xi ABSTRACT
KUSUMA, SCHOLASTICA NOVENA MURTI PIJAR. Tita’s Resistance Against the Patriarchal Practices in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, (2017).
Patriarchy is a set of system where men dominate women. The patriarchal value is believed as the product of men’s authority and it has been strongly rooted inside men’s and women’s mind. Some women are unconsciously preserving and inheriting the patriarchal value toward their daughters; some women try to get their freedom by fighting against the limitation caused by the patriarchal practice. This thesis discusses how women try to fight against the limitation from patriarchal practices as seen through the main character in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate.
The researcher formulates three questions to be able to come up with the analysis to gain the conclusion. The first question is about the characterization of the main character who is Tita. The second question deals with the patriarchal practices which Tita experienced. The last question discusses Tita’s resistance to fight against the patriarchal practices she experienced.
This thesis applies the theory of character and characterization, theory of gender roles, theory of feminism, and two historical backgrounds. Meanwhile, the approach used in this thesis is feminist criticism.
The researcher uses library method to gain the data. Those data consist of primary and secondary data. The primary datum is the novel Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, while the secondary data are taken from essays, journals, dictionary, internet, and some other books.
xii ABSTRAK
KUSUMA, SCHOLASTICA NOVENA MURTI PIJAR. Tita’s Resistance Against the Patriarchal Practices in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, (2017).
Patriarki adalah sebuah sistem di mana laki-laki mendominasi perempuan. Nilai patriarki diyakini sebagai produk dari otoritas laki-laki dan nilai ini telah ditanamkan secara kuat dalam pikiran laki-laki dan perempuan. Beberapa perempuan secara tidak sadar menjaga dan mewariskan nilai patriarki kepada anak perempuan mereka, sedangkan beberapa perempuan lainnya sedang berjuang untuk mendapatkan kebebasan dengan cara melawan batasan yang disebabkan oleh penerapan nilai patriarki. Skripsi ini membahas tentang cara perempuan melawan batasan-batasan dari penerapan nilai patriarki dilihat dari karakter utama dalam karya Laura Esquivel yang berjudul Like Water For Chocolate.
Penulis merumuskan tiga pertanyaan untuk bisa menarik kesimpulan. Pertanyaan pertama membahas karakter dan karakterisasi tokoh utama, yaitu Tita. Pertanyaan kedua membahas praktek nilai patriarki yang dialami Tita. Pertanyaan terakhir membahas usaha yang dilakukan Tita untuk melawan praktik nilai patriarki yang dia alami.
Skripsi ini menerapkan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori peran gender, teori feminism, dan dua latar belakang sejarah. Sedangkan pendekatan yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah pendekatan feminisme
Penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk mengumpulkan data. Data-data tersebut terdiri dari data primer dan sekunder. Data primer yang digunakan adalah novel Like Water For Chocolate karangan Laura Esquivel, sementara data sekunder diambil dari esai, jurnal, kamus, internet, dan beberapa buku lain.
TITA’S
RESISTANCE AGAINST THE PATRIARCHAL
PRACTICES IN LAURA ESQUIVEL’S LIKE WATER FOR
CHOCOLATE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
SCHOLASTICA NOVENA M. P. K. Student Number: 124214020
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
TITA’S RESISTANCE AGAINST THE PATRIARCHAL PRACTICES IN LAURA ESQUIVEL’S LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
SCHOLASTICA NOVENA M. P. K. Student Number: 124214020
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vii
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and
you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you.
(Matthew 7: 7)
YOU NEVER KNOW HOW STRONG YOU
ARE UNTIL BEING STRONG IS THE ONLY
CHOICE YOU HAVE.
viii
FOR MY PARENTS
AND THOSE WHO
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I want to thank Jesus Christ for everything He has done in my life. Even though sometimes I forgot Him, but He still loves me. My sincere gratitude is for my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. and my co. advisor, Sri Mulyani, Ph.D., who supported and helped me during the process of writing this thesis. Thank you for being patient and critical while accompanying me working on this thesis. I also would like to thank Mbak Ninik for the helps during my study in English Letters Department.
x
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ... vi
MOTTO PAGE ... vii
A. The Description of the Character ... 28
1. The Description of Tita De la Garza in the First Period ... 29
2. The Description of Tita De la Garza in the Second Period ... 32
B. The Patriarchal Practices Experienced by Tita ... 38
1. Family Tradition ... 38
2. Rules of Woman’s Attitude ... 41
3. Gender Roles ... 44
C. Tita’s Resistance against the Patriarchal Practice ... 47
1. Passive Aggression ... 48
2. Direct Action ... 51
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 55
xi ABSTRACT
KUSUMA, SCHOLASTICA NOVENA MURTI PIJAR. Tita’s Resistance Against the Patriarchal Practices in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, (2017).
Patriarchy is a set of system where men dominate women. The patriarchal value is believed as the product of men’s authority and it has been strongly rooted inside men’s and women’s mind. Some women are unconsciously preserving and inheriting the patriarchal value toward their daughters; some women try to get their freedom by fighting against the limitation caused by the patriarchal practice. This thesis discusses how women try to fight against the limitation from patriarchal practices as seen through the main character in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate.
The researcher formulates three questions to be able to come up with the analysis to gain the conclusion. The first question is about the characterization of the main character who is Tita. The second question deals with the patriarchal practices which Tita experienced. The last question discusses Tita’s resistance to fight against the patriarchal practices she experienced.
