The Underdogs tells a story of the rebels during the early nineteen hundred and the role of the Mexican rebels in society. Despite the changes in the country, the women are the underlying consideration in this novel. Women’s oppression in along going issue and was prominent in Mexico during this time. Camilla and War Paint are two main characters in this novel and show how female’s roles in society are directly challenged by their male counterparts. Women had a limited role in society, and their voices were suppressed by their lack of education and existence within their male dominated society.
The two characters, in summary, show their roles within the rebel society. Camilla is a young woman who serves in nursing the injured Gorillas back to health. Demetrio was injured, and she took care of him till he was back to full health. She has romantic interests in Cervantes who ignores her and does not reciprocate the feelings. Cervantes tricks Camilla into coming and meeting Demetrio, who does have feelings for her. She has feelings for Demetrio, however, does not support the barbaric behavior of the Blondies. War Paint is an armed female thug who follows Demetrio’s men. She does show interest in Demetrio however she is involved with Blondie. She is jealous of Camilla. Demetrio orders women not to accompany men that were instigated by Camilla. War Paint became furious and stabbed Camilla to death in front of Demetrio and his men.
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Despite the women being involved with the revolt, they were still seen as irrelevant in their society. ”Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is regarded as the most prominent female figure in Mexican history, and some regard her as the first feminist of her time, who, in the 17th century, questioned her male dominated environment and raised her voice against the mechanisms of Patriarchy that limited women‘s access to education and knowledge and condemned those who educated themselves to silence” (Ludmer, p.48). War Paint and Camilla were important figures in showing the women’s oppression that were faced during this time. The men saw them as objects, and even as property. “Demetrio, you should see the scars they’ve given me . . . all over my body, not to speak of my soul! To hell with women. They’re the devil; that’s what they are! You may have noticed I steer clear of them. You know why. And don’t think I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve had a hell of a lot of experience, and that’s no lie!” (Azuela, p.62).
The women were second rate citizens. “Within the masculine/feminine dichotomy, the woman has similarly also been viewed as a ‘non-being,’ contrary to the man who is ‘being‘” (Guerra, p. 134). They were sexual beings, carried the children and cared for the men and their personal needs. “Look, look at all these naked women!” Quail’s little companion cried, enchanted at a deluxe edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy. “I like this; I think I’ll take it along.” (Azuela, p.75). At no point in this novel were they regarded as equals to the men. They were, at times, in the way of the revolt that the men were fighting, even when they were trying to participate, like War Paint.
Women had a limited role in society, and their voices were suppressed by their lack of education and existence within their male dominated society. Despite the relationships they carried with their men, they were not relevant in society and in the change they were fighting to make. The oppression is clearly visible in how women were portrayed by Mariano Azuela. The fight for equality had not even begun at this point in Mexican society; the women were merely fighting to survive the war that was occurring at the hands of their male-dominated society.
- Azuela, Mariano. The Underdogs. 1915. Print.
- Guerra Cunningham, Lucia. Las sombras de la escritura: hacia una teoría de la producción literaria de la mujer latinoamericana. Minneapolis: Institute for the Studies of Ideologies and Literature, 1989. 129-164. Print.
- Ludmer, Josefina. ―Tretas del débil. La Sartén por el mango: encuentro de escritoras latinoamericanas. Eds. González, Patricia Elena and Eliana Ortega. Río Piedras, P.R.: Ediciones Huracán, 1984. 47-54. Print.
