stature, and a slender build." Author Mary Beltrán opined that for Lopez to "unashamedly display her well-endowed posterior during this time period" could be viewed as "a revolutionary act with respect to Anglo beauty ideals". According to Negrón-Muntaner, Lopez's public embrace of her body came to embody "a way to acknowledge the shame of Boricua racialized identification in the United States through a belly-down epistemology that upsets 'white' notions of beauty and good taste". The surge in popularity of buttock augmentation surgery in the early 2000s was attributed to Lopez.

The media often referred to Lopez and her body as having "crossover appeal". Traci C. West considered that this "may indicate some breakthrough in the public's imagination of racial norms. Lopez defies standards of beauty that identify the thin, flat, and narrow body types of idealized white women as most sexually desirable." However, West noted that this created "yet another means for valuing the capacity to be seen by whites as desirable", which deepens "racist pathology". Mayra Rivera described the media attention around Lopez's body as provoking "primitivist fetishization", which evokes issues of "colonial sexualization of mestizaje". Negrón-Muntaner said the emphasis on Lopez's buttocks emerged "as so many suspected, the sign of her lowliness as a racialized Latina”.

Ageing

Lopez has been noted in the media for challenging and redefining norms around aging, including through her fashion, beauty, fitness and performance abilities. In 2019, she was outspoken about turning 50, launching a tour titled It's My Party to celebrate her birthday. Psychology Today noted: "She wants to make a statement on how women don’t stop existing after age fifty." In a review of the tour, the Chicago Tribune wrote: "The artist is on the road to celebrate turning 50 in July, a landmark occasion worthy of a grand fête, though in the entertainment world, sexism and ageism have hampered careers. But Lopez impressively defies convention."

Lopez has received both admiration and criticism in this respect, particularly after her Super Bowl LIV halftime show performance, where she wore revealing costumes and performed a pole dance routine. Samantha Brennan, a scholar of women's studies, wrote: "When I watched J.Lo slide across the stage and jump back up again and keep dancing, it was like watching Olympic athletes perform at their peak during competition. That J.Lo can still perform at that level at 50 provides hope for all us who want to keep on doing our best — in mid-life and beyond." Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times said: "the total J. Lo effect was kind of mesmerizing: an in-your-face demonstration of a woman glorying in her own physicality, and a dare to anyone who might render judgment based on a number." On the other hand, journalist Jennifer Weiner said she felt "personally judged" by Lopez's appearance, suggesting that it was an unrealistic representation of women in their 50s and celebrity bodies should be viewed "like art galleries".

In 2021, she was identified as one of 10 celebrities whose personal style choices drive the greatest spikes in searches and news coverage for brands, being the only celebrity above 35. The Daily Telegraph called her the "world's most powerful" midlife celebrity in fashion. Friedman noted that Lopez, with contracts with major fashion brands like Versace, Coach and Guess, was "fashion's favorite celebrity", which is "no small thing in an industry famously obsessed by youth". Friedman said it also "suggests that it may be time for all of us to rethink those damning words: 'Dress your age.'" Lopez became the oldest spokeswoman in Guess's history, with Vogue writing that it redefined the image of a "Guess girl".

Sexuality and performance

Described by Billboard magazine as the "ultimate sex symbol" of the early 21st century, Lopez has routinely been ranked by media outlets as the world's sexiest or most beautiful woman. The Guardian noted that Lopez pushed "the boundaries of public sexuality" with her public appearances and fashion in the early 2000s. On stage and in her music videos, Lopez has been noted for her sex appeal and provocative choreography, which made her a dominant figure on MTV internationally. Priscilla Peña Ovalle stated in Dance and the Hollywood Latina: Race, Sex and Stardom (2011) that Lopez was one of the Latin stars who "used dance to gain agency as working performers with mainstream careers, yet many of their roles paradoxically racialized and sexualized their bodies". Her videography has sometimes attracted controversy for its sexual suggestiveness. Lopez has been described as a "trendsetter in twenty-first century body politics", with scholar Michelle Gonzalez writing: "I don't know if Shakira and Beyoncé would have been able to shake it in our faces had Lopez not done so first."

Her provocative stage performances have drawn scrutiny. Robin Givhan of The Daily Beast criticized Lopez's performance at the 2011 American Music Awards where she wore a nude bodysuit, stating that it "cried out for attention in all the wrong ways" and was "banal exhibitionism". In May 2013, her performance on the finale of the television series Britain's Got Talent was deemed inappropriate for family-friendly television, and drew viewer complaints to Ofcom.

