There were many differences in gender roles in the Colombian Society during the 1950’s. In many parts of the world this was also the case. There was far more gender inequality at the time. This essay will mainly focus on: How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez portray the differences of Gender Roles in Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
In the 1950’s Colombia was mainly a Catholic society, and so the gender roles were categorised by: Machismo and Marianismo. The term Machismo was being used for Males, and the term Marianismo was being used for Females.
Machismo is defined as:
“A strong sense of masculine pride, an exaggerated masculinity.”(Marriam Webster)
Marianismo is definedd as:
“A strong or exaggerated sense of traditional femininity, placing great value on forbearance, self-sacrifice, nurturance, and the limiting of sex to marriage.” (Your Dictionary)
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Men were the main were the main members of the family who earned the money. They also represented the family’s place in society along with the family’s pride and honour. Whereas women were supposed to stay at home and take care of the children. They were also supposed to take care of cooking and any other household chores. (Culture of Colombia)
The first acknowledgement of the differences in Gender roles, was: When Divina Flor came to take his empty mug back. Then Santiago grabbed her wrist, and said:
“The time has come for you to be tamed.” (p.8)
This is a clear indication of Machismo, because Santiago Nasar, was showing his dominance and masculinity over her. He also did this because she was his servant and had to obey to everything he says or does to her.
Another example of this incident would be, what Divina Flor had mentioned to the narrator:
“He grabbed my whole pussy,” “It was what he always did when he caught me alone in some corner of the house.”