Week Three: Camila

The film Camila typifies the almost powerless status that women held in the early days of Latin American countries. Elizabeth Dore’s essay recounts the history of women’s rights in this part of the world. Although she points out that women had more legal or judicial rights than women in other countries, some of their most basic rights are completely violated. The lack of freedom to choose one’s own husband is a central theme in Camila, and as the movie shows, one of the most important decisions to a woman. Although many women in this time most likely chose their husbands, as Dore points out, the parents had the legal ability to intervene if the pairing was not to their liking. Some women would probably choose the complete control of selecting their future husband over the ability to sign certain documents.

            The punishment for disobeying the will of one’s parents, as seen in Camila, can be as harsh as death. There seems to be nothing more humiliating to parents in this early Latin America than the inability to control one’s children, especially the daughters. A sense of loyalty and obedience is expected of all those subordinate to the father, and when this is broken, that daughter is a black stain on the reputation of the family. This seems slightly overdramatic when all Camila wanted to do was marry the man that she loved. Although much of the scandal had basis in her marrying a priest, this did not seem to be the final straw for her father. He expected Camila to marry her friend who was of the same social status and rank, knowing full well that she did not love him. To the father, it would not matter if she had run off with a man suitable for marriage; it was the defiance of his assumed control over her that angered him so much.

            This complete control by the parents or father of a Latin American family was fueled by the strict differences in the privileges between the different social classes. Those who could not control their daughters did not belong in an elite social class. A scandal like in Camila could damage so severely the reputation of any family that they may not recover. The fact that Camila’s future brother-in-law cancelled the wedding of her sister is evidence of this. Obviously love holds no value in this society, it was all about reputation, status and control. Camila’s father had no reservations in ordering the execution of his own daughter when she was found. It mattered not that he would be losing his daughter, but that it would be seen as a final act of control that he had over his daughter. It seems that the power over family members in this era was not what made the family stronger, but what fostered contempt and the lack of love between its members.