Di Ann Duffey Vulich

June 5, 2016

¿Caballerismo, o Machismo?
The Role of Fatherhood in Latino Families as Shown
Sandra Cisneros’ Caramelo

—But I thought Father was un caballero.

—He is. He’s a gentleman. Feo, fuerte, y formal. That’s your
father. [Ugly, strong, and a gentleman] (Cisneros 407).

In Sandra Cisneros’ novel, Caramelo, narrator Celaya Reyes introduces an age-old query

of ethnic cultural identity. How is a Latino father shaped? Is it by the role he holds in his

immediate and extended family? His respected cultural position in society? Or in his manliness

and domination over that family? By comparing the interactive dynamics of four generations of

the Reyes family men from Sandra Cisneros’ novel, Caramelo, I will explore the male social and

familial expectations of Latino culture ─caballerismo and machismo, as well as how

immigration directly affects those male roles. Finally, I will argue how these male-dominated

patriarchal roles leave a damaging negative effect on the next generation of Reyes men.

Cisneros novel follows four generations of a Latino family, starting in Spain, to Mexico,

then as United States citizens. The plot monitors the impact of each generation’s male patriarch

and their interactions with the other members of the family. Narrating the novel, young Celaya

(Lala) Reyes, the only daughter of the current head of the house, is retelling the family’s history

as a promise to her deceased ‘Awful Grandmother’s’ ghost. The Awful Grandmother, as the

children call their father’s mother, tells Celaya she “can’t cross over to the other side till [she’s]

forgiven” (408). She convinces Celaya to reveal past family dynamics and emotional

suppressions which produced the grandmother’s ‘awfulness’. The Awful Grandmother and
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Celaya, together, tell the family’s history, relaying the nature of the Reyes men and the conflicts

each generation encounters as a result of the central male ego.

Lizette Ojeda and Brandy Pina-Watson explain in an article titled “Caballerismo May

Protect Against the Role of Machismo on Mexican Day Laborers’ Self-esteem,” how Latino

culture impacts men’s masculinity and influences “messages about what it means to be a man”

(288). Ojeda and Pina-Watson further recognize masculinity being a “bilinear” concept,

fulfilling two distinct, yet complementary psycho-emotional desires. Machismo is considered

hyper-masculine character traits, such as dominance, aggression, and exaggerated bravado.

Caballerismo, on the other hand, consists of chivalrous behaviors, such as nurturance, social

(and familial) responsibility, and emotional connectedness (289). The Reyes men family motto,

“feo, fuerte, y formal” (ugly, strong, and a gentleman) reflects caballerismo as their male

declaration, but as Celaya learns, men can adopt caballerismo as a standard way of life, yet still

display machismo traits (Ojeda 289). The generations of Reyes men each experience the same

negative trait of machismo, “engagement in…risky sexual encounters,” and, depending on the

involvement of their own respective father, handle their infidelities differently (Ojeda 289). The

machismo and caballerismo ethical codes dictate the judgments the four Reyes patriarchs make

when they face pending fatherhood. Andrew Behnke and Brent Taylor discuss the “development

and fathering styles…influenced by the legacies of fatherhood passed down through the

generations…patterns of paternity related to men’s status during midlife” (103). In a very

enlightening pattern, the Reyes men repeat the same life-altering event, which is dealt with in

capricious ways, eventually determining each man’s paternal integrity.

In order to appreciate the values Latino culture places on manhood, it is important to first

understand what Alfredo Mirande refers to in his book, Hombres Y Machos: Masculinity And
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Latino Culture, as a “form of ‘masculine protest,’ an almost obsessive concern with images and

symbols of manhood, among Indian and mestizo men” (35). Although several scholars claim

hyper-masculinity and male sexuality are found in all cultures throughout the world, Mirande

believes the Latino version of a “real man” is a “direct result of the Spanish Conquest…a

response to intense and persistent feelings of powerlessness and weakness…a futile attempt to

mask a profound sense of impotence, powerlessness, and ineptitude, an expression of weakness

and a sense of inferiority (Mirande 35-6). This historical sense of inferiority generated by the

Conquistadors violently emasculating the Indian people inspired Mexican psychologist Samuel

Ramos to term the plight of the Mexican as the “pelado,” meaning “plucked,” “naked,” or

“stripped” (Mirande 37). Mirande further expounds, “The Spanish conquistadores assumed the

active, aggressive male role in metaphorically raping…the passive or feminine Indian. In other

words, one might say que el espanol chingo al indio (that the Spaniard fucked the Indian)” (39).

