A Comparison Of Under The Bridge And Here's To You, Jesusa

The objective of my essay will be to render a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences in the way Rosario Sanmiguel and Elena Poniatowska use their characters to address the roles that have been relegated to women within the Mexican culture. I will mainly focus on the short stories of “Under the Bridge” by Sanmiguel and the novel “Here's to you, Jesusa!” from Elena Poniatowska. While both authors use fictitious characters to discuss the roles of the Mexican women within the Mexican society, they both do it in a different manner. Poniatowska novel is based on an earlier time and she addresses the roles of women and their struggles during the Mexican revolution. Her depiction of women is mostly done through the experiences of Jesusa Palancartes in a time where the Mexican ideology saw women as a men’s property. Sanmiguel however, focuses on the women from the Mexican border, she also details in many ways how women have overcome the disadvantages of being women and gives a vivid description of the day-to-day lives of women from

different generations and social status. Despite some of the difference of these two authors they both characterize women as being admirable and capable of tremendous strength and although they both address the issues of the women's desire to find their place in the world and the sacrifices they had to make in male dominant society; I do not believe they characterize women as victims, instead they both pay tremendous emphasis on depicting the women’s strength.

A Women’s role in Mexico’s Patriarchal Society
Elena Poniatowska and Rosario Sanmiguel writing is geared toward the social issues that surround women. They both use their literature as a way of giving the weaker sex a voice who they feel have been traditionally ignored and left defenseless at the mercy of the patriarchal system. Through Poniatowska we are able to understand the role women played during the time of the revolution and how women’s roles were assigned in a different period of time. Although Sanmiguel also makes note of the injustices women go through in a day-to-day basis her work depicts women in the modern world from different background, social status and generation. Despite of the differences Poniatowska and Sanmiguel both addressed the issues of male dominance, the treatment of women as sexual object, the struggle with their identity as well as the women’s perseverance to survive in a male dominant society.
In the novel “Here is to you Jesusa,” Poniatowska addresses many of the issues surrounding the women of Mexico. She demonstrates how women were forced to endure tremendous abuse in the hands of their oppressor (men) and how women were considered a man’s property without a life of their own. She also does a great job of characterizing women’s strength through the character of Jesusa Palancartes an indigenous woman who although suffered many injustices she remained strong and rejects the traditional roles that have been assigned to woman. Through Jesusa we are also able to see the participation of women during the Mexican revolution and the important role of the Soldaderas.
While the depiction of women in Poniatowska novel is from a different time and there has been some political changes for women in Mexico, Sanmiguel demonstrates that the women in the private sphere continue to be marginalized. Sanmiguel focuses on the women from the Mexican border, and renders a special attention to the way women have been objectify as sexual object, the power of the dominant gender and the women of the nocturne life. Despite the women being from different social backgrounds and generations, they all have fallen victims of the patriarchal system and feel a sense of confusion and struggle with their identity, sexuality and their desires that have remained suppress by the circumstances that surrounds them. Sanmiguel also manage to create and very interesting narrative describing the unity between the women while at the same time describing the conflicts of their day-to-day lives.
During the time of the revolution the women’s role was pretty much restricted to the role of the domestic sphere. Where women were expected to tend to their husbands needs and care for the children. On the other hand, Jesusa rebuff the role relegated to women, which in a way gave her a certain amount of freedom to navigate her life in a society dominated by men; by adopting a more masculine role Jesusa was able to gain the respect of her fellow soldiers, but despite of her acceptance and limited freedom she still did not escape her obligations as a woman. This is particularly evident when she is marry to Pedro against her will who forces her to endure the most gruesome physical violation. Poniatowska uses very explicit wording to describe Jesusa’s abuse as through Jesusa depicts “He hit me, split my head open and I lost my long wavy hair because of all the sores and blood” (p.95).
Although Poniatowska uses Jesusa’s character to address the abuse women endured, Jesusa is not the only character who was affected by gender violence, as Jesusa makes known how many of the soldiers mistreated their wives and physically and mentally abuse them. All while playing a vital role as Soldaderas during the Mexican Revolution, where they were expected to act, dress and work like men and at the same time maintaining their womanhood and duties to their husbands.
On the other hand the stories of under the bridge are based on a modern Mexico and the victimization of the women who work in the nocturne life.

