In Díaz’s story, we see the effects of masculinity and sexuality on the childhood of our narrator Yunior. Yunior’s papi, Rámon, showcases an interesting stereotype among some men. There is a commonality among some men to create a standardized sort of dealing with women, where all women are objects, or subjects of desire, and therefore deserve to be treated poorly, or just treated as less. A sort of contradiction to this behaviour, is exemplified in these men’s actions towards their daughters. There is a common practice amongst fathers to treat their daughters with care and protect them, yet treat other women differently. This is exemplified in Rámon’s treatment of his wife, his mistress, and his countering treatment of his daughter. He shows care for his daughter when he collects the coins from the toll booth for the amusement of Madai (page 28). This is one of the only moments we see him act in a non violent way.
Ultimately Rámon’s actions towards his daughter work to end the violence against women, but his treatment of his sons works to enforce it. In his blatant expression of infidelity which he readily shares with his sons, Rámon sets an example for a patriarchal expression of relationships for his sons. These actions are further highlighted in his violence towards his children, in which he hits his sons, Yunior especially. In this we see him pass along his negative identity to his sons, yet refrains from giving it to his daughter. In these separate treatments, there is much to be understood in regards to men’s own realization of the discrimination against women to desire to protect their daughters from the same thing, yet not to stop such destructive actions in themselves or other men.
Yeah, I totally agree that the father treatment of his children definitely demonstrates a hypocrisy. He definitely seems like the type of father that would warn his daughter (when she is older) about men, and yet, he actively produces the kind of men she should be wary of. It almost seems like a contradiction. The men encourages the boys to take advantage of women both through their actions (the father’s blatant cheating) and their teasing (that they should already be having sex). Furthermore, Junior and Rafa have already internalized this misogyny. While Rafa actively pursues the girls, Yunior objectifies them with his descriptions of them as “cute” when he first sees them, and then he specifically describes Leti as having “some serious tetas” (32). The contradiction lies the in question that if their sons were supposed to have sex at a young age and their daughters were supposed to be chaste, then who are their sons supposed to have sex with?
Hello Juila, great post! I agree with most of your points and would like to expand it to the real world. The main general consensus nowadays is around how women are mistreated or abused by men. Indeed, that is a major problem in society; however, few actually take the time to look at the reverse — whether that is via the dangerous assumption that instances of mistreated/abused men do not occur or if society just turns a blind eye to it as if it is a thing that does not exist. If we truly want to strive for true equality across all genders, races, and classes, then everyone has to bear the advantages and DISADVANTAGES of them all — because an overcorrection can be considered hypocrisy and will only lead to more inequality.