Patriarchy in Pasión de Gavilanes

Patriarchy in Pasión de Gavilanes 

In my last blog post, I briefly discussed the surface level patriarchal norms displayed in the earlier episodes of Pasión de Gavilanes. As the story progresses, the role of men in this telenovela continues to grow and dominate the female storylines. The 3 brothers exemplify "the best of men", who are true and honest have charmed their way into the Elizondo's household. They are the perfect example of machismo men; they use force and are overly passionate and aggressive with each other and outside conflict. Their revenge is based off of a plot to "ruin" the young girls of the household and transform them from their pure, virgin status to scandalous sexualized women. When watching this plot progress, I thought to myself about how many other ways they could try to take revenge on Gabriela Elizondo, the singularly guilty party in Libia’s death. Instead they choose to hit the family where it could hurt the most by ruining the daughters in society’s eyes, of which every single woman, innocent or not, in the household becomes a victim of their revenge plot. They found the best punishment for their own sisters societal demise and death was to do the exact same to Gabriela.

Women's roles are directed by men in this plot. Gabriela won’t let Norma divorce Fernando because there’s a need for a male figure to run the household and business, regardless with his lack of skill and monetary understanding. While it appears as though Gabriela has full authority of the house, she keeps Fernando around even after she finds out about his cheating and gambling because she needs a male authority role present. There’s also a frequent theme of women unable to complete their wifely duties, which predominantly refers to sex. Gabriela is blamed for her husband's affair with a 17-year-old girl because she refuses to have an intimate relationship with Bernardo after her daughters are born and her duty to have children is completed. Her father frequently blames her for Bernardo’s affair and even death, whilst Bernardo lied to both his family and Libia about each party and is still deemed as an honorable man. Norma Elizondo, a survivor of rape and sexual assault, is suffering from an arranged marriage and struggling to move on from her trauma. She is blamed by her mother and husband for not wanting to be touched. 

There is a sense of classic catholic belief tied into the storyline of Pasión de Gavilanes in how women should behave both inside and outside of marriage. Libia was shamed for being deceived by a married man, and instead of facing her brothers afterwards she committed suicide. She would have rather died than let them see her move from the innocent virgin storyline to the foolish "tramp". The unmarried Elizondo sisters are constantly discussing marriage, while the 3 brothers have had no expectation held upon them. Men are allowed to stray from their wives, yet don’t grant their wives the same choices. While it’s harder for me to understand why these concepts exist and are successful in telenovelas, it’s obvious to see it’s a recurring theme among them.