The Mixquiahuala Letters, a novel by Ana Castillo, tells a story as a young poet writes to her best friend as way of recalling their past adventures through a series of letters. These stories often portray examples of the many issues that the young women faced in both Mexico and the United States from the 1950s and into the 1970s. One of the recurring themes in the novel is the sexual objectification of women. During their travels, these women encounter a new realm with a high presence of sexual harassment and assault, and this behavior seemed normal and expected from the men who resided there.
Teresa and Alicia are two extremely liberal women, who strive to live lives away from the social norm, and do so to the point where their families are highly disapproving of their lifestyles (21-22). Although these women seek to find a fulfilling life, they encounter several disturbing experiences during their exotic adventures in Mexico.
Not only did the women receive the occasional cat-calls from passersby, but there were instances where they faced close calls with predators. In letter twenty-three, Teresa tells the story of the time Alicia was assaulted by a gang of drunken college students. She describes how these men were anticipating an attack after watching her dance for several hours, preying on her as if they …show more content…
Teresa’s statement “I anticipated something disagreeable had already been arranged for us.” shows that this is common for them (95). This happened so frequently and they consistently ran from men. Men who often insinuated dark acts with phrases like “you’re not paying with money!” and who often refused rejection (73). The night with the engineers is just one of the many times Alicia and Teresa had barely escaped the clutches of predators, and it had become a routine for them to create elaborate lies to avoid physical
Teresa and Alicia are two extremely liberal women, who strive to live lives away from the social norm, and do so to the point where their families are highly disapproving of their lifestyles (21-22). Although these women seek to find a fulfilling life, they encounter several disturbing experiences during their exotic adventures in Mexico.
Not only did the women receive the occasional cat-calls from passersby, but there were instances where they faced close calls with predators. In letter twenty-three, Teresa tells the story of the time Alicia was assaulted by a gang of drunken college students. She describes how these men were anticipating an attack after watching her dance for several hours, preying on her as if they …show more content…
Teresa’s statement “I anticipated something disagreeable had already been arranged for us.” shows that this is common for them (95). This happened so frequently and they consistently ran from men. Men who often insinuated dark acts with phrases like “you’re not paying with money!” and who often refused rejection (73). The night with the engineers is just one of the many times Alicia and Teresa had barely escaped the clutches of predators, and it had become a routine for them to create elaborate lies to avoid physical