The succession of migration (Spain to Mexico, Mexico to the United States) of the Reyes

men appears to have an effect on the eco-social status, and thus cultural ranking, of the family

through the paternal societal standing. What is significant to note here is the role “womanizing”

(a form of negative machismo) plays in the Reyes history. Mirande succinctly points out that a

womanizer is “referred to as a conquistador, for he is seen not only as seducing but also as

symbolically ‘conquering’ women” (Mirande 40). Emigrating from Spain to Mexico, Eleuterio

Reyes abandons his Spanish wife in the attempt to start anew. Once in Mexico, he meets and

soon impregnates Regina (a poor fruit vender, smitten by his European cultural superiority and

sophistication). He tries to tell his son much later in life, “When I met your mother I couldn’t

think of anything but my own pleasure,” referring to the machismo womanizing ways he

followed (158). After learning about the pregnancy, he flees back to his Spanish homeland. In
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Seville, Spain, Hipolito Eduviges Reyes (father of Eleuterio, and first of the four generations of

the Reyes family in Cisneros novel), enforces the “proper” action of a man. His simple

command/statement to his son, Eleuterio, “We are not dogs,” determines the fate of the future

Reyes generations (158). Eleuterio’s response to his father’s mandate was, “His words filled me

with so much shame I knew immediately what I had to do… I turned around and came back and

fulfilled my obligation as a gentleman. And that is how I turned, that day, from a dog into the

gentleman I was raised to be” (158-9). The gentleman ‘caballero’ he became “raised his social

standing” and he “held the respectable position of teacher of music at an elementary school”

(162). He set the example for the following men in the family when they immigrated, as well as

those yet to be born.

Eleuterio’s one and only child (conceived out of wedlock, and the initiator to Eleuterio’s

change of lifestyle) was a son he called Narciso. Narciso was born and raised in Mexico, with

the arrogance of European “superiority over their mixed-blood neighbors” (Cisneros 163). He is

described as “nothing but a baby-faced dandy, a mama’s boy, a frightened spoiled brat, a snot-

nosed kid disguised as a man” (148). The “dandy” Narciso turned out to be was of his

interpretation of the European culture influence. The narrative explains that unlike the Mexican

way, “Narciso ate like the well-to-do, as if he were sure where his next meal was coming from,”

and also states, “he went on for an hour about how you were supposed to bring out each course

on a separate plate” (121). Mirande explains this cultural phenomena, saying “[t]he middle-

class Mexican masks feelings of inferiority through imitation, especially imitation of European

…institutions and culture” (38). Narciso has adopted the mannerisms of the wealthy European,

although his true life was far from this lifestyle. Enacting the suave sophisticate, Narciso makes

the attempt to seem a “caballero” by mannerisms alone, although his actions say otherwise.
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Narciso’s later wife, Soledad, (known to Celaya, the narrator, as the ‘Awful

Grandmother’) reveals the reality of the Reyes family’s lifestyle: that “los Reyes were far from

wealthy, and just as far from real poverty…they paid rent and did not own the rooms they called

home” (114). This imitation of European culture is simply a façade of prestige, allowing false

social branding to represent true character. The Reyes family home in Mexico is revealed to

have been a monastery “built by the conquistadores,” (112). “The very ones who directed the

Santa Inquisicion,” and before that the “site of an Aztec temple” (111). This generation of Reyes

men used Samuel Ramos’s ‘pelado’ theory of the Indian people being ‘plucked’ by the Spaniard

as a means to gain social position. They relish in reminding “anyone and everyone” that Senor

Eleuterio Reyes was from Seville” (114). The family impresses their European heritage to

elevate them to a higher social standard.