In 2015, Lopez performed at the musical festival Mawazine in Morocco, where she generated controversy for her "suggestive" choreography and being "scantily dressed". Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani described the performance as pornographic. A Moroccan education group filed a lawsuit against Lopez, claiming her performance "disrupted public routine and stained the respect and integrity of Moroccan women", having been broadcast to over 2 million viewers. Members of the Islamic ruling party in Morocco at the time, and Minister of Communications Mustapha El Khalfi, said it was a "breach of public decency" and "goes against broadcasting law". Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane later called it "indecent" and "disgraceful", and called for legal action to be taken against those responsible.

Media coverage

Lopez has been a polarizing figure in popular culture. Jonathan Van Meter of Vogue described her as having "changed the face of modern celebrity." With her moniker J.Lo, Lopez started a trend of celebrities being given abbreviated nicknames.

Described as "one of the most photographed women in the world", Lopez has been a tabloid fixture, and admits to having a "less-than-perfect" public image. Frances Negrón-Muntaner wrote that by 1999, she became "one of the easiest moving targets for cheap laughs as well as anxieties about working-class ‘loud’ sexuality and specifically Latino visibility."

Much of the media coverage surrounding Lopez in the 2000s "focused on her dramatic private life", with several writers describing her as overexposed at the time. Throughout her career, she has received a bad reputation as being a demanding and outspoken "diva", something which she denies, stating: "I've always been fascinated by how much more well-behaved we have to be than men." Some of the backlash and fabricated tabloid stories surrounding Lopez have been attributed to her 1998 interview with Movieline, in which she was quoted as criticizing various actors and directors. Lopez, who "cried for hours" after the article was published, said the comments were made in jest and she was "so misquoted and so taken out of context". In 2003, Lawrence Donegan of The Guardian posited that misogyny and racism were to blame for her "bilious" coverage, writing: "Lopez must wonder what heinous crime she committed to become the most vilified woman in modern popular culture." In 2021, Ben Affleck said: "People were so fucking mean about her; sexist, racist, ugly vicious shit was written about her in ways that if you wrote it now, you would literally be fired for saying some of the things you said."

The media discerned a shift in her public image upon joining American Idol in 2011. Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Gone was her old cut-a-bitch swagger; J. Lo 2.0 is an all-embracing, Oprahfied earth madre." People editor Peter Castro said American Idol made Lopez "a celebrity of the people" whereas before, "there was a huge distance with the American public."

Personal life

See also: Bennifer

Lopez's high-profile relationship with Sean Combs was described as having "defined an age", with Vanity Fair writing that they entered "the pantheon of slightly notorious celebrity couples: Liz and Dick, Frank and Ava."

The relationship between Lopez and Ben Affleck was noted to have started the "2000s tabloid boom". Tabloids referred to the couple as "Bennifer", a portmanteau Vanity Fair described as "the first of that sort of tabloid branding". This subsequently created the trend of celebrity couple name blending. The 6.1-carat pink diamond ring from the couple's first engagement (2002) has been described as "the most talked about engagement ring" in modern times, prompting a surge in the popularity of colored diamonds and increasing the value of pink diamonds.

The negative media coverage of Lopez reached its peak during her first engagement to Affleck, with several commentators attributing it to issues of race and class. Vanity Fair described the reaction as "moral panic", attributing it to "a perceived mismatch; how could a guy like him go for a girl like her, with all the racist baggage that implied." Affleck's appearance in Lopez's "Jenny from the Block" music video became notorious, with The Daily Telegraph writing: "On another level, considering this was an era when only men were encouraged to flaunt their conquests, J Lo’s boasts were political ... Here was a confident Latin woman with a trophy white male film star on her arm." Following their marriage in 2022, Lopez changing her legal surname to Affleck generated widespread debate and polarized reactions, garnering both support and criticism from feminists.

Lopez and Marc Anthony were described as a "Latin power couple". Following the birth of their twins in 2008, they appeared with Lopez on the cover of People, which the magazine paid $6 million for; this became the most expensive celebrity photograph at the time.

Fashion

Considered a fashion icon, Lopez is known for her sense of style and "breaking fashion rules". She is recognized for her "bold" red carpet fashion and her everyday street style, which is "discussed ad infinitum by the fashion press." British Vogue said she "added megawatt glamour to every outfit she wore".

Recognized for her influence on fashion, the Council of Fashion Designers of America presented Lopez with its Fashion Icon Award in 2019 for her "long-standing and global impact on fashion". Her green Versace "Jungle Dress" was voted the fifth most iconic red carpet dress of all time in a poll run by The Daily Telegraph. The dress had a significant impact on the fashion industry, celebrity endorsements, and the evolution of red carpet fashion. The images of Lopez wearing the dress became the most popular search query of all time at that point, and subsequently led to the creation of Google's image search. Donatella Versace credited Lopez wearing the dress with "reviving" the Versace brand after the death of her brother, Gianni Versace.

