In Weep Woman By Maria Yoloruna

Chicano/as and Mexican have the similar culture and yet it is different. In the short story, it explores the culture difference on ‘freedom’ within Mexicans and Chicanas based on the characters P.O.V, archetype, and the ironic name title.

Alma Luz Villanueva is the author of, In Weeping Woman: La Llorona and Other Stories. It has the short story, “Free Woman”, it’s about four Chicanas doctors name: Maria, Marta, Yolanda, and Consuelo. They are in a Mexico resort for a job convention. While the four are having fun in the beach, the Mexicans men and waitresses are judging them for their lifestyle. One of the doctors asked her friends, their “fantasy of a perfect orgasm”, which each of them does. One by one, the Chicanas reveal their answers

without judgement from the group. Towards the end, a young bus boy gets bold and secretly tells one of them that he likes her. She returns to him and response, “tonight”. At first, it was an interesting short story and wonder why the author wrote this. However, rereading it, this short story is like a reflection of two different culture.
The title of the short story is ironic because the Mexican women defines ‘free’ as the freedom of being single and having no shame. Meanwhile, the Chicanas woman define freedom to be able to explore their sexuality. For example, Lupe and Juanita are maids in the resort, they noticed the four doctors sunbathing in the beach. Quickly they judged them by the way they dress in their bikinis and one piece. Juanita called them, “whores”, because she is assuming, that they are single. Being a single woman in Mexico or any Hispanic culture, is frown upon because at a young age, women are supposed to be married and have a family. Therefore, being single is like saying this woman is wasting her youth and is sleeping around even though it is not true. This is the reason, she mentions her husband, “wouldn’t let me go about by myself” (76) and that she,” rather be a mother than a whore.” (76). She does not want to be judge like how she is judging them. Meanwhile, Lupe does not consider them as ‘whore’, but as a ‘free woman’ (76). For her, being single means independent because those women had the freedom of having an education rather than being tied down in marriage. They both know that they are doctors, but they had no idea that two of them are married.
The Mexican men and the bus boy judge the ladies, but not because their women’s role, but their heritage.

The author used archetype by the Mexicans calling: Maria, Marta, Yolanda, and Consuelo a ‘gringas’ multiple times, to emphasize the way they treat them behind their back. The four women are Mexican- American also known as Chicanas. And yet they consider them to be ‘gringas’ a Spanish word for a female English-speaker, anyone who is from the United States. For example, in the beginning, the Mexican men wanted to get the females attention, but over time they were discussing about them. One of them said, “they’re all gringas, no matter what color they are” (71). Meaning, that although they are Mexican-American, the Mexicans will only see the American part of their heritage. Even the bus boy thought the doctors to be ‘gringas’ too based on their Spanish speaking skills. He thinks that their Spanish is, “forced, self-conscious, too perfect, like from the books” (72). This implies that he believes that their Spanish is not natural like they only learned it for their job. As in Blood Lines Myth Indigenism and Chicana/o literature, Sheila Marie Contreras wrote an analyze piece on “Free Woman”. It agrees the fact that the racial identity on the, “Chicanas’ gringa statue is assigned based on their behavior” (159). The Mexicans from the short story will see the doctors as

Americans.
Each of the four women have ‘freedom’, but each of the three women, do not let their fantasy to come true because it does not fit in with the social normality. In other words, they restrain their desire except for one. For example, since Marta asked about their “perfect orgasms”, she was the first one. In her fantasy it was having intercourse with fraternal twins in a meadow. This shows that she would want to live her life dangerously since public sex is illegal and because she was married in her twenties, she would like to regain her youth. Maria’s fantasy is being with four men at the same time with a room full of mirrors. This shows that she needs to love herself more or being egocentricity because she is the only one who has two children and she dislike her stomach. She describes her stomach as being a “beer belly” and has stretch marks. Towards the end of the imaginary scene, the men tell her that she is beautiful repeatedly. A reminder that she is a beautiful woman. Yolanda’s fantasy is being on brightly lit stage while an older man has sexual intercourse with her; meanwhile there is an audience watching them. This shows that she needs more confidence because whenever she is with husband, Alfred, they would do it with the light off rather than on like in her make-believe. Each of them has the desire and yet they do not have the will power to do it.
Luz Villanueva had described each of the woman’s fantasy and yet one of them did not get a full description.

Consuelo is a single Chicana woman who did not get married at any age and she knows exactly what she wants. As in page 69, she sent back her drink until the bartender gets it right. She was the only one for the bartender to give her a nickname, La Doctora Puta. It means, The Bitch Doctor in English. Since she was demanding with her drink and he did not like her attitude. The author did not describe her fantasy because she is going to achieve it. It was implying that she was going to do her fantasy because she wanted to have intercourse with a virgin and the bus boy was interest in her. He secretly declares to her, that he likes her and then asked if she likes him which she reply, “tonight” (79). The reason why she was different from her friends is because she was the one who is truly a free

woman.
In conclusion, in the short story, “Free Woman”, it explores the characters points of view, words choices, and the ironic of the situation. The two-different culture have their own definition of being a free woman. Since the Mexican females think being a free woman as being independent and having an education. Meanwhile the Chicanos, being a free woman means to be self-confidence.