C. Review of Related Background
1. Patriarchy in Mexican Society
Patriarchy is a system where men have domination toward women which results that men are superior and have economic privilege Andersen, 1997: 356.
The radical feminists concluded that the origin of patriarchy began when men felt that women could establish themselves better than men; and to prevent the
situation to develop, men use force to conquer women 1997: 356.
The patriarchy in Mexico is strongly rooted. Men in Mexico are considered as the dominants in the society Mirande, 1979: 474. In family, men
get the highest level among the family members. As Mirande stated that: There is a long tradition in social science literature which uses the
concept of machismo to explain the alleged pathology of the Mexican family… Such studies have been psychoanalytically oriented and have
sought to identify a modal Mexican personality type
1
1979: 474. As has been explained above, machismo is the roles of Mexican men.
These roles determine the proper behavior of men so they can be approved as the expectation of the society GlobalSecurity.org
. In Mexican society, men have privileges to be dominant, superior, and even to do violence toward women in
order to make them be submissive, as stated: Machismo in Latino families has been assumed to encourage aggressive,
violent, authoritarian behavior in men, and saintly, virginal, submissive behavior in women” Andersen , 1997: 171
The appliance of men’s dominance actually is a product of the past traumatic. In the past, Mexico was conquered by the Spanish. During the conquest,
the Mexicans especially the men felt weak and powerless Mirande, 1979: 474. Therefore, the forms of dominancy, masculinity, and oppression toward women in
Mexico are considered as the restitution of their powerlessness during the Spanish conquest, as Mirande stated:
The powerless, colonized man is seen as compensating for feelings of inadequacy and inferiority by assuming an over-masculine and
aggressive response 1979: 474.
Since Mexican is a patriarchy-based society, women from their very early age are accustomed to be inferior and lack of ability. As fathers, men pay more
attention to the sons than the daughters. Those fathers educate the sons more than the daughters. The daughters are treated gently but they do not get enough
attention and education, as Lips stated: Mexican families by Phyllis Bronstein 1984 showed that, when
interacting with their school-aged children, fathers but not mothers listened more to boys than to girls and were more likely to show boys
than to show girls how to do things. In contrast, they treated girls especially gently, but with a lack of full attention and a readiness to
impose opinions on them 1989: 3.
Besides limiting women’s education, the patriarchal norms rule women to be submissive and obedient. Mexican women have to accept any behavior of their
husband without questioning it. As Mirande said: He is … who demands complete respect, deference, and obedience from
his wife as much as from his children. She is to literally honor and obey him, despite his many transgressions. In fact, a woman who questions
the authority of her husband is likely to be punished and physically abused … 1979: 475.
The women even should be thankful for the punishment since it is a form of love from their husband Mirande, 1979: 475. Another limitation from
patriarchal norms toward Mexican women is that women’s authorities are only about the domestic things such as breeding, cooking, and serving the family. As
Sahagún stated: for virtually all of these womens missiles must be understood as
supremely feminine symbols, sweeping, spinning, and caving having
been exclusively female tasks in prehispanic Central Mexico Sahagún, 1953-82: 96.
Further, patriarchal norms mandate women to keep themselves virgin before they get married. Virginity is a must for Mexican women so that they can
be considered as good women. It is stated by Gordillo; Mexican Porfirian elites 1876
–1910 expressed moral indignation “over adultery, over the loss of virginity before matrimony, over sex without
reproductive ends, over the exhibition of women’s unclothed legs, and over the knowledge of anatomy 2010: 66.
The patriarchal norms which limit women’s freedom are strongly supported by religion law in Mexico. The Catholic Church and the religious
Mexicans expect that women should be inferior to their husbands. They even consider feminism as a threat to the Church Andersen, 1997: 241. The Church
also creates the portrayal of women as role models, which are Lady Guadalupe the virgin and La Malinche the whore. Women have to follow the portrayal of
Lady Guadalupe to be considered as a good woman ocean.otr.usm.edu. Lady Guadalupe is a portrayal of innocence and purity, and she never complains about
her destiny Fernandez, 2009: 55 while, La Malinche is a portrayal of a betrayer mexicolore.co.uk. Therefore, La Malinche symbolizes a bad woman.
For the Mexicans Latino or Chicana, religion helps them to strengthen the bonds between families and friends in order to face industrialization and
bureaucratic public life Anderson, 1997: 241. Therefore, although the religion is felt as oppression, the people still hold on to and are even influenced by it because
it has benefits for them. 2.
Mexican Revolution and Gender Roles
In 1910- 1917, there was a Mexico Revolutionary War. This war was aimed to overthrow Porfirio Diaz. The revolutionaries wanted to take back their
freedom since Diaz was a dictator. The interesting thing from the revolution was that not only men but also women joined the war. The women soldiers were called
soldaderas Fernandez, 2009: 53.
By joining the war, the Mexican women proved their equality with men. Yet, there were some portrayals of soldaderas which degenerate their value as
revolutionaries. The soldaderas were portrayed as promiscuous fighter Fernandez, 2009: 53, when actually the duty of a soldadera was helping the soldiers as
stated:
… The word soldadera has its origins in the Spanish Conquest. The soldaderas were responsible for aiding the army by finding food and
caring for injured soldiers. The term has also been applied to Spanish women who fought during the Conquest. As Spanish
became Mexico’s PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
language after the conquest, the term soldadera was used to describe all women who fought and aided in the Mexican conflicts 2009: 53.
In the development, during the Mexican revolution, some Mexicans moved to the United States in order to avoid the dangerous situation and or to look
for brighter future Anderson, 1996: 92. In the United States, the Mexican suffered from cultural shocks especially the women as Anderson stated:
For Mexican-origin women, their place between and within two changing cultures caused ambiguity, conflict, and difficulty. Their different
traditions regarding gender and their unique place in the American political economy placed them in an ambivalent position relative to the
dominant culture 1996: 93.
There were role shifting within the Mexican families in the United States. Women’s duty was not only the domestic area, they expanded their duty to
working outside the house. Therefore the use of birth controls was increasing 1996: 93. Many Mexican women still did their natural role as a culture bearer
but they also expanded their area of roles, as Anderson stated that: Although they were expected to be culture bearers and they fulfilled this
expectation in many ways, Mexicanas also used their roles as mothers, homemakers, consumers, and workers to transform Mexican American
culture 1996: 93.
The expansion of women’s roles was not all accepted by the men. Some of them preferred to have a private family which meant that they limited their
family circle out of the Americans so that they could keep their nature as Mexicans. The actual purpose of private family is actually to keep the male
dominance over the women. It is stated by Anderson that: PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
For many Mexicanos, the maintenance of a public posture of male dominance and the retention of womens isolation from Anglo and other
outsiders served to secure masculine identity, self-esteem, and power Anderson, 1996: 132.
D. Theoretical Framework
Kategori