I choose "La Reina del Sur" for my Telenovela report and naturally, have been binging it for the past week. As I have been watching it, I have noticed how dismissed women are in the show. In the beginning, as Teresa is introduced to her boyfriend Guero's drug trafficking friends, it becomes startlingly obvious how little they care for her as a person. One of the men circle her like a shark before turning to Guero and saying "well she's a lot prettier than any of the other girls you've brought." Teresa is obviously miffed by this but tries her best to hide it and make a good impression.
After Guero is killed, his murderers begin searching for Teresa in order to extract information from her and then kill her as well. Two of the thugs finally track her down and one of them rapes her. Before he does so, he explains to his friend that it would be a complete waste to kill Teresa without taking advantage of her first. Thankfully, she shoots him shortly after the offense. This almost marks a turning point for Teresa because from that point on, she tolerates less nonsense from other people.
As Teresa desperately seeks out her husband's employer so that she can save her life, she is constantly barraged with incident after incident where she must prove that she is more than an emotional, helpless woman. Everyone immediately assumes that she cannot take care of herself. To others, Teresa does not have an identity outside of being Guero's girlfriend and without him she is just an object that needs to be taken advantage of or destroyed. This did remind a little of what it is like to be a woman today. Without a husband, boyfriend or a man in authority over us, we are not respected as individual humans but as something for the taking. Of course this does not go for every man but it is startlingly present in the everyday life of a woman living in the 21st century.
I am curious to see how Teresa's predicament will change as the Telenovela continues. I think by the way that Teresa is beginning to respond to the cruel men around her that she will soon demand their respect. Instead of being naive and vulnerable, she has started to become resourceful and smart. I am very excited to see how she overcomes odds and grows as a character as I continue to watch the show.
I am also watching La Reina del Sur and have not been able to stop watching it. Something I have noticed is how the men refer to all of the women around them as “girls.” I am not sure if this is just the translation, but referring to fully grown adult women as girls is demeaning. It is like the men are trying to establish dominance over the women by refusing to call them by their names. The power struggle between Teresa fighting for her independence and all the men in her life wanting to control her is a captivating storyline. There is even a part in one scene where Santiago is so frustrated at Teresa becuase she “does what she wants.” He is clearly used to women falling into line behind him and being more submissive. Teresa is different and maybe that is what intrigues him about her.
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