Gender-Based Oppression in the Polar

Ends of Social Status Line: The

Depiction of Ursula Iguaran and Petra
Cortes in One Hundred Years of
Solitude and their Tiebacks to the
Second Wave, Third Wave and Third
World Feminism

Maryglie Angelie H. Delicano

BA Psychology II
University of the Philippines Cebu

Rationale
This is a character analysis of two of Macondo's women - Ursula and Petra Cortes. These women
came from polarized ends of the Macondo universe. One is the conservative matriarch of the ruling
family, the other is a liberated sex worker. While one is treated with respect, the other is with
derision. This then aims to answer the following questions:
How were they born?
What did they do in Macondo's major events that transpired during their time?
How were they depicted?
How was their brand of solitude depicted?
How did Ursula die?
How did Petra continue living?
In having to analyze all these, we come to grasp the fact that oppression chooses no socioeconomic
status. What is apparent, however, is the specificity of oppression for each social class - where Petra
suffers more than Ursula because of her daring sexual tendencies. In having to understand the
context, we look at the second wave of feminism that was prevalent in the 1960s to see how apt it
was for the conditions of both Petra and Ursula. Consequently, we look at a current rising feminist
trend - the Third World Feminism to understand how this movement may have applied in
empowering the likes of these women.

Ursula Iguaran
Birth
Ursula Iguaran is the matriarch of the Buendia family. Just like her cousin-husband Jose
Arcadio Buendia, she was born in the small village of Riohacha. They are said to be
grandchildren of those who survived Sir Francis Drakes attack on the small village.
Depiction
Belief System
Althroughout her more than a century of life, she remained conservative and traditional in
her beliefs. During her early years of marriage with Jose Arcadio Buendia, she refused to
engage in a sexual reproduction with him for fear that she would give birth to a child with
pigs tail just like two of her relatives before her. While her fear may not have materialized,
she remained cautious. She imposed the same belief in her household. When her son, Jose
Arcadio married her adopted daughter, Rebecca, she forced them out of the house, thinking
of their marriage as an abomination. Years later, she disapproved the relationship of her
daughter, Amaranta with Aureliano Jose (Ursulas grandchild and Amarantas niece) for
fear of the same fate. Despite holding her head firm in these beliefs, she had a soft spot for
her grandchildren. She welcomed the seventeen sons of her son Aureliano, Aureliano
Segundos son out of wedlock and even Memes fatherless daughter.
Homemaker and Provider
She is portrayed as a small woman dressed up in stiff starched petticoats. She is said to
have been doing household chores throughout the novel. From when her children were
little, up to the next five generations of the family. As the home and towns overall incharge, it was evident how she has mastered every corner and every sound when she was
able to still locate everything even when she was blind. When she was blind at an old age,
she still persisted doing the housework, even during the last years of Macondos demise
brought about by the exploitation of natural resources by the Banana Plantation and the
massacre of the workers thereafter. While she may have stayed at home, she held her
familys financials together when her husband lost a grip of reality by manufacturing candy
animals, and later on opening a pastry shop. She even planted food crops such as bananas,
cassavas, yam and eggplant along with her sons in the garden. "As long as God gives me life,
there will always be money in this mad house," she adamantly declared. She continued to
live her life as a frugal woman, who advised her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren to do the same.
Political Presence

Early Years

She was a counterpart for a first lady, adviser and vice president. When Jose Arcadio
Buendia refused to heed her advice of not moving Macondo, she rallied along with other
women. She succeeded in her feat without her husband even noticing it.

Civil War

Later on, she rallied with the other mothers of revolutionary officers in Macondo when her
son, Colonel Aureliano Buendia, planned to execute General Jos Raquel Moncada by
testifying for the governor. Moncada was said to be the best governor of Macondo, but was
part of the Conservative party, thereby causing the colonel to order his execution after the
Liberals succeeded in the war. Also, when her son was in jail with a death sentence on his
head, she smuggled a revolver in his prison cell.
When her grandson, Arcadio, turned himself into a dictator, she protested against him in
the streets and embarrassed him in public by lashing him out. As a result, she had her
grandson rescind execution orders and release political prisoners.
Death
Her blindness towards the end of the novel was seemingly a divine intervention such that
she was deprived from seeing her lifes work crumble Macondo, their children, and all the
resources she put up. What shone, however, was her stubborn refusal to give in to all the
challenges. Doing housework, managing a pastry shop and even lecturing the different
generations of children on morals, even when she went in and out of reality.
Before her death, she was illustrated to resemble "a cherry raisin lost inside of her
nightgown," as if in reminiscence of the lost childlike innocence of Macondo. Just as she has
seemingly became an amusement among children, drifting between the past and present,
weeks ahead. She died on a Good Friday, her age unremembered, but her deeds
immortalizing her legacy in the town she has dedicated her life unto.