This thesis applies the theory of character and characterization, theory of gender roles, theory of feminism, and two historical backgrounds. Meanwhile, the approach used in this thesis is feminist criticism.
The researcher uses library method to gain the data. Those data consist of primary and secondary data. The primary datum is the novel Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, while the secondary data are taken from essays, journals, dictionary, internet, and some other books.
xii ABSTRAK
KUSUMA, SCHOLASTICA NOVENA MURTI PIJAR. Tita’s Resistance Against the Patriarchal Practices in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, (2017).
Patriarki adalah sebuah sistem di mana laki-laki mendominasi perempuan. Nilai patriarki diyakini sebagai produk dari otoritas laki-laki dan nilai ini telah ditanamkan secara kuat dalam pikiran laki-laki dan perempuan. Beberapa perempuan secara tidak sadar menjaga dan mewariskan nilai patriarki kepada anak perempuan mereka, sedangkan beberapa perempuan lainnya sedang berjuang untuk mendapatkan kebebasan dengan cara melawan batasan yang disebabkan oleh penerapan nilai patriarki. Skripsi ini membahas tentang cara perempuan melawan batasan-batasan dari penerapan nilai patriarki dilihat dari karakter utama dalam karya Laura Esquivel yang berjudul Like Water For Chocolate.
Penulis merumuskan tiga pertanyaan untuk bisa menarik kesimpulan. Pertanyaan pertama membahas karakter dan karakterisasi tokoh utama, yaitu Tita. Pertanyaan kedua membahas praktek nilai patriarki yang dialami Tita. Pertanyaan terakhir membahas usaha yang dilakukan Tita untuk melawan praktik nilai patriarki yang dia alami.
Skripsi ini menerapkan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori peran gender, teori feminism, dan dua latar belakang sejarah. Sedangkan pendekatan yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah pendekatan feminisme
Penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk mengumpulkan data. Data-data tersebut terdiri dari data primer dan sekunder. Data primer yang digunakan adalah novel Like Water For Chocolate karangan Laura Esquivel, sementara data sekunder diambil dari esai, jurnal, kamus, internet, dan beberapa buku lain.
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Oppression represents the dominance of something toward another thing, which later creates differences between the major and minor. Oppression is oftenly related to women in patriarchal society. In this case, women are the objects of the oppression, they are dominated by men (Abberley, 1987: 5).
In relation to women oppression, the researcher discusses about women and patriarchy in Mexico. The Mexicans are very religious, the Catholic Mexicans believe in Lady Guadalupe as the symbol of innocence and purity, and declare her as the role model for Mexican women (Fernandez, 2009: 55). The Mexicans also believe that Lady Guadalupe is the keeper of Mexico (ethnomed.org).
Mexican society is dominated by patriarchal norms in all parts of their life such as decision making and it is started from the family, as Anderson said:
Within the Mexican family system, authority and prestige were allocated on the basis of an ascribed age/gender status with male authority over women receiving a strong ideological sanction (1996: 93).
The Mexicans live in an extended family (Riding, 1984: 10) with their division of gender roles based on patriarchal norms. The roles as Mexican men are called machismo. Machismo is described as male behaviors, which contain masculinity performances such as being a father which means he is protective, the fore bearer, and he is the one who provides the family needs (Englander, Yáñez, and Barney, 2012: 68).
The descriptions as a machismo are not only about the positive sides but also the negative sides. The descriptions above are the positive sides of machismo. The negative sides of a machismo are being aggressive and dominating others. The domination of a man is not only toward women but also in the interpersonal relationships among men (Englander, Yáñez, and Barney, 2012: 68). Outside the family, men are also expected to have domination over other men. They tend to pursue recognition as being more powerful than another man. A simple example is two Mexican men competing in arguing over some topics where the argument will end with one “winner” whose argument cannot be challenged. The winner will get
On the contrary, the roles of Mexican women are called marianismo. The obligations as a marianismo is being a mother with love and sacrifice to the family (Englander, Yáñez, and Barney, 2012: 69), which contains activities such as breeding, cooking, as well as taking care of the children, husband, and the house. In a nutshell, women’s roles are about domestic areas (family.lovetoknow.com). Mexican women also should be bounded to the man in the family (GlobalSecurity.org) for example; a wife cannot challenge her husband’s decision whatever it is.
In relation to the role as a mother, women in Mexico are determined as the center of morality (Anderson, 1996: 94) so it is not surprising that there are so many rules on women’s behavior, as Anderson said, “Ideally, a young girl was to be pious, obedient, and virginal until marriage, chaste after marriage” (1996: 94).
This determination is very important so that the whole family will try to protect or limit their daughters from the outside world until they get married. The mother is expected to internalize the traditional norms to the daughters so that the daughters can be the keeper of the norms and know how to be a good woman as expected there (family.lovetoknow.com).
Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate has a setting of Mexican Revolutionary War. During that period, patriarchal culture was still practiced and inherited among the generations. Before the war began until its beginning, Mexican women were oppressed by patriarchal norms.
...Mexican Revolution in the years between 1911 and 1920.¹ At this time in Mexican history, a patriarchal society constrained women and limited their lives in nearly every aspect (Fernandez, 2009: 53).
