Angela Vicario Sexism

Angela Vicario's is subject to the never ending sexism that her village has bestowed on her, from her family's constant manipulation to the forced idea that she must be a virgin to be eligible for marriage.

Sexism is a fundamental element in society and which manifested itself into the lives of those occupying the tiny village where Angela Vicario used to live. Women are taught to conceal their feelings and emotions as well as their sexuality in accordance to the unjust and unequal standard of their patriarchal society. The Vicario sister are perfect examples due to their extensive training to master the submissive skills it takes to be a prospective wife: “ The girls had been reared to get married. They knew how to screen embroidery, sew

The situation is made worse under family pressure to marry Bayardo caused by the possibility of a boost of their social status. Angela is displeased by Bayardo’s tactics to marry her and when she dares to hint about her lack of love for Bayardo her mother simply answers, “‘Love can be learned too’”(34-35). This shows that Angela has no choice in the matter and instead will be forced to marry this man, so her family could rise in their social class. Angela, so obviously upset by the forceful and unloving actions her family took to make her marry Bayardo, she is able to recall the night they told her she had to marry him, “Angela Vicario never forgot the horror of the night on which her parents and her older sister with their husband, gathered together in the parlor, imposed on her the obligation to marry a man whom she had barely seen” (34). For Bayado, Angela is merely a conquest of the sexual object he desires, she would just be a prize in his collection. His class and wealth all attribute to ability to act this way. There is no love in the relationship and one is marrying for looks and the other is being required