Petra Cortes
Birth
Petra Cortes birth is not accounted for in the novel. She was said to set foot in Macondo
during the war with a husband whose business was in raffles. When he died, she continued
with the business.
Depiction
Petra Cortes is a sex worker in Macondo. She became the object of the sexual desires of the
twins from the fourth generation of Buendias Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aureliano
Segundo. She mistook both brothers as the same person, thereby believing all along that
she was having sex with the same man. For fear of being infested with a disease, however,
Jose Arcadio Segundo abandoned her, thereby leaving her to Aureliano Segundo. Their
sexual adventures caused animals to procreate exponentially, initially rabbits, then farm
animals. They then had so much wealth that they can squander it one day and still live
capriciously on the following days. One day, Aureliano Segundo decided to marry Fernanda
del Carpio out of an impulse. Immediately after their honeymoon, he went back to Petra.
Through all his years of marriage with his wife, Petra remained as his concubine the
whole town knowing about their affair sooner than Fernanda did. He occasionally moved
from Petras house to that of his to be with his wife and children. Soon enough, when
Aurelianos health ailed along with Macondos diminishing resources as a result of the
torrential rain brought about by the banana plantation, they reunited. The rain flooded all
their resources, causing them to live on a tighter lifestyle, thereby causing them to return to
their old business of raffling off farm animals just so they could get by. It was then that they
realized that all along, what they had for each other was love. They went on earning enough
money to send Aurelianos children to school abroad. Soon enough, his death came.
Fernanda refused to allow Petra to see Aureliano on his grave, seeking vengeance for the
disgrace she believed the concubine has caused. As a result of Aurelianos death, Fernanda
could not make ends meet. Every week, however, Petra anonymously sent provisions such
as food to the widow, even at the expense of her starving herself.
Petra is a manifestation of how people are blinded by their judgement of the situation
others have placed themselves unto that they fail to see what lies deep inside a pure,
merciful heart, capable of unconditionally loving other people, regardless of what others
say.

Analysis
Ursula Iguaran and Petra Cortes come from the polarized ends of Macondos society. Ursula
is the towns matriarch, whose very name entails respect from all inhabitants. Petra,
meanwhile, came from a neighboring town, a merchant who soon became a widow in a
town foreign to her. Separated by different social classes, these women also have glaring
differences in their beliefs where Ursula is traditional, Petra is liberated. Petra displays
promiscuity scorned upon by Ursula, who thinks this concubine would be her grandsons
downfall, only to realize that upon her death, Petra seemingly took over her place as the
familys provider. Because despite the differences in their beliefs and depictions, both
women love deeply and unconditionally. They gave the men they love and the Buendia
family for that matter everything they can. Being blind did not stop Ursula from serving the
next generations of her family, neither did Petra, who went as far as starving herself just so
she can send some provisions to Aurelianos left loved ones. When their male counterparts
are no longer capable of holding their family together, or at the very least providing for
their needs, both women took over without hesitation. Both women nurtured children that
were not of their own blood Ursula to Rebecca, Petra to Meme, among others.
Petra Cortes is the type of woman whose criticism in the second wave of feminism gave
birth to the third wave of feminism. Second wave feminists found more fluff than
substance in women wearing revealing clothes and thick makeup in addition to being
sexually active and adventurous (Scanlon, 2009). It is worthy to note that the second wave
of feminism ran from the mid 1960s to early 1990s while the third wave continued from
late 1990s to the 21st century. Her kind has received scorn from feminists of this time
because they believed that doing such is self-objectification rather than liberation. In a
second wave feminists view, therefore, one cannot flaunt sexy clothing, high heels, flashy
nail polish and thick makeup and call oneself a feminist. Furthermore, Scanlon (2009)
stated the general rule for women in the workforce: women have to man up in a maledominated world. The prevalence of suits being the power dress used by anyone wanting
to climb or secure their way into the corporate ladder sprung from this very ideology.
Second wave feminists shunned the use of tight skirts, sleeveless dresses and dainty
perfume. In response, third wave feminists like Helen Gurley Brown promoted the use of
aesthetics wherein you can still wear miniskirts, wear false eyelashes and heels and still
be a feminist, this time wanting to expand the fashion even for women in the work force.
The stark contrast between Ursula Iguaran and Petra Cortes can be depicted in this very
idea. While Ursula wears petticoats, Petra wears free flowing dresses. As a result, Ursulas
status is deemed even more respectable than that of Petras. It seems as though the
appropriation of clothing has classified these women such that Ursula, as a woman of high
status, should be wearing petticoats. Meanwhile, Petra, as a mere seller of raffles and as a
concubine, wears so-called skimpy clothing. This very idea of ones clothes as a status
symbol remains up to this day.
A key brainchild of the second wave of feminism often neglected in literary articles is
socialist feminism. Proponents such as Gordon (2013) believed that the main problem with

