Representation Does Not Equate With Approval

Diaz created a sexist character that lives and grows across his three novels.  Though Yunior, and other characters of his creation exhibit intense sexism in his books, the books as a whole are not sexist.  When a male author introduces female characters in his writing, it is often for purely sexual reasons.  Women are introduced in order to seduce the men.  Their purpose in male-written literature is limited.  Diaz combats this with his stories, and makes his stance on sexism in his culture clear through his writing.

Throughout Yunior’s narratives he is continuously unhappy with the decisions he makes.  In This is How You Lose Her, he cheats on his girlfriend, Magda, and eventually ends up crying over the end of their relationship (pg. 25).  Yunior is saddened at being caught again by another girlfriend, Alma, later in the novel (pg. 47).  He sees the errors in his actions, yet cannot do anything to stop, or does not know how to stop.  Yunior describes women solely on their appearance.  He describes Nilda in This is How You Lose Her by saying, “a chest you wouldn’t believe – I’m talking world-class,” (pg. 29).  His lack of imagination inhibits his ability to think of women as anything more than objects.  Though Diaz writes from this character’s perspective, he is not condemning himself to these views.  He makes it clear that Yunior is unhappy with his decisions and limited by his lack of imagination to exhibit his opinion on his culture.  He means to bring light to the sexism and social situations in his culture and does not mean to approve them.  If good things happened to the men who treated the women badly, then he would be communicating a different message to his audience.  Diaz doesn’t want to make his opinion too clear though; he wants his audience to react on their own to the situations, which is why he leaves it somewhat ambiguous.

Diaz’s stance on sexism is clearer in “Otravida, Otravez” in This is How You Lose Her.  The story is from a woman’s point of view and it allows us to see that she is more than her appearance.  She isn’t romanticized.  She’s sensible and seen as a human being.  And she has empathy for others, which is something that Yunior lacks.  She feels a connection to Samantha, because she reminds her of herself and how she used to live (pg. 73).

Diaz wants to communicate the hardships that have occurred in his culture and are often overlooked.  He wants his audience to form their own opinion on the situations he exhibits.  He also wants to point out to men that don’t think they’re such bad guys, like Yunior in This is How You Lose Her (pg. 3), that they may need to reconsider.  If they do nothing to stray from the entrapment of their culture, then they will fall prey and resemble the characters in some of the stories.  And once a man is trapped in the ways of his culture, he feels like there is nothing he can do to change, and wonders of a time he could have been a different man (pg.85).