Lopez has been credited with popularizing various fashion trends and brands throughout her career, including velour shorts, baby pink coats, Juicy Couture tracksuits, cargo pants, newsboy caps, athleisure wear, and nude clothing. She also sparked beauty trends including sunless tanning, monochromatic makeup, contouring and mink eyelashes. Vogue wrote that "Lopez was deciding Y2K beauty at its origin point". In 2004, she inspired a trend of curvier mannequins being manufactured, with mannequin designers such as Ralph Pucci basing their designs on her body. This fuelled a rise in sales for manufacturers and retailers.

Lopez has been in demand as a fashion brand ambassador. In the early 2000s, her personal style choices had a direct bearing on sales in the fashion industry, with the Chicago Tribune writing: "More than abstract entertainment, her style influence goes straight to the bottom line." Her appearance at Milan Fashion Week in September 2019, wearing an updated version of green Versace dress, generated over $31.8 million in total media impact value. After she wore a white Chanel coat at the 2021 presidential inauguration, searches for "long white coats" grew by 119%.

Business and branding

Described as a "branding pioneer", Lopez is said to have ushered in a new era of celebrity branding.Vogue wrote that she broadened "the possibilities of what a superstar can be: a global brand", while Adweek observed that Lopez began building her personal brand at a time when "'personal brand' was not yet part of the cultural lexicon". She has also been described as a "corporate entity", with The Guardian writing in 2003: "Jennifer Lopez was no longer Jennifer Lopez; she was bootylicious J-Lo the actress, musician, the perfume, the clothes label, the handbag."

Her first fragrance, Glow by JLo, influenced the rise of celebrity fragrances in the 2000s, an industry which had been dormant. Perfume critic Chandler Burr wrote: "Elizabeth Taylor was one of the first [to have her own scent], but Glow kicked the whole thing into overdrive." Her fragrance line became the most successful celebrity line in the world, with sales exceeding $2 billion as of 2012. Lopez's clothing brand was one of the first celebrity fashion lines, with Aida Hurtado writing that she "redefined how fashion is produced and entwined with other artistic endeavors", influencing other artists to adopt a similar approach.

Journalists have noted Lopez's diversification strategy, and creating a multimedia model of fame. Daniel D'addario of Salon.com said Lopez understood "that she could parlay her time in the public eye in various directions."

Politics

Lopez has worked with U.S. politicians on a number of occasions. In 2009, she met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez on Capitol Hill to "discuss education in the Latino community and college affordability legislation". In 2013, she met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the National Council of La Raza and Senators Harry Reid and Bob Menendez to lobby for greater diversity and representation of Latinos in television programming. She also spoke at the NCTA's The Cable Show convention, where she said there is "a media and cultural revolution of Latinos here in the United States. We're realizing our power."

Lopez's perceived Academy Award snub for her film Hustlers (2019), which led to "renewed focus" on the Academy's diversity issues, was referenced by Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti when announcing a new initiative to increase Latino representation in Hollywood. In 2022, U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus nominated 33 works by Latino musicians to be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry, which included Lopez's J.Lo (2001).

Lopez sampled a speech from Hillary Clinton in her music video for "Ain't Your Mama", which received praise from Clinton. Clinton also used "Let's Get Loud" throughout her 2016 presidential campaign, and Lopez appeared alongside Clinton in an interview after endorsing her.

Lopez was critical of President Donald Trump during his presidency. During her Super Bowl halftime show performance in 2020, she performed her song "Let's Get Loud" while cloaked in a large Puerto Rican flag, with children in metal cages displayed on the field. It was interpreted as a statement about the Mexico–United States border crisis, Trump's immigration policy, and his response to Hurricane Maria. The NFL attempted to remove the cages from the performance but Lopez refused. She later performed at Biden's 2021 inauguration, where she sang "This Land Is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful", while reciting the last phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish. She also worked "Let's Get Loud" into the performance as a "reprise" to her political message at the Super Bowl. Scholar Carlos Vargas-Ramos from the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños found Lopez's performance symbolic, stating that it helped raise awareness for Puerto Rico.

In 2013, Lopez controversially performed for President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan, an authoritarian ruler accused of widespread human rights violations. Lopez's publicist said she was unaware of the country's human rights record. It emerged that the performance was organized by the China National Petroleum Corporation, as a possible bribe by the Chinese government to "boost access to abundant gas supplies in Turkmenistan".

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