This novel is worth to be discussed since it contains many interesting information about Mexico and the Mexicans. The novel is also attractively arranged by Esquivel by providing monthly recipe of Mexican food in the beginning of each chapter. Besides, there is an issue which attracts the researcher’s curiosity that is the oppression towards women which is not only done by men, but also by women. As it has been stated above, the mothers should deliver the traditional norms to the daughters. It means during the process of internalization and socialization of the norms, there will be a kind of oppression to the daughters so they will be obedient to accept the norms (family.lovetoknow.com).
In Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, there is a girl named Tita who struggles against her mother named Mama Elena. She fights against her mother’s authoritativeness and oppression. By fighting her mother, she also fights against the traditional culture in Mexican society which limits women’s freedom. B. Problem Formulation
1. What are the descriptions of Tita’s characteristics? 2. What are the patriarchal practices experienced by Tita?
3. How does Tita resist against the patriarchal practices she experienced?
C. Objective of the Study
The researcher formulates the problems as such in order to maintain the focus in revealing Tita’s resistance against the patriarchal norms in her surroundings. The first problem formulation aims at describing Tita’s characteristics through her way of thinking and action. By understanding her characteristics, the researcher will be able to know Tita in personal explanation. Later, it can be used to find the patriarchal practices Tita experienced and her reaction to those practices.
The second problem formulation aims at revealing the patriarchal practices experienced by Tita, whether it is direct or indirect. By understanding the patriarchal practices experienced by Tita, the researcher will be able to identify the oppression that she suffered from and it can also be known the resistance of Tita against the patriarchal practices.
D. Definition of Terms
There are some terms which are used in this research. Therefore, to support the understanding of the reader, the researcher provides the definitions of these terms.
1. Resistance
Resistance is an action of someone against some rules which are felt to push him or her. As it is stated in “Glossary of Women’s Studies Terms”
A variety of techniques employed by oppressed people as a reaction to oppression, ranging from passive aggression to social critique, direct action and open rebellion (grccwomenstudies.files.wordpress.com).
2. Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a set of system in which women are dominated by men. As Hartmann said in her article in Women’s Studies A Reader, patriarchy is defined as
7 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Laura Esquivel wrote her Like Water for Chocolate in 1989 then it was filmed by her husband, Alfonso Arau in 1991. Laura involved more or less four themes in this story: self-growth, cruelty and violence, tradition, and food. There are some studies which more or less have the same focus as this thesis. The first related study comes from a student of Sanata Dharma University, Caroline Guntoro’s undergraduate thesis titled The Reaction of Tita Against Her Mother’s Rules in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate. In her thesis, Guntoro uses
psychoanalytical approach. Her thesis reveals Tita’s reaction to the limitation given by Tita’s mother. Guntoro analyzes Tita’s reaction through her five main characteristics which are submissive, patient, loyal, care, and creative (2016: viii). Besides, Guntoro also analyzes Tita’s unconscious mind which craves for freedom from her mother’s oppression. Later, her repressed feeling to gain freedom
supports her to take action in order to break her mother’s rules, as stated
The second related study is Carole Counihan’s writing from Millersville University titled ―Food, Feelings and Film: Women’s Power in Like Water for Chocolate‖. Counihan stated that food in this story is important since each chapter of the story began with various recipes, ―Food is a central focus and symbol in the
film. The many close-up shots of food being prepared, served, and eaten
emphasize its social and symbolic centrality‖ (2005: 202). Food is also assumed as the voice of women and their emotions. She tried to define each character’s
relation with food in the novel through their responds to their food.
I will discuss how the four main female characters—the protagonist Tita; her mother, Mama Elena; and her two sisters, Rosaura and Gertrudis—relate differently to food. I will also look at two principal male characters in the film—the Mexican Pedro, the object of Tita’s passion, and the Anglo doctor John Brown, who loves her in vain. Finally,
I will also look at how the film defines the relationships of the Indian servants Nacha and Chencha to food, and those of the two Anglo women in the film: John’s aunt and his housekeeper, Sue Ellen. I suggest that in these different relationships the film posits answers to the question of how women can gain power through food (2005: 202).
Tita, the main female character, who was at the beginning of the story
told as a girl who was oppressed by her mother finally could fight her mother
back. Her struggle towards her mother’s authoritativeness was not in a form of
cruelty, violence, or arguments yet it is in a form of cooking. Through her cooking,
she delivered her repressed feeling and she could express her freedom which was
The inversion of oppression to empowerment is shown from Tita’s
creativity in producing many kinds of delicious food that impress her surroundings. Mama Elena tries to subordinate Tita’s autonomous will by
cruel repression in the kitchen, but Tita fights back with food (2005: 204).
As have been stated above, Counihan’s writing is focused on the food
and recipes as the symbol of Tita’s resistance. She emphasizes Tita’s struggle
against her mother and the society through her skill in cooking. Her capability of
cooking shows that she mastered her role as a woman and showed that her
territory is not only inside but also outside the kitchen.
Another related study about women’s resistance against patriarchy can be found in a Sanata Dharma University student, Ruth Bunga Ongi Karyanto’s undergraduate thesis titled The Character of Ruth in Weldon’s The Life and Loves of a She-devil: A Portrait of A Feminist. The novel told about an unattractive woman named Ruth. She was married to a handsome accountant by accident. Her husband oppressed and looked down on her. Ruth made a movement to fight against her husband by developing her intelligence and losing her weight. In the end, she could prove her husband that she was able to do what men could do, especially in earning money.
