Catalina de Erauso On Playing Gender Roles Essay

In Spain and the Spanish colonies in South America in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, gender roles were distinct and the opportunity gap was enormous. Catalina de Erauso compares the two roles through her memoir, â€Å"Lieutenant Nun,† where she recounts her life as a transvestite in both the new and old world. Through having experienced the structured life of a woman as well as the freedom involved in being a man, de Erauso formed an identity for herself that crossed the boundaries of both genders. Catalina de Erauso’s life demonstrates the gap in freedom and opportunity for women, as compared to men, in the areas of culture, politics and economy, and religion. Even the broadness of traditional Spanish culture could not†¦show more content†¦For men, though, the choice was remained their own. De Erauso demonstrates this when she, in the role of a man, evades multiple proposals in order to remain free and mobile. This shows that while women were tied down in society and expected to have a man settle with them, men had the opportunity to continue to travel freely and independently. The idea is that women were forced by society to be entirely dependent in order to hold an advantageous position in life. Tied in with this theme of masculine freedom exists the matter of fighting. De Erauso displays her ability to duel for her pride on many occasions, and this is something that she would be incapable of doing in the role of a woman. Only men were allowed the outlet of fighting in order to assert dominance, whereas women had no dominance at all. Women were expected to be entirely passive and dependent (Bentley Ziegler, 534). In one case in specific, a woman de Erauso encounters, doà ±a Catalina, even hires an Indian man to attack another woman for her because she did not have the societal freedom to do so herself (Erauso, 36). In the realm of outward violence, women were greatly restricted while men had no limitations other than the law above them. De Erauso explores this freedom in the form of fighting, gambling, and being reckless in general. Had she been presented as a woman in these scenarios, she would have suffered far more