Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

an opening jaunt: el salvador in 1923 69
In aristocratic circles, a man has every privilege, and a woman none. It
is assumed, in Latin fashion, that boys will be boys. Lest girls be girls, their
virtue is assured by a close chaperonage. A man of wealth may keep several
establishments in town beside his regular home, if bound upon a journey, he
may take with him some other lady in order that his wife may be spared the
discomforts of travel. The wife remains a model of propriety. Here prevails
the double standard.
In peon circles, both sexes share something more of equality. They mate
usually without the formality of marriage. Should they prefer to change
partners from time to time, they do it casually, yet this is the exception
rather than the rule. In some cases, a woman objects to any ceremony, preferring
to remain free of ties, so that in case her new spouse proves a drunkard
or a wife-beater, she can leave him, for there is no divorce in most of
these countries. In some cases, they would prefer the marriage ritual, but
cannot afford it. And in most cases, although free to change partners, they
remain faithful throughout life. Women in this class, so long as they have a
consort, are apt to be as loyal as the women of the upper classes. Illegitimate
children, consequently, are more a result of these informal unions than of a
general promiscuity.
Yet promiscuity is not unknown. The peon girl without a partner is the
daughter of a rather sensuous race, and of a race that is not inclined to
work when an easier living is to be obtained. In this land of tolerance, little
stigma attaches itself to her or to her children if she takes up prostitution
as a career. In most Latin-American countries, she is restricted to a certain
segregated district, but she is recognized by the police as a legal and useful
member of the community. The gente decente, or decent people, as the
aristocrats describe themselves, may not invite her to their homes, but the
gentlemen may sometimes call at hers.
If, in San Salvador, she chooses to ply her trade before the presidential palace,
what matters it? She does not molest the president. And if she chooses
also to join a religious procession, and return immediately to her profession,
the Central American sees nothing inconsistent therein. What has religion
to do with one’s personal affairs? [. . .]
VIII
If these people seldom criticize harshly, however, they are very fond of gossip.
The women especially have few interests to discuss, and infi nite leisure
for the discussion.
There were some fi fteen señoras and señoritas at my hotel in San Salvador,
the wives or daughters of guests, all of them built to resist earthquake,