In her thesis, Karyanto focuses on Ruth’s quality development as a woman. By focusing on that part, she wants to reveal the portrayal of a feminist through Ruth’s action. As stated in her thesis
her subordination conforms to feminism’s goal to define herself not as an insignificant one any longer, but as a valuable person who has the same privileges and rights as men (2003: 2).
Karyanto’s thesis more or less discusses how a woman through her self-development fights against men’s oppression. The rebellion of Ruth by improving her intelligence, working, and fixing her physical appearance show that actually a woman can gain gender equality.
Some of those related studies have common concern with this thesis which is about women’s movement. Yet, this thesis concerns on different idea from the previous studies. It gives more attention to the reaction of a woman who is oppressed by other women. Generally, the oppression towards women is done by men because they have the ideas of patriarchal which dominates all the aspect of life and makes women as inferior than men. Therefore, this research tries to reveal the resistance of Tita towards the oppression from her mother and her sister.
B. Review of Related Theories
To analyze the problem in the story, the researcher uses some theories which are related to both intrinsic and extrinsic elements of the story. Those theories are explained in the following paragraphs.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
and morality. Abrams in d A Glossary of Literary Terms stated
Characters are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it… (1999: 32).
Character is divided into two types which are flat and round. Flat character is a character whose characteristics do not change during the story. On the contrary, a round character is a character that is going through some changing of his or her characteristics during the story (Abrams, 1999: 33).
The way the characters are characterized is called characterization. According to Abrams, there are two methods of characterization: telling and showing (1999: 33). In telling method, the author is the one who describes the characters while in showing method the characters talk and act to describe their characteristics. Their dialogues and actions may contain of some implicit thoughts and characteristics which are not shown by their physical appearances.
According to M. J. Murphy, characterization of a character can be seen through nine methods. Those methods are personal description, characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversations of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism. Personal description is a physical and appearance details of a character (1972: 161-173).
something. Past life is like background knowledge about a character which affects and shapes this character’s characteristics. Conversations of others are what other
characters say about a character. A reaction is how a character responds to a certain situation. Direct comment is like a telling method to describe a character. Thought is knowledge about what a character’s thinking, and mannerism is how a character behaves (1972: 161-173).
The methods of characterizing from Abrams and Murphy actually have same main methods which are telling and showing. Murphy elaborates the showing method in various ways which make the characterizing of a character deeper.
2. Theory of Gender Role
Gender is a socialized behaviors and expectations related to men and women (Andersen, 1997: 383). While gender roles is a state of how someone should behave in the society based on their sexes, as Andersen stated: ―Gender roles are the expectations for behavior and attitudes that the culture defines as appropriate for women and men‖ (1997: 31).
in her writing used a term ―hegemony masculinity‖ which refers to the pattern of practices that allows men’s dominance over women to continue.
Gender differences before the 19th century became the study field of theologians. Women and men were created for different goals. The Rev. John Todd and his supporters tried to persuade women that they would get independence, wealth, and renown in man's sphere, while their only safety and happiness are patiently, lovingly, and faithfully performing the duties and enacting the relations of their own (Kimmel, 2000: 22). From that, we can conclude that women were given the ideology that they are inferior and only can be safe or happy if they obey the rules and limitation made by men.
In the context of a family, the parents educate the children based on gender custom. Since their childhood, their parents differentiate the toys given to them. Boys are given toys which stimulate their creativity, aggressiveness, and fantasy, while girls are given toys which teach them to have a sense of affection, creativity, and to be attractive, as stated:
3. Feminism
This feminism theory is based on a thought of gender inequality that oppresses women’s freedom. The women movement in 1960s was not the beginning of feminism. At that time, there was a revision of some old traditions and thoughts of gender equality in society (Barry, 2002: 121). The feminist criticism focuses on how to gain the equality between men and women. The movement of the feminists varies but the first movement they made was in literature field.
Their movement in the field of literature aims to protest the portrayal of women in the provided literary works at that time (Barry, 2002: 121). Their involvement in the literature field has purpose to revise the common portrayal of women by the male authors. Their portrayal in literature was considered as a form of patriarchal influence since it provided role models which represented women’s acceptable attitudes and feminine version in the society. In the late of 1970s, there was a shift attention from andro-texts (books by men) to gyno-texts (books by women) (Barry, 2002: 122- 123).
2006: 44). Later, she focuses on gender inequality in working field. She concentrates on how women get unjust treatment as workers.
Faludi concentrates on serious matters of unequal pay, mistreatment in the workplace, relegation to pink-collar jobs, unfair layoffs, sexual harassment, and limited promotions of qualified women (Snodgrass, 2006: 44).
Women movement to fight against the patriarchy is the sign of their resistance of the unjust treatment they get:
Calling upon the history of a glorious Indigenous past, Chicano movement discourse introduced the Indian as a symbol of Mexican-American disenfranchisement and resistance. The use of the Indian has continued to the present as Chicana/o activists, artists, and authors have recovered a variety of Indigenous cultural traditions to elaborate political agendas and identity formations (Contreras, 2008: 40). Resistance means fighting against the rules which oppress her. The forms of the resistance vary such as, passive aggression, social critique, direct action, and open rebellion (grccwomenstudies.files.wordpress.com).