Through the character of China and Morra in “A Very Long Silence” Sanmiguel depict the entitlement men felt over women and paints a vivid description of how men have continued to suppress women by using their physical strength as an advantage over women. There is a part where Sanmiguel describes the way Morra was overpower by Varella a man who had provided protection for her while she worked at the Coco-Drilo bar. This protection appeared to have given Varella ownership over Morra who forces her to renounce to her true love, by physically refraining her from leaving. He uses his stronger physic to block her way than “slap her in the face [leaving] her unconscious” (p.14). Like Jesusa, Morra also succumb to the abuse and “resign to her fate” (p.14) allowing a man to take over their

life.
Sanmiguel also uses Monica, a fictitious character of “under the bridge” as an example of how gender violence affects women from different generations and to illustrate the power and control men have imposed over women; through the character of Moni who is a young teenage girl we can witness how she is under the control of her boyfriend Martin, a reckless Cholo who earned his living as a Pasamojado. Martin is a risk taker whose violent outburst always gets him into trouble without taking Monica’s feeling into consideration. Martin always dreamed of crossing to the other side and although Monica seemed to share the same dream after much consideration she had changed her heart. This of course did sit well with Martin, who said “we’d go no matter what” once again, not taking Monica’s feeling into account, he just dragged her to the riverbank and “pushed and shoved [her] onto the tire tube he used as a raft” (p.3).
Both writers demonstrate how despite the age, social position and time the patriarchal system is still very much a part of the Mexican culture and both Poniatowska and Sanmiguel bring to light the way women have continued to suffer physical abuse by the man who use their physical strength to their advantage and to oppress women into submission.
Both writers also address the consequences of the patriarchal system in women. For example, as a result of the abuse Jesusa endure while she was under her husband dominion she adopted a masculine persona and later it seems as if Jesusa had also developed a patriarchal perspective. Poniatowska describes Jesusa as feeling a sense of disgust for other women and criticizes the way they use their sexuality to allure men. Sanmiguel also addressed how women develop a negative perspective toward one another due to jealousy. This is evident with the arrival of Francis to Las Dunas, where her presence represented a threat; especially Katia, who previously had been the cause of other women’s jealousy and as Katia was a young, attractive women who took advantage of her physical beauty in exchange for financial gain.
Although Sanmiguel does acknowledge that like Jesusa women tend to have a negative view of each other, I think she differs from Poniatowska, as Sanmiguel demonstrated that despite the differences between the women they still maintain a sense of solidarity to each other. This solidarity is evident through China and Morra “who had been employed at Las Dunas longer than anyone else” (p.7) and had become longtime friends sharing many similar experiences. In a ways this solidarity is extended to Francis as China seems to have developed sympathy for her and they often engage in a conversation and laughter. Toward the end Sanmiguel also depicts how “Francis looked at China with affection” (p.27) and how Francis “took the ring with the little green stones of her finger and, placed it in China’s hand” (p.27). Sanmiguel describes how despite the chaotic life and altercations among women they still seem to look out for one another.
Another important aspect both writer addressed is the how the women struggle to find a place in a male dominated world. On one side there is Jesusa who always felt like an outcast and even refers to herself as a “Hungarian gypsy” with no country. Jesusa always felt as an inferior human being and in addition to the abuse from her step mothers, she grew up as the property of men and abused by her husband; therefore she felt unworthy and rejected by society. A similar confusion was also depicted in the story of “Landscape in the Summer” were Cecilia struggled to come to terms with her own body. Like Jesusa Cecilia is a rebel who defies the authority of adults and embraces an alternative reality to apiece her sexual desires.
Part of the confusion of Jesusa has to do with losing her mother's at a very early age and the negative image she has of herself is mostly due to the abuse she endures at the hands of her stepmother. In a ways this prompted her rejection of the traditional roles assigned to women. Jesusa identifies herself as a macho woman, she is also aware of her physical characteristics and thinks of herself as ugly. In contrast Cecilia feels a sense of disappointment and even disgust by her mother weakness and despite her mother’s tears she refuses to feel sorry for her. The same abhorrence is felt by Jesusa who feels rejection for the weak women for allowing their husbands to suppress them and lack the strength to confront their husbands.
Similarly to Jesusa, Cecilia was a strong character, but differ in many ways, while Jesusa did not want to assimilate into the women’s role; Celica felt caught in between looking like a child and yearning to become a woman and anxiously awaits her first period. Jesusa however seem to feel disgust by her period, while Cecilia felt tremendous pleasure to “discovered [a] blood stain on her underwear. She felt the dry surface of the stain on the purity of the cotton cloth. Finally, the new intimacy of her body flowed plentifully” (Sanmiguel, 2008, p.73).
