Catalina de Erauso’s autobiography Essay Example
Catalina de Erauso’s autobiography Essay Example

Catalina de Erauso’s autobiography Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (554 words)
  • Published: February 24, 2022
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Erauso’s autobiography shows us that she had acquired the position of a heterosexual man. She strongly refuses being a heterosexual woman as it is associated with subordination and hence replaces it with a heterosexual male role, complete with proprietary and exploitive attitudes towards females. This starts during the time when Erauso flees away from the covenant, makes male clothes by cutting the clothes she was wearing and then starts her new adventures. Erauso not only refused playing the role of being a heterosexual woman, but she completely refused becoming a woman who is sexually active. Since the time she started pretending to be a man, Erauso had never again assumed the role of a woman and she hence she ended up dying as an old man. In fact, Erauso got involved in men’s roles deeply. All thr

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ough her life, she became employed in occupations that were given to men alone. Some of these occupations include being a soldier and a clerk. She transforms herself to becoming a man through her occupation, appearance and lastly in a man in terms of social interactions. The way Erauso took part in women objectification explains to us her masculine sexuality, to a point that she becomes a sexual threat to the males of her time. We cannot describe Erauso as being a lesbian due to the fact that such identification is not included in her autobiography. All through her life, Erauso is seen associating with men something which makes the females view her as a bachelor.

According to the autobiography, Catalina was able to liberate herself from the roles that were associated to women in America and Spain as a

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this time. It is very clear that Erauso participated in many activities in which men were the only ones allowed. Some of these roles included treating women as if they were property. At some point, the masculinity in her is brought out through an incident in which she got involved in a fight with her brother. A good example is in the case where Erauso’s head was being combed by a lady as she (Erauso) ran her hand touching her legs up and down (Erauso 17). In this way, she assumes the role of showing masculinity to women who were under the rules of a man. Her life confirms to us that gender is something which can be made. Erauso’s social behavior, occupation and code of dressing made are thought of being a man. Were it not for her confession, people would not have known that Erauso was a female. This fake identity of being a man helped save Erauso from being subordinated like it was the case with the other women. Erauso hence used to relate with the other men who thought of him being a male.

Gender was very important in defining the position a person held in the Spanish world. It is very clear that men and women were not treated in the same way. Being a woman made one become a subordinate to the males. In terms of hierarchy, women were placed in a place below men. They were taken as objects belonging to men something which made them become followers of the rules given by men. As some point, women were viewed as being servants to men. A good example……

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