Like Water For Chocolate Gender Roles

As a mother who grew up in a corrupt misogynistic household, my mother saw the worst of classic gender norms and expectations for women. Becoming an eager feminist, she always did her best to teach her two daughters to stray away from heteronormativity and live life out of the norm by standing up for themselves. The strength she gave my sister and me always lingers and makes us the strong, independent women we are today. Like my mother, many novels aim to draw attention toward female independence and strength, however, the novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel, is not one of them. Throughout the novel, classic gender roles and expectations such as submissive, obedience, and helplessness in women are exhibited by characters such as

This is linked to an anti-feminist view of submissiveness and obedience in women regularly presented in the novel. As the oldest daughter of the De la Garza family, Rosaura was offered up to marry Pedro after his proposal to Tita was declined by Mama Elena. After the suggestion had been made for Rosaura and Pedro to marry, Esquivel writes “Mama Elena came into the kitchen and informed them that she had agreed to Pedro’s marriage – to Rosaura '' (Pg. 14). Mama Elena agreed to the marriage without the confirmation from Rosaura, giving her no say in her future or life. In response to this neglect, Rosaura acts passively and gives no response or repercussion towards an arranged marriage without love. This silence places Rosaura into a submissive female stereotype of accepting what is given without any voice of her own. Rosaura’s passive nature leads her to follow in her mother's footsteps and follow the same cruel traditions that burdened her younger sister's entire existence. Rosaura explains that “this little girl was destined to take care of her until the day she died” (Pg. 150). This decision highlights Rosaura's passive nature to follow in her mother's footsteps rather than paving her path, she lets other people make decisions for her. A strong independent woman who takes initiative and makes her own decisions, Rosaura displays none of these traits which, in