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 type1 (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 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:
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 women's 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
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:
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
For many Mexicanos, the maintenance of a public posture of male dominance and the retention of women's isolation from Anglo and other outsiders served to secure masculine identity, self-esteem, and power (Anderson, 1996: 132).
D. Theoretical Framework
The researcher uses three theories and two historical backgrounds to do this research. The first theory is the theory of character and characterization. This theory is used to analyze the story from the character’s type and his or her characteristics and characterization, which is one of the intrinsic elements. By using this theory, it is expected that the characteristics and characterization of the character can be revealed and its significance to the story can be understood, for example Tita’s characterization towards her mother.
The second theory is theory of gender roles. This theory is used to strengthen the previous theory. This theory will explain more about gender role’s classification and stereotype especially in Mexican society. Through this theory, it can be known how a man and woman are shaped since their childhood. It is expected that we can understand why a character does something or behaves in a certain way related to her gender roles.
the characters in the novel, especially in their reaction toward family tradition. Therefore, from the novel we can find the gender inequality seen from the reaction of the characters.
The last is the historical backgrounds. The first is about the patriarchy in Mexican society. This background is used to give knowledge about the condition of Mexican society in relation to gender and the cause of the patriarchy in Mexico. This background concerns on why the men in Mexico oppress and dominate the women. By using this background, it can be understood why many patriarchal values seem to give unjust treatment toward women.
23
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
This research analyzes a fiction novel of a Mexican writer Laura Esquivel titled Like Water for Chocolate. The novel is written in 1989, and filmed in 1992 (biography.com). The first version of the story is written in Spanish with title Como Agua para Chocolate. This novel has been translated from the original Spanish into many languages. The English translation is done by Carol and Thomas Christensen and published by Anchor Books publisher in its first edition on November 1995. The novel is originally published in hardcover in the United States by Doubleday in 1992.
This novel is filmed in 1992, directed by Alfonso Arau. The film gets all 11 Ariel awards of the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including the Ariel Award for Best Picture. This novel is sold over 4.5 million copies (biography.com). This film is the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the United States at the time. The Washington Post states that the story in Like Water for Chocolate is the portrayal of the Mexican feminism.
always began the story with Mexican recipes. The genre of this story is romance and magical realism. Laura Esquivel‟s Like Water for Chocolate mainly tells about women and tradition. It tells about a daughter who keeps struggling to get her freedom from the family tradition which is applied by her mother, Mama Elena.
B. Approach of the Study
In relation to the topic chosen in this research, feminist criticism is employed in the discussion. Feminist criticism focuses on women‟s ability to gain gender equality in many aspects of life through their own acts and choices. This criticism believes that the limitation given to women comes from men‟s authority. Women are considered to be inferior to men especially in the aspect of working skill, ability, and education. They are portrayed as only the controller of kitchen and any other feminine activities which do not need their intellectuality.
Bressler states in his book titled Literary Criticism that:
… Women, they declare, are people in their own right; they are not
incomplete or inferior men. Despite how often literature and society fictionalize and stereotype women as angels, barmaids, bitches, whores, brainless housewives, or old maids, women must break free from such oppression and define themselves (1999: 189).
In 1960s, women‟s representation in literature is considered as a form of patriarchal socialization. It provides the acceptable versions, roles, and aspirations of women (Barry, 2002: 122). In Virginia Woolf‟s essay “Profession for Women”, she mentions about „Angel in the house‟. The angel refers to women, whose duties are to take care of the household activity, such as take care of the husband and children, cook, and to take care of her beauty. In her essay, she tells her experience about her first time of writing. She doubts her ability in writing. She says that the Angel, as the phantom, which represents the old thought about women, tells her not to let anyone know that what she writes is from her own mind.
… My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own (Woolf, 1931).
The case in Woolf‟s essay represents the situation in Tita‟s life. The
limitation she gets from her mother and the patriarchal practices restricts her to be herself, just like the woman in Woolf‟s essay. The term „angel in the house‟ also represents the women in Mexico whose obligations are to take care of the family and domestic areas.
This approach is applied as the point of view to identify each reaction of Tita towards the patriarchal oppression. Therefore, when analyzing everything about Tita in the story, the researcher always relates it to the gender role issues,
inequality, and limitation to women from women‟s perspective.
This approach helps the researcher to understand Tita‟s resistance and how women themselves think and react about their relation with tradition so that women choose to follow the tradition or fight against it. Therefore, this approach is appropriate to analyze this story.
C. Method of the Study
This research is done through a library research. The literary work is analyzed through contextual step, which is based on the novel. This step is used in order to gain deeper understanding about Tita‟s characteristics which influence her resistance against the limitation.
The primary sources which are used in this research are mainly from books. They are the novel, some books of theories, articles, and journals which have relation to the topic of the research. In order to support the findings from the books, the researcher uses the secondary sources which are from internet. The researcher opens some websites which have related topic with the research, and uses them as the supporting idea of this research.
between this research and those previous studies. The researcher compares the concern of the studies. If the main concern is similar, the researcher uses her research as the development of the previous studies.
To help the researcher reaching the purpose, there are some theories used to gain the conclusion. The first theory is used to find the characteristics of the main character. After finding the characteristics, the researcher uses the theory of feminism which concerns about patriarchy in Mexico and gender roles theory to analyze patriarchal practices that Tita experienced, and then they are used to understand the significance between the characterization and the gender roles of the character.
