In her assessment of Gilbert Hernandez’ seminal work, Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories, Jennifer Glaser makes a number of claims about the ultimate meaning behind the work and how it relates to the larger work of transnational authors. Glaser asserts that Palomar is an important piece of transnational exploration; Through the lens of the somewhat mystical town of Palomar,Hernandez explores race, gender, class and the still unfolding effects of cultural imperialism. Glaser also argues that Palomar acts a sort of incubator to work through Hernandez clearly conflicted feelings about being a Mexican American. The Heartbreak Stories are a personal reflective thought piece that Hernandez uses to delve into the clearly conflicted feelings he has
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The most obvious ways this is represented in Heartbreak Soup are the changing ideals of dress and sexuality. Though Glaser speaks at length about how US attitudes on what is acceptable dress affect the residents of Palomar - specifically the introduction of pants and Pipo’s career in the US fashion industry, she misses an opportunity to delve into Hernandez representation of women in Chicano culture. Hernandez’ women are a very complex bunch. They are rough and bawdy, but also prim and proper. They hold positions of power but are weak and easily taken advantage of. Glaser hints at this complex relationship, for instance, when she talks about Luba as an “Amazonian,” (Glaser, Chapter 12) and in a few other minor references but given the deep rooted ideas of female subjugation that plagues the Latin world it is striking that she doesn’t spend time talking about Hernandez’ treatment of his female characters. So many of the female inhabitants of Palomar are central authority figures. Chela is a respected midwife and sheriff, Carmen is a voice of calm rationality, and even Luba eventually becomes mayor. Despite that, they are constantly being taken advantage of, and are overcome by their own hypersexuality. All of these explorations of how women are treated in the Latin world are so tied to changing cultural ideals and the threatened male
The most obvious ways this is represented in Heartbreak Soup are the changing ideals of dress and sexuality. Though Glaser speaks at length about how US attitudes on what is acceptable dress affect the residents of Palomar - specifically the introduction of pants and Pipo’s career in the US fashion industry, she misses an opportunity to delve into Hernandez representation of women in Chicano culture. Hernandez’ women are a very complex bunch. They are rough and bawdy, but also prim and proper. They hold positions of power but are weak and easily taken advantage of. Glaser hints at this complex relationship, for instance, when she talks about Luba as an “Amazonian,” (Glaser, Chapter 12) and in a few other minor references but given the deep rooted ideas of female subjugation that plagues the Latin world it is striking that she doesn’t spend time talking about Hernandez’ treatment of his female characters. So many of the female inhabitants of Palomar are central authority figures. Chela is a respected midwife and sheriff, Carmen is a voice of calm rationality, and even Luba eventually becomes mayor. Despite that, they are constantly being taken advantage of, and are overcome by their own hypersexuality. All of these explorations of how women are treated in the Latin world are so tied to changing cultural ideals and the threatened male