Fine, if thats what you want, lets start there. With your wrongful claim to a boyfriend. You had no right to have a boyfriend.
Says who? Is that according to Mama or to you? Esquivel, 1989: 213. ... I married him because thats what he wanted. If you had had the
tiniest scrap of pride, you would have put him out of your mind forever. Well for your information, he married you just so he could be near me.
He doesnt love you, and you know that perfectly well. Esquivel, 1989: 214.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that Tita obviously shows her hatred to Rosaura. She expresses her hatred to her sister in a state as no longer
an obedient daughter or powerless sister but as a free woman. She is encouraged to express her true feeling of losing Pedro caused by the family tradition.
B. The Patriarchal Practices Experienced by Tita
It has been explained before that Tita lives in a patriarchal-rooted society. Therefore, the patriarchal practices are strongly applied. Tita as a woman and a
daughter experiences some patriarchal practices. Those experiences are directly and indirectly happen to Tita. The indirect experiences mean that Tita witnesses
the patriarchal practices happen to other women. Those patriarchal practices are discussed below.
1. Family Tradition
In De la Garza family, there is an inherited tradition which stated that the last daughter in the family cannot get married. She should take care of her mother
until her mother dies Esquivel, 1989: 10. Tita as the last daughter in the family is PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
the victim of that tradition. The researcher uses the term victim because Tita as the receiver of the tradition feels oppressed. By applying the family tradition, it means
that Tita’s freedom to gain her privilege and experience as a free woman is limited. If she cannot get married, she cannot experience the feeling as a wife and a mother.
Even she is not allowed to experience love. Her feeling of being oppressed can be seen from the following thought:
Tita lowered her head, and the realization of her fate struck her as forcibly as her tears struck the table. From then on they knew, she and
the table, that they could never have even the slightest voice in the unknown forces that fated Tita to bow before her mothers absurd
decision … Esquivel, 1989: 11
Her tears show that she is very sad. She cries because she feels the force from the family tradition which even does not take her agreement first into a
discussion. Meanwhile in her age as a normal young woman, Tita has fallen for Pedro, which later makes everything more difficult to her. Besides obeying the
family tradition, she also should repress her feeling to the man that she loves. This family tradition is included as a patriarchal practice because the
tradition is directed only to daughter, not son. As it is known, patriarchy takes benefits from women, dominates, and limits women’s freedom Andersen, 1997:
356. Therefore, De la Garza’s family tradition is considered as adopting the value
of patriarchy because it limits the last daughter’s freedom in the family. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The patriarchy is not only related to gender but also the age. From Tita’s family tradition, the daughter who is prohibits to get married is the last daughter
which means the youngest. The family tradition in De la Garzas has been applied for long time and no one in the family has ever disagreed with that tradition
Esquivel, 1989 : 11. Therefore, De la Garza’s family tradition becomes stronger
and cannot be broken. Even after Mama Elena’s death, Rosaura who finally gives
birth to her last daughter applies the family tradition to her.She even thinks about not to let her daughter, Esperanza, to get any formal education. A formal
institution and education are useless. She argues that Esperanza better learns to play some music instruments, sing, and dance so that she can take care of and
entertain her mother until she dies. Rosaura’s decision to treat Esperanza in such a
way proves that the patriarchal value in the society and in the family is very strong. Even after her mother died, she is still the tradition keeper and applies the
tradition to her daughter. That had been when Rosaura insisted that her daughter shouldnt attend
school, since it would be a waste of time. If Esperanzas only lot in life was to take care of her mother forever, she didnt have any need for
fancy ideas; what she needed was to study piano, singing, and dancing Esquivel, 1989: 238.
Rosaura’s decision that her daughter does not need to get formal education since her duty is to take care of Rosaura forever, shows that the family
tradition adopts the patriarchal value that women are not necessarily educated. Women are not prepared to be intellectual and stand for their own opinion as Lips
statement: “… In contrast, they treated girls especially gently, but with a lack of
full attention and a readiness to impose opinions on them ” Lips, 1989: 3.
Women in this case actually are not only as the victims of patriarchy, but also as the extension. It is see
n from Mama Elena’s and Rosaura’s decision to apply the family tradition to their last daughter. Mama Elena and Rosaura are
considered applying “hegemony masculinity” as Connel said in her writing that this hegemony allows the dominance of men over women to continue. Mama
Elena’s and Rosaura’s decision show that they continue the practice of patriarchy through the family tradition.
2. The Rules of Woman’s Attitude