the feminist movement as well as the anti-Capitalist movement is that these issues are
taken in a vacuum. That is, they believe that womens struggles and class struggles are
incubated, when they are in fact interconnected. She then cited the Chicago Womens
Liberation Union when they said that while not all of womens struggles are anti-capitalist,
upholding the rights of women contributes to awareness in problems such as class
consciousness. Consequently, not all class struggles necessarily have to be sexist but
seeking social justice for the working class is necessary for the feminist movement to
progress (Gordon, 2013).
In having to understand socialist feminism, it is important to clarify their stances on what
models they follow, all these are clarified by Gordon (2013). Firstly, the movement believes
that capitalism is not the root cause of male domination, although their favor leans towards
public ownership and cooperatives. They believe that a socially just and equal economic
model will organically emerge in the democratic process. Secondly, they rejected the idea
of Maoism and Leninism, seeing socialist regimes as corrupt, brutal and undemocratic
(p.3). They assert that the two major ideas of socialism economic democracy and power
of the working class can only be achieved through political democracy. Political
democracy, which is direct free from the governmental hierarchical ladders and
participatory, such that all citizens are part of the discourse in policy formation.
Having to look back into Macondos political system, it is clear that the direct democratic
aspect has once been achieved. While Jose Arcadio Buendia may have been the head
because of his credit as a founder, there is little to no hierarchical ladder in his form of
government. People were free, economic policies were mass-oriented and democratic, and
workers were empowered enough. Democracy was well-guarded as shown by Ursula
Iguaran openly demonstrating against her dictator-grandson. Participatory democracy,
however, was not fulfilled. Women did not participate in policy-making. Regardless of how
close Ursula Iguaran was to the circle of power, she had no voice in policy-making for
instance. She is as good as any other citizen whose only chance at speaking out was not in
the decision-making table, but in the streets where she still has to protest, for instance. The
sense of utopia Engels once envisioned therefore is not materialized in the strictest sense
of Macondos brand of socialism. While Ursula had a seat of power, she did not come until it
was too late as if her sole purpose was troubleshooting and not policy-making. We have
seen how she allowed men to handle the steering wheel while she rode shotgun. Only when
there are threats of crashes does she maneuver the steering wheel herself.
Unlike the civil rights movement, the feminist movement faces a graver problem. For
centuries, the patriarchal culture preaching male dominance over women has been
embedded in the minds of all people, regardless of social class, gender and what not, such
that it is seen as normal (Gordon, 2013).
What then?
Socialist feminism was not able to create cross-class and inter-racial organizations
(Gordon, 2013, p. 6, par. 2). As a critic, a new form of feminism emerged Third World

Feminism. Third World Feminists refused to assent to the second wave feminists idea of a
universal form of oppression on the basis of gender (Herr, 2014). That is, they believe that
it is entirely wrong to generalize the suffering of every group of women in the world
because of the contexts they belong unto. This is because it fails to take into account the
colonization of the Third World countries (Bunch, 1987). While feminists in the United
States have reached the second wave of feminism, the Philippines, for instance, was still
fresh from American colonization. For this reason, it is entirely wrong to negate the
historical context at which women are subjected unto. Third World feminism, in response,
takes into account the forms of oppression experienced by women in third world countries,
as well as the possible resistance for the movement (Mohanty, 1991 as cited by Herr,
2014). In wanting to penetrate the patriarchal culture prevalent in countries such as
Colombia, as depicted in the novel, one has to delve unto its historical and cultural
precursors like gender, age, class and ethnicity. We cannot, for instance, negate the fact that
Ursula abandoned her only daughter, Amaranta as a newly-born infant, just so she can
chase her son who ran away to become a gypsy. Or that women never engaged in political
discourse because they were left to tend to the children, the household chores and keep on
knitting. These norms may have already existed long before the Mr. Browns of Colombia
came, or were reinforced upon their arrival. If you want a country like Colombia, however,
to keep up with the second wave of feminism, such a thing is impossible if you simply force
upon them the second wave of feminism that empowered the white women in the United
States who have long been free from colonization and imperialism. This is because forms of
resistance made by women may vary. Ursula, for instance, because she is in the higher
echelons of power, can easily gather enough women to rally against her family members
and remain unscathed. But women like Petra Cortes or Pilar Ternera for that matter never
had such a privilege as their social class does not permit them to. Meanwhile, you cannot,
for instance, just force every single woman in the Banana Company to rally for their gender
rights alone when in fact their male counterparts are being exploited too. In the same vein,
you cannot force a woman from a Muslim country to just throw away her hijab in protest of
oppressive dress codes. Thus the call for a more specific examination for the historical
complexity that has brought about the oppressive mechanisms among women. Only then
can we point out the next appropriate strategy for the movement to progress, such that we
will no longer have to wonder the what-could-have-beens if women had been free from
oppression.

References
Bunch, Charlotte. 1987. Prospects for Global Feminism. In Bunch, Passionate Politics:
Feminist Theory in Action. New York: St. Martins Press.
Gordon, L. (2013). Socialist Feminism: The Legacy of the Second Wave. New Labor Forum,
22, 20-28.
Herr, R. S. (2014). Reclaiming Third World Feminism: Why Transnational Feminism Needs
Third World Feminism. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 1-30.

Scanlon, J. (2009). SEXY FROM THE START: ANTICIPATORY ELEMENTS OF SECOND WAVE
FEMINISM. Routledge Women Studies, 127-150.