Machismo Double Standards

Throughout history there have always been superior and inferior beings. This concept is demonstrated in Chronicle of a Death Foretold through Machismo. This novel is based in Columbia during the 1950's in which the culture indulges itself in a doctrine known as machismo. Machismo is a thought process revolving around men needing to be masculine. For instance in this novel the women are expected to be house wives who rear many children and are often mistreated by the men in order for them establish dominance. This belief has a negative impact on the women of South America because of a lack of worldly knowledge about modern society and how women have rights to be independent. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabrielle Garcia Marquez, the author

In the novel, the Vicario family is used by the author to portray the average columbian folk. This family worships their honor like a saint. In relation to their honor, they also raise the girls in the family harshly. More specifically they are reared knowing only how to be a suitable wife and mother. A direct statement from the mother of the house, Purisima del Carmen, "Any man will be happy to marry them because they've been raised to suffer" (Marquez 31). Honor is a key aspect of the machismo lifestyle, hence the harsh treatment toward the females and the high expectations. If these expectations are not met, then it reflects negatively on the family. This directly correlates to machismo because most men in this society expect the women to obey them, while also pleasing their needs through cooking, cleaning and bearing children. On the other hand, the women also are blind to their potential due to the ancient traditions of machismo. This is expressed by their inability to do anything other then adhere to the needs of men. They only know how to serve others and are oblivious to their own desires, since they are deprived of their own pain at a young age. This prompts them to be "predisposed to find hidden intentions in the design of men" (Marquez 32). The women of this culture endure much at the hands of

This concept of conserving their honor above all else is the source of the society's problem. They all mask themselves from the truth because they are frightened by it and how it might change their belief system. This is demonstrated by Angela's mother, Purisima del Carmen, when she beats Angela for supposedly not being a virgin, "she was holding me by the hair with one hand and beating me with the other with such rage that I thought she was going to kill me" (Márquez 46). By suppressing themselves, the women of the society are giving into the expectation set by Machismo. When Purísima harms Angela instead of consoling her, she is allowing machismo to cloud her judgement and by doing so she is influence Machismo has on the women. The females in this novel have limited knowledge toward modern etiquette, therefore these women claim they must intrust their leaders, men with their life because they believe themselves not to be capable. When the women in the book make comments such as Pablo's fiancé, Tudencia, "I never would have married him if he hadn't done what a man should do" (Márquez 62), they are saying it is expectable to let one's life revolve around another's. However, this does not make it right, and it is because of the women like Purisima del Carmen and Tudencia, this sexist double standard lives