The determination of women to overcome adversity is evident in Sanmiguel story of “A Very Long Silence” especially the characters of Francis, who Sanmiguel depicts as being a gutsy. Francis carried on a relationship with a married man (Alberto). Their relationship was volatile and Alberto never really commits to Francis and simple used her as he pleased. Through Francis, Sanmiguel demonstrated a women’s strength and determination by depicting the way Francis ended her relationship with Alberto. Francis renounced to everything she possessed to rid herself of Alberto’s memory, she completely relinquishes any ties she had to Alberto disposing of her apartment, career and possessions so she could begin a new life. Perhaps taking a stand in the Las Dunas bar in completely silence was more than just escaping her old life, but also by taking a stance in a place that was clearly a male territory was her way of taking back the power she had given Alberto all those years.
Although both writers have similarities, there were also some difference. In Sanmiguel short stories all the women appeared to be depressed having fallen victims of the patriarchal system, whose lives revolve around their cheating men. Poniatowska depiction of Jesusa also addresses similar problems, but unlike the women of Sanmiguel stories, Poniatowska never depicts Jesusa as being depressed, to the contrary Jesusa is mostly characterized as angry with a negative attitude towards life and society, criticizing everything and everyone who adopts a feminine or a machista roll.
Furthermore Poniatowska portrayal of Jesusa, was of a strong woman who despite of the gruesome abuse she endure under the dominance of her husband, she refused to completely submit to her husband dominance as she depicts “He hit me until he had enough. I remember I counted up to fifty blows from his machete. He hit me on the back. But I didn’t bend over” (97). She continues to make other remarks such as “I didn’t even flinch”, not even after Pedro threaten to end her life; but her true strength emerged as she states “I don’t know where I got so much courage, I think I was Just desperate, and I took out the gun” (p.98). In this part of the book Poniatowska describe the way Jesusa decided to take charge and confront her husband. Her willingness to survive, allows her to channel her anger and turn it into a coping mechanism as she also mentions “my body’s used to doing without the basics of life. I could take it. Rage, that’s what kept me going” (p.7). Poniatowska never portray Jesusa as a victim, instead Jesusa saw her suffering as a form of penance for the sins she committed in other lives.
Although both Sanmiguel and Poniatowska portray a strong woman's figure they also revealed the weakness that exist among them. Sanmiguel addressed the issue that women allow themselves to be dominated by men and accept the role of lovers, while Jesusa’s weakness is depicted in the way she is constantly blaming other women for her husband's infidelities. Jesusa also believes that man were entitled to act like dogs, sleeping with many women as they please. She appears to identify this act as a form of manliness. Jesus often excused her husband by saying it was not his fault. She blamed it on the women who threw themselves at him, so she said he had the duty to give it to them. This way of thinking of Jesusa is what has continued to give man the power and the entitlement they feel over women. This is evident in both “Here is to you Jesusa” and the stories of “Under the Bridge,” where the men’s behavior seems to be accepted by women taking the roles as lovers and others as the martyr wife.
The most important aspect of both writers is the way they address the stereotype that has bees assign to the women of the night life. Sanmiguel addresses this issue in a way to expose the exploitation that exist against the women who sometimes have no other choice but to sell their bodies in exchange for monetary gain. In contrast Poniatowska addressed the same issues through Jesusa, but unlike the character in the stories of “Under the Bridge” Jesusa claims she never gave into the desires of men, but only worked at the bar to support herself and says “how else was I supposed to live since I didn’t have an income?” (p.89). although she worked in the bar, her view of the women who work pleasuring man was negative. She seems to frown upon any form of sexual misconduct between them and often criticized the women’s actions. She also never saw the women as victims, instead she seems to condemn their foolish behavior.
One thing that was clear from both writers is that each woman in these stories seem to long for something or for someone, some created alternative realities, others sat in a male dominant world to claim a place in the world, while others lived through their past memories, Anamaria the protagonist of “The Other Room” spends most of her time in a motel room middling on people lives and Jesusa defy every role assign to women as if she felt that such rebellion would bring her some kind of freedom. One thing that is clear is that all this woman had fallen victims of poverty, gender violence, and the patriarchal system.
Although both writers have many similarities when addressing the marginalization of women, I feel that Poniatowska does it in greater detail and Sanmiguel has some form of vagueness on her stories. Both writers play into the hatred, desires and the misery that surrounds their character to create a realistic atmosphere that allows the reader to feel a particular connection with each protagonist and in a way form an understanding for the choices they make. Perhaps where they differ is the way Poniatowska renders a clear and full description of Jesusa’s life from childhood until death, this can be attributed to her ability to combine both fact and fiction into her book. On the other hand Sanmiguel at times leaves the reader half way into the character without knowing the extent of the stories. The novel “Here is to you Jesusa” explains in great detail every aspect of her life and paints a vivid picture of her everyday life. While Sanmiguel does a great job addressing the same issues, it was sometimes hard to grasp the extend of her message as she often left the reader guessing who the character was, the names were not always revealed and her poetic narrations left the readers the option for an open interpretation; but despite the differences both writers address vital issues concerning women.