Femme De Rien Analysis

Femme de Rien With pledges of equality and nativist attitudes injected in the veins of Latin America for independence efforts, Spanish diplomat’s wife Frances Calderón de la Barca reflects those empty promises through her 1840 journal entries about Mexican high society. In her account, Calderón describes the tension surrounding her decision in wearing what she called a poblana dress, the Mexican elite worried she would appear as a “femme de rien” as if the dress worn by a woman from Puebla was a costume. Calderón’s entry demonstrates that while Creoles utilized unifying rhetoric promising Castas of legal racial equality, the legacy of colonial Spanish America and its inherent inequality would persist years after.
With growing discontent toward their Spanish-born counterparts, the Creoles …show more content…
To allure castas into independence efforts, Creole leaders promised equality among castes, yet often excluding enslaved people. Mexican Vicente Guerrero called for the caste system’s eradication. Yet, promises of equality failed in practice in the new republics. Calderón de la Barca, a privileged guest to Mexican high society, demonstrated this prevalent hierarchy. When she announced to officials she would wear a poblana dress, they informed her “the dress of a Poblana is that of a woman of no character. The lady of the Spanish minister is a lady…she ought to neither go as a Poblana nor in any other character but her own.” Calderón de la Barca was expected to adhere to the unofficial hierarchy still infecting Mexican society years after Father Miguel Hidalgo rung the bell. Even though castas especially behind afro-mestizo leader Vicente Guerrero were the only reason the Creoles emerged victories, the same Creoles who begged for solidarity regarded them as