Annotations for Uncategorized: Machismo

History of Half-Sister Rosa (Daughter of Julián and Vicenta)

The interview shifts to the specific history of Carmen Andrea’s half-sister, Rosa, confirming her as Julián’s natural daughter.
Background: Rosa was Julián’s daughter with another woman, Vicenta, born before Juliancito, the Julián's last legitimate child with Pancha.
When Vicenta was widowed, she brought her six children to Julián’s house, and Julián welcomed them into his home. Pancha, unhappy with the situation, reported them to the civil authorities and demanded their eviction. Vicenta not only left the house but also abandoned her children, who were then distributed by the civil chief among relatives and acquaintances.
Rosa, the youngest, initially stayed with her grandmother Mari Pita along with her half-brothers. Later, Vítora (Pancha’s mother) took care of her alternately with Pancha, who eventually raised her with Julián until she was a young woman.
Rosa later moved to Caracas with a cousin, who took her to a brothel. Fortunately, Rosa managed to avoid becoming involved and instead found work as a maid caring for children, although she continued to face mistreatment and instability. The family searched for her, and eventually Carmen’s brother, Juliancito, located her.
Later, Rosa met Teófilo, who fell in love with her. They lived together and had children; however, he became an alcoholic and always lived in rented housing. He later developed mental illness and spent several years in an asylum. Rosa was left to raise their children by selling arepas in Caracas, with Pancha’s help. During this difficult period, Rosa became involved with the landlady’s son, who supported her and fathered several of her children.
After his release from the asylum, Teófilo returned to Rosa, unemployed due to his age and health condition, and remained with her until his death.

Rosa’s life was marked by hardship, instability, and dependence on others, shaped not only by poverty and limited personal choices but also by the gendered and racialized constraints that structured everyday life at the time. As a poor woman situated within a racially stratified society, her survival depended largely on relationships with men, who mediated access to housing, work, and social protection, thereby delimiting the range of possibilities available to her. Rosa’s trajectory thus offers a clear illustration of the intersecting forms of gender and racial discrimination that characterized this historical period, in which women’s lives were profoundly constrained by structural inequality. Her position as a poor woman did little to improve her material conditions or social mobility. Nevertheless, Rosa also emerges as a resilient figure who, despite exposure to exploitation and the risk of entering the sex trade, actively sought alternative paths for survival. Rather than remaining within the circuits of structural violence and abandonment to which she was subjected, she repeatedly pursued forms of work and support that allowed her to endure and care for her children under extremely precarious conditions.

Nine-Year Engagement

By the time Jesús María declared his love to Carmen, their interactions had consisted mainly of brief greetings. She accepted his courtship on the condition that it would be directed toward marriage, expecting that they would have time to get to know each other. To her surprise, he went directly to her father to formalize the engagement. She accepted his proposal.
They formally began their relationship with his visits to her home, strolls to the retreta in the plaza, and outings to the movies, though not to parties or dances, as she was not that kind of woman. Her father was always suspicious, just as he was with women in general. This talk about the role imposing to the women by the patriarchy, and how they must behave to deserve to be married.
These traits reflect characteristics commonly associated with machismo, including paternalism, protectiveness, polygamy, and infidelity, among others. Machismo seeks to affirm and justify male superiority and dominance over women. Cultural norms also played an important role, reinforcing the man’s authority within the family and his role as provider.

Delayed Marriage
The following year, Jesús María wanted to marry and had the means to do so, but Carmen felt she was still too young and was not in a hurry. As time passed, the wedding was postponed for another eight years. This delay was caused by Jesús María’s financial setbacks, including ruined crops, loss of animals, and the cost of a brother’s funeral, all of which were attributed to bad luck or a curse.
They endured persistent slander and gossip during this period. He felt ashamed about the prolonged delay, and her father often complained, but Carmen did not want to live amancebada. Jesús María refused to have a shabby wedding, while Carmen insisted on having not only a civil ceremony but also a religious one—simple if necessary, but complete.

Amancebado refers to a situation in which two people live together as a couple without being legally married. It describes a marital union or a regular sexual relationship between individuals who are not formally married.
They were so respectful toward each other that they never addressed one another using the informal language “tú”.