Facets of Machismo and Maternalism in Fictional Philippine Settings

Abstract

听The legal implication of infidelity in Philippine law serves as an initial display of 鈥渕achismo鈥� that reflects the propensity and pervasiveness of its concept in Philippine society. As a response to society鈥檚 partiality to male鈥檚 gender role, the gender role of women called 鈥渕aternalism鈥� has surfaced. This gender role identifies itself as a manifestation of society鈥檚 concept of gender roles including double-standard machismo. This paper aims to disclose how desire is depicted as justification to the existence of machismo and maternalism in selected Philippine short stories like 鈥淢agnificence,鈥� 鈥淥f Fish, Flies, Dogs and Women,鈥� 鈥淭he Chieftest Mourner,鈥� 鈥淭hirsty is the Arid Land,鈥� and 鈥淲edding Dance.鈥� This paper also supports the concept of desire with pleasure principle and tripartite model of Sigmund Freud鈥檚 psychoanalysis. The paper鈥檚 critical point focuses on how infidelity is reflected in said stories, thereby leading to understanding its concept as manifested by characters鈥� gender roles. This paper also employs the descriptive literary analysis anchored on Hans-Georg Gadamer鈥檚 hermeneutics. In addition, the paper also discusses the binary opposition of marriage and infidelity, faithfulness and unfaithfulness, along with its implication to the couple and the society in general. The paper identifies culture as an inherent factor in addressing the questions of gender roles in Philippine fiction.