28 ANALYSIS
A. The Description of the Character
This research mainly discusses the main character’s responses to the patriarchal practice which she experienced. The main character in this novel is Tita De la Garza. It is important to describe the character’s characteristics in order to be able to analyze everything about her deeper. Tita is a round character, which means she has some changes of her characteristics as the time goes on. As a woman, Tita is expected to master the domestic cores such as cooking so that she can take care of her family especially her mother. Tita is a skillful woman especially in cooking and sewing. Since her childhood Tita is brought up by her cook Nacha. She grows up and spends her whole life in the kitchen. Nacha teaches her everything about cooking so that she becomes a good cook. She has a strong intuition about food.
As a woman, Tita is also expected to be able to take care of her family’s
willing to take care of her nephew Roberto, who is the son of her lover Pedro and her sister Rosaura. Her care toward Roberto shows that as an aunt with a mother’s role, Tita is a really caring person.
As a daughter, she still cares about her mother. She is willing to come back home and serves the needs of her mother although she knows that comes back home means being oppressed again. When her mother died, she cried for her because she revealed the secret of her mother’s feeling which was full of sorrow.
Besides being a skillful and caring woman, in the beginning of the story Tita is described as an obedient girl yet, in the middle of the story there is the death of her nephew, Roberto, which changes her reaction toward the patriarchal practices. Therefore, the researcher divides Tita’s characteristics into two periods, the first period is before Roberto’s death and the second period is after Roberto’s death.
1. The Description of Tita De la Garza in the First Period
Tita is the last daughter of De la Garza family, her sisters are Rosaura and Gertrudis. Her father died when she was a child, then her mother Mama Elena takes the responsibility of the family. All of the people in the ranch obey Mama Elena’s commands. Since her childhood, Tita was brought up in the kitchen by the
daughter of the family to get married and she should take care of her mother until her mother died. The descriptions of Tita are discussed further in the following explanation.Those descriptions show the qualities of Tita as a daughter, woman, and aunt. The description of Tita is based on the theories of Abrams and Murphy.
Tita De la Garza is described as an obedient daughter. As a daughter, Tita is expected to follow Mama Elena’s command. Mama Elena in the novel is depicted as an authoritative, independent, and strict mother. Her three daughters: Rosaura, Gertrudis, and Tita always do what their mother says. None of them dares to protest her. Since their childhood, Tita and her sisters live with obedience to her mother’s commands, as seen below:
Then Mama Elena would say: "That's it for today." For a good listener, it is said, a single word will suffice, so when they heard that, they all sprang into action. First they had to clear the table, then they had to assign tasks: one collected the chickens, another drew water for breakfast from the well, a third was in charge of wood for the stove. There would be no ironing, no embroidery, no sewing that day. When it was all finished, they went to their bedrooms to read, saytheir prayers, and go to sleep (Esquivel, 1989: 10).
feel that the command is irritating. It proves that Tita is obedient towards her mother’s commands.
In De la Garza family there is a tradition which states that the last daughter cannot get married. She should take care of her mother until her mother died. Tita, as the last daughter in the family is forbidden to get married and she should take care of Mama Elena. Unfortunately, there is a man named Pedro who falls in love with Tita, and so does she. Finally, Pedro marries Tita’s sister Rosaura
but they still live in the same house with Tita. Mama Elena always warns Tita not to be near Pedro.
... You'll be sorry if I ever catch you around Pedro again.” After Mama Elena's threats, Tita tried to keep as much distance as she could between herself and Pedro (Esquivel: 1989: 39).
Tita’s effort to make a distance with Pedro shows that she is an obedient daughter. She does not disobey her mother’s warning even though she wants to be with Pedro. Tita can do nothing but follows her mother’s command.
Another proof which shows Tita’s obedience is when she gets flowers
from Pedro. Mama Elena watches that moment and her presence makes Tita aware of what she should do to the flowers, as stated: “With just a look Mama
are grateful. Yet, Tita is patient enough to deal with those ungrateful people. As a good daughter, Tita takes care of her mother’s needs patiently. In the ranch, Tita has a duty to prepare her mother’s bathing which requires extra concern and patience.
Preparing Mama Elena's bath was quite a ceremony (Esquivel, 1992: 93). …
She brushed Mama Elena's hair until it was thoroughly dry, braided it, and that completed the liturgy. Tita always thanked God that her mother only bathed once a week, because otherwise her life would be a real cross to bear. In Mama Elena's opinion… no matter how hard Tita tried she always got an infinite number of things wrong (Esquivel, 1992: 94). Tita is always patient to serve her mother’s needs, even about her mother’s bathing steps which are such a ceremony, she never complains. Although her mother complains about her service, Tita never gets angry or even gives up serving her mother. She still manages to do all of her duty patiently. 2. The Description of Tita De la Garza in the Second Period
independent, and expressive woman.
One day, Tita gets news that Roberto died because of digestive problem. Mama Elena’s respond toward Roberto’s death makes Tita angry. Mama Elenadoes not show her longing of losing Roberto and even bans Tita to cry. Tita cannot understand her mother’s attitude. With her anger, she protests her mother, as stated:
Tita felt a violent agitation take possession of her being: … she calmly met her mother's gaze and then, instead of obeying her order, she started to tear apart all the sausages she could reach, screaming wildly. "Here's what I do with your orders! I'm sick of them! I'm sick of obeying you!" (Esquivel, 1989: 99).
