This week the reading touched further on the shift from colonialism to independence for Latin American nations. Reading about the “scientific racism” (p.75) of western cultures influencing the view on race in Latin America was disturbing to read about. It always seems worse somehow, when people try to come up with logical reasons for their racism. Dawson mentions eugenics and similar sciences in his writing and the attempt to purify bloodlines. Something that really just reminds me of Hitler and his dream of an Aryan race. One thing that I had never known about and really intrigued me was the significant role that slaves in Latin America had in securing their freedom. Also, the life span of slaves in Brazil was shocking. Only three years of labor after arriving before they died on average. This really demonstrates how large the slave trade was that people in slavery were dying at such alarming rates and could be replaced so quickly.

Of the two sections on women and their rights the part that irked me the most was “Women: Dedicated to Miss María Eugenia Echenique” because of the way it generalized all women to be delicate people only fit to be homemakers. This was aggravating to read because I know of the struggles that women had to go through so that they were not seen in this light. That being said, it is not the notion of a woman being a caretaker or a wife that I saw as upsetting at all. It was the idea that that was all a woman could, or should, do. Having the option and choosing to do something, and having to do it are very different things. It really struck me as contradictory that men were always showcased as being superior to women and yet all the pressure and standards were put upon women. This really stood out when the author speaks of how it is a woman’s job to be “virtuous, talented…educated, energetic…well-read” (p.100) when compared to “Brushstrokes” when Maria Eugenia Echenique wrote, “men…who only think of filling their pockets and satisfying their own desires, who if they encounter an obstacle…become angry and trample over everything.” (p.98) The description of “virtuous” women verses men who “trample over everything” seemed like a very interesting and stark comparison as I read.