The connection between machismo and hyper-sexuality is presented through Narciso

Reyes, and is so engrained as to be the entire make-up of his personality; the novel calls him,

“omnisexual ” (155). Narciso is described as “not fussy. He was neither heterosexual nor

homosexual…Like most men, he did not know his own truth” (155). The connection to

machismo and hyper-sexuality is made apparent by Mirande when quoting American

psychoanalyst Marvin Goldwert:

The cult of male virility and machismo, characteristic not only of Mexico but all of South
America, is a mechanism of denial, reaction formation, and sublimation used to repress
persistent feelings of femininity…argued that mestizo society was a product of some
form of “metaphysical bisexuality” the mestizo macho, haunted by the bisexual quality of
the Conquest, seeks… to conquer all women outside his household (40).

Sent to America during the Mexican revolution, Narciso returns in the prime of youth. When he

playfully flirts with his parent’s maid (Soledad), she believed he is sincere with his attention.

She believes him to be a caballero, but he is only showing off his machismo. He takes her
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sexually in secret, at night, and she is soon with his child. Regardless of her situation, he still

makes plans with his mother to leave Mexico for the United States, to be safe from the war.

During a farewell celebration in Narciso’s honor, his father, Eleuterio (now a partially paralyzed,

mute invalid) strikes out, shattering crystal and spilling wine, to shout to his son, “We are not

dogs!” just as his own father delivered the caballerismo reasoning to him years before (167). At

that point, Narciso “regained his humanity” and “fulfilled his obligation as a gentleman” (167).

He, although reluctantly, embraced his role and duty of being a Reyes caballero.

The term “absent-father” results from a physical separation, as well as an emotional one.

Out of response to Narciso’s reluctance to be tied to his family he spent as little time with them

as possible, taking employment which kept him away. Caramelo describes this disengaged

marriage between Narciso Reyes and Soledad, stating, “He had a family and was living in the

capital” but his dissatisfaction with his life “made him miserable, cranky, and mean” toward his

wife (202). His work forced him to travel, and he rarely spent time at home. Of his four

children, Narciso “hardly knew they were alive” and was not there to be a father. Wife Soledad

says, “Narciso would brag, —I don’t even know what color the kitchen walls are, which is to say

he never went in there. Which is to say he was a real man” (121). The absence of Narciso in his

children’s lives greatly affected the Reyes motto of “Feo, fuerte, y formal.” Behnke and Taylor

refer to the importance of the Latino father’s relationship within the family in their article,

“Fathering Across the Border: Latino Fathers in Mexico and the U.S.”:

The relationships with…fathers affected them [Latino men] and how they hope to
influence their own children…In general, the Latino men…were profoundly
affected by their relationships with their fathers, who ranged from involved dads
to absent dads…their own fathers’ models of parenting, whether positive or
negative, influenced how they interact with their children (111).
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Unlike previous generations of Reyes men, with Narciso grossly absent from his children’s lives

they have no male role model at all, whether caballero o machismo.

When a father is absent from the home, his dominance is hindered within the family

dynamics. Mirande reports on this saying, “lengthy spouse separation alter[s] patriarchal

authority” (17). The absentee father does not know how to relate in the family, and has no sense

of his role. How this plays in the Cisneros novel is Narciso Reyes adopts a militant order “to

create some kind of discipline, some kind of affection with his children” (206). His eldest son,

Inocencio, adopts the womanizing role of machismo, and without guidance and a positive role

model, soon realizes he has “spent more time with women than with books” and was afraid to

admit to his poor school grades. His fear is toward a father who is “a strict man who came home

seldom and who was seldom understanding” (206). That father has “already run off” a brother,

so Inocencio make plans to join that brother, immigrating to the U.S. It is revealed late in the

novel that Inocencio, without the paternal influence the earlier Reyes men experienced, also

produces a child out of wedlock. Like the machismo men of generations before, Inocencio runs

from his family responsibility, but unlike the earlier Reyes men had no father to demand he not

act like a dog, but a gentleman (caballero). He abandons his woman and child and moves to the

Unites States, eventually settling in Chicago where he marries and raises an entirely separate

family.