That is the first time Tita disobeys and rebels her mother’s command. Even she looks directly into her mother’s eyes, which proves that she is not afraid of her mother’s pressure anymore. Tita accuses her mother as the cause of Roberto’s death, as stated: "You did it, you killed Roberto!" screamed Tita
(Esquivel, 1989: 99). She blames Mama Elena because she is the one who commands Pedro and his family to move away so that Tita and Pedro will not be together. After Mama Elena separated Tita and Pedro by sending Pedro and his family to San Antonio, no one can give meals which fit Roberto’s digestion.
then Roberto’s death is the limit of her patience of those pressures.
Mama Elena is very angry with Tita’s disobedience. By being a daughter
who disobeys her mother’s commands which most of them contains of patriarchal value, Tita shows that she also breaks the value of patriarchy which states that women should be submissive.
Her next rebellion toward her mother is when she thinks that she gets pregnant with Pedro. Mama Elena’s spirit haunts her and curses her pregnancy.
Yet, the second time Mama Elena’s spirit comes to her, Tita has her defense and
they argue at each other as seen from the dialogue below:
"See what you've done now? You and Pedro are shameless. If you don't want blood to flow in this house, go where you can't do any harm to anybody, before it's too late."
"The one who should be going is you. I'm tired of your tormenting me. Leave me in peace once and for all!"
"Not until you behave like a good woman, or a decent one at least! "What do you mean, decent? Like you?"
"Yes."
"But that's just what I'm doing! Or didn't you have an illicit child?" "You will be condemned to hell for talking to me like this!"
"No more than you!" (Esquivel, 1989: 199).
words.
As has been described, during her life under the same roof with Mama Elena, Tita’s freedom is very limited. She cannot have her own decision for her
life, such as marrying the man she loves. After Roberto died, Tita leaves the house and being taken care of by Dr. John Brown. She suffers a depression because of her mother’s continual authoritativeness and also her nephew’s death. After recovered, she decides not to come back to the ranch.
As they were saying good-bye, Tita told Chencha her decision never to go back to the ranch again; she asked her to tell Mama Elena (Esquivel, 1989: 126).
Her decision not to go back to the ranch proves that Tita is able to choose the choice for herself. Tita becomes decisive and she decides to get her freedom. To go back to the ranch means that she also goes back to her mother’s authority, which also means that she will not be free. Therefore, she chooses not to go back. Tita becomes brave enough to decide her own destiny. Besides choosing not to go back to the ranch, Tita also thinks about staying with John and marries him.
tradition which bans her from getting married since she has to take care of her mother. She decides to get married and have her own life. By refusing the family tradition, it means that Tita gains her freedom.
Even though Tita decides not to go back to the ranch, unfortunately, one day she has to go back to take care of her sick mother. Some bandits attack Mama Elena and rape the maid Chencha. Therefore, Tita chooses to go back and takes care of her mother.Tita who comes back to the ranch is not the old Tita. She has transformed into an independent Tita. At the ranch, she dares to face her mother.
Her mother received her in silence. For the first time Tita firmly held her gaze, and Mama Elena lowered hers. There was a strange light in Tita's eyes (Esquivel, 1989: 129).
The strange light in Tita’s eyes is the reflection of her free spirit which can defend her from her mother’s influence. Her own willingness to take care of her sick mother shows her independence from her mother’s authoritativeness. Mama Elena’s response to Tita’s glance shows that Tita is stronger than before. She is no more under her mother’s pressure.
pleases. Once and for all, leave me alone1 I won't put up with you! I hate you, I've always hated you!" (Esquivel, 1989: 199).
She declares her freedom by choosing what she wants to be in her life and toughly banishing Mama Elena’s spirit by saying that she hates Mama Elena.
Those words which are purely from her deepest heart are able to send her mother’s spirit away.
When Mama Elena died, Rosaura and Pedro decide to stay at the ranch again. Pedro is jealous at John because he seesthe intimacy between John and Tita. Yet, it cannot be denied that Tita is Pedro’s true love and vice versa. The love between them reemerges and one night when there is a chance, they make love in the storeroom.
Without answering, Pedro went to her, extinguished the lamp, pulled her to a brass bed that had once belonged to her sister Gertrudis, and throwing himself upon her, caused her to lose her virginity and learn of true love (Esquivel, 1989: 158).
As a woman, Tita becomes more expressive in showing her love to Pedro. She does not refuse Pedro’s action. When Pedro throws himself upon Tita, she is no longer suppresses her passionate love to Pedro so that finally the make love. Her expressiveness also emerges when she has a conversation with Rosaura. In this conversation Tita’s emotion is exploding.
"I think you and I are overdue for a talk, don't you agree?
"Says who? Is that according to Mama or to you?" (Esquivel, 1989: 213). "... I married him because that's 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 doesn't 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
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 mother's 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:
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 shouldn't attend school, since it would be a waste of time. If Esperanza's only lot in life was to take care of her mother forever, she didn't have any need for fancy ideas; what she needed was to study piano, singing, and dancing (Esquivel, 1989: 238).
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 seen 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
The Mexican society is also strongly-rooted in religion. Catholic is the religion which is dominant in that country. Catholic has the portrayal of Lady Guadalupe as the role model for women. She is described as the symbols of innocence and purity, and she never complains about her destiny (Fernandez, 2009: 55).
before get married. Mama Elena strictly applies that rule to her daughters. When Gertrudis, her second daughter, leaves the house and works at a brothel Mama Elena feels so upset. She disowns her, as stated:
“… what nearly killed her was when she got the story from Father lgnacio, the parish priest-and who knew how he found out about it-that the next week Gertrudis was working in a brothel on the border. Mama Elena burned Gertrudis' birth certificate and all of her pictures and said she didn't want to hear her name mentioned ever again” (Esquivel, 1989: 58-59).
