Second Post!
One of the questions being considered during this unit is: How are the women depicted in contemporary fiction and media? During your reading of the novel, comment on the ways in which women are being portrayed. Consider relationships, experiences, situations, etc.
As I read the second part of the book I noticed that the four women seem to change greatly. They all begin to take a bigger role in the underground movement against Trujillo while also getting married and starting their own families. They seem to become more modern (mainly by becoming politically involved) but also continue to care for their families. They seem to leave behind the old fashioned ways as they work with their husbands in their businesses (Dede and her family’s ice cream shop). THey also work in the underground movement against Trujillo’s regime by planing the revolt and storing weapons. They are bombarded with the old fashioned stereotypes that existed (mostly by men), but respond by showing that they are not at all examples of those stereotypes. They realize the double standard that most men have of women- that men are allowed to be sexually involved with other women while women are not (as the sisters discover with their father)- and show their disapproval. As they continue to go against Trujillo more the sisters begin to gain the people’s trust and respect. As the four sisters grow older, they continue to disprove the existing stereotypes and set an example to both the women and men of the Dominican Republic.
April 25, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
Mollie,
The part of your post that really stuck out to me was how you talked about the double standard most men have of women, which I hadn’t really thought much about. It’s interesting that the sisters, especially Minerva, were willing to call their father out on his affair and not just act like it was an acceptable part of life. However, you brought up that they defy stereotypes, which is definitly true when Minerva decides to educate her father’s illegitimate children, even though everyone else wants to pretend that they don’t exist. Although I definitly thought about stereotypes while I was reading, I focused more on the negative stereotypes of the sisters rather than the ones they were breaking. As you alluded to, just the fact that four women were able to create such a revolution and develop such great support truly defied the stereotype that women should remain at home. In response to the post you left me, I did read the “afterwards” of the book that said Alvarez semi invented the characters, which I hadn’t really considered. However as you said, she very easily could have created such strong, yet relatable characters to make them seem realistic and tangable rather than larger than life heroes.
chelsea