In discussing her own life, Soledad tells her granddaughter (Inocencio’s daughter)

Celaya, the narrator of Caramelo, “You can’t imagine it. You’ve never been abandoned by your

father. Your father would never do a thing like that,” after knowing, in fact, her son did indeed

do “a thing like that” to another daughter (120). The chain of Reyes men ultimately become the

‘dogs’ three generations of fathers previously shamed and warned against.

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The most recent generation of the Reyes family encounter great changes to their

emotional and social well-being as they emigrate from Mexico to the United States. The issues

of immigration transcend the male masculine ego to various degrees. It has been noted by Rick

A. Cruz, Kevin M. King, Keith F. Widaman, Janxin Leu, Ana Mari Cauce, and Rand D.

Conger that immigrant-driven Latinos are the “largest ethnic minority group in the United States,

making up 16% of the population…and the size of this group is expanding rapidly, as Latinos are

predicted to make up 30% of the U.S. population by the year 2050” (731). This research on

immigration status is an important factor in discussing Sandra Cisneros’s novel, and the fictional

Reyes family. The male roles of caballerismo and machismo take on an even more divergent

definition when Latino identity starts to become confused.

Rafael Perez-Torres has described the severe loss of identity immigration generates,

“America is anchored by rational, voluntarist faith in a creed, not by ascriptive bloodlines; by

individualism, not organicism; by mobility not landedness. The people who live here are people

who once chose to come here, and, in this, America is supposedly unique” (537). Alvarez’s

research also purports the valuation of “the dynamic process of adaptation of minorities to the

dominant U.S. mainstream middle-class culture” (Alvarez 193). This process is acculturation

“defined as changes in cultural identity across both heritage-culture (i.e., Mexican) and

receiving-culture (i.e., American) statuses” (Cruz 732). Caramelo follows this digression of

cultural identity and form when the generations of Reyes men fail to identify with their Spanish

caballerismo heritage. Behnke and Taylor recognize loss of identity in Latino culture and a loss

of “traditional Latino values while the children adopt new values” (113).

As occurred in the after-effect of Narciso Reyes’ emotional abandonment and physical

distance with his children, then later Inocencio’s complete abandonment of his illegitimate
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daughter, “if the father is absent, a void is felt… ‘Without the continued support of a father,

children have a hard time amounting to anything in their lives’” (Behnke and Taylor 107). The

machismo tendencies of Latino, and especially the hyper-sexuality associated with machismo,

has deleterious effects on the future emotional and social states of children. The loss of heritage

and cultural values especially affects the Latino-American population. Sandra Cisneros novel

Caramelo presents a strong example of that ambiguous loss of identity when distanced from

heritage and culture.

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Works Cited

Alvarez, Leticia. "¿Derecho U Obligación? Parents' and Youths' Understanding of Parental

Legitimacy in a Mexican Origin Familial Context." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral

Sciences 29.2 (2007): 192-208. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.

Behnke, Andrew, and Brent Taylor. "Fathering Across the Border: Latino Fathers in Mexico and

the U.S." Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers

3.2 (2005): 99-120. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.

Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo. New York: Knopf, 2002. Print.

Cruz, Rick A., Kevin M. King, Keith F. Widaman, Janxin Leu, Ana Mari Cauce, and Rand D.

Conger. "Cultural Influences on Positive Father Involvement in Two-parent Mexican-

origin Families." Journal of Family Psychology 25.5 (2011): 731-40. Academic Search

Premier. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.

Mirandé, Alfredo. Hombres Y Machos: Masculinity and Latino Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview,

1997. Print.

Ojeda, Lizette, and Brandy Piña-Watson. "Caballerismo May Protect Against the Role of

Machismo on Mexican Day Laborers' Self-esteem." Psychology of Men & Masculinity

15.3 (2014): 288-95. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.