Gertrudis works as a prostitute. It can be concluded that Gertrudis does not only lose her virginity but also she gets a shameful job. That fact breaks Mama Elena’s heart down. She is very upset and does not want to remember Gertrudis
anymore.
In Tita’s case, Mama Elena prohibits her to get closer to Pedro. She prohibits Tita to be near Pedro because she is afraid of their love relationship and their physical relationship. Mama Elena wants to keep Tita virgin. Even when Mama Elena dies, her soul still haunts Tita because she has had a sexual intercourse with Pedro. Unfortunately, Tita gets a late period so that she thinks that she is pregnant. Mama Elena’s soul gets angry at her, as seen:
“I told you many times not to go near Pedro. Why did you do it?” “I tried, Mami … but …”
From the dialogue between Tita and Mama Elena above, it is obvious that women should keep themselves virgin. When they are not virgin anymore before getting married, they are considered as bad women who do not have good moral and behavior. They even have less value and are considered as a shame for the family. This obligation to keep their virginity before getting married is considered as a patriarchal practice because its basic root comes from the portrayal of Lady Guadalupe which seems to be the same as the expectation from patriarchal value toward women’s attitude. Patriarchal value expects women to be
obedient (Mirande, 1979: 475) and to keep their virginity (Gordillo, 2010: 66), while Lady Guadalupe is well-known of her innocence, purity, and obedience. Therefore, when Mexican women are expected to follow the portrayal of Lady Guadalupe, unconsciously they are dogmatized to fulfill the expectation of patriarchal value.
Women are not only expected to keep their virginity but also not to expose their body, as Gordillo stated:
Mexican Porfirian elites (1876–1910) expressed moral indignation “over adultery, over the loss of virginity before matrimony … over the exhibition of women’s unclothed legs, and over the knowledge of anatomy (2010: 66).
until her knee so that she can move freely. Yet, her action triggers dishonor comments from the women at the party, as stated: “She lightly hitched her skirt up to her knee, quite uninhibited. This attitude provoked scandalized comments among the ladies gathered there” (Esquivel, 1992: 180).
The dishonor reaction from the women around Gertrudis shows that women are really limited in every inch of their move. It also implies that the patriarchal norm about women’s attitude and virginity has been strongly rooted in
women’s mind. Beside about the virginity, everything which seems having
relation to women’s body should be covered. It is impolite to expose them even though the intention of exposing them is not to trigger sexual desire.
3. Gender Roles
should be able to cook and take care of the household. Each chapter of the novel starts with recipes and the following story also contains of the cooking activity. The story tells how Mama Elena, Tita, and the female characters in the story do the process of cooking. Even Mama Elena who is the leader of the family and described as having the power to control the family also still joins the cooking activity, as stated:
Mama Elena and Chencha finished filling the sausages in silence. Mama Elena was always such a perfectionist and so careful to get all the air out of the sausage … (Esquivel, 1989: 99).
Rosaura has cooked it isn't bad. Don't you agree, Pedro?" Making a real effort not to insult his wife, Pedro replied: "No, for her first time, it's not too bad." Of course, that afternoon the entire family felt sick to their stomachs (Esquivel, 1989: 50-51).
This patriarchal norm which is rooted in women’s mind strongly affects them. Even it becomes a competition between women to be recognized as a good cook. There is such a competition between Rosaura and Tita, Rosaura’s refusal toward Tita’s offer shows that she considers Tita as her rival, as stated:
But whether she did it to impress her husband Pedro or to compete with Tita in her own territory-who can say?-there was one day when Rosaura did attempt to cook. When Tita tried nicely to give her some advice, Rosaura became irritated and asked Tita to leave her alone in the kitchen (Esquivel, 1989: 50).
The other example of women’s obligation to be able to cook is Tita’s skill
in preparing all of the food ingredients including the meat, as stated:
With a deep breath, she took hold of the first one and twisted its neck, as she had seen Nancha do so often, but she used too little force to kill the poor quail … (Esquivel, 1989: 49).
She even kills the quail herself. It shows that women really should have skills in kitchen. It is not only about their ability to produce delicious meals, but also to prepare all the things needed themselves.
The obvious example of women’s obligation in taking care of the
family needs mainly in the domestic areas.
Women’s roles told in this novel are taking care of the
house-husband-children, and cooking which are same with one of patriarchal value which demands women to have a sense of creativity and nurturance (Lips, 1989: 3). Mama Elena’sroles in this story are the other form of women as “Angel in the house”. Mama Elena is the angel in the house because she represses her true feeling, and then she keeps holding and applying the patriarchal value toward herself and her daughters. Mama Elena also forces Tita to obey the family tradition and prohibits her to be herself, just like the angel told the woman in Woolf’s theory.
Those are the patriarchal practices which are experienced by Tita, whether they directly or indirectly happen to her. The patriarchal norms are strongly rooted in the society even in the women’s mind so that Tita and the other
female characters have to fulfill the demands.
C. Tita’s Resistance against the Patriarchal Practices
