Sor Juana De La Cruz You Men Essay

Oppression of Latin Colonial Women in You Men In the lyrical poem, You Men by Sor Juana de la Cruz, she attempts to unveil the patriarchal society in the 1600’s that women were confined due to societal beliefs and values. During the 1600’s Latin women were valued for childbearing and traditional roles in the home. Therefore, Cruz had difficulty in her personal life with the roles assigned to women and joined the convent. At the convent, Cruz wrote as a woman of the upper class and used the protection of the court to her advantage. An analysis of the poem You Men reveals women challenges in a patriarchal society; emotional and physical oppression as a result of harsh criticism. Cruz pinpointed the double standard women faced under a patriarchal system during the early 1600’s. “After you’ve won by urgent plea the right to tarnish her good name, you still expect her to behave—you, that coaxed her into shame,” Cruz’s satirical tone implies that men were responsible for the way women were viewed in society, yet expected them
In the fourteenth stanza, Cruz reveals that women were sexually objectified to satisfy men’s desire and harshly criticized for it. Moreover, Cruz states, “So why are you men all so stunned at the thought you’re all guilty alike? Either like them for what you have made them or make of them what you can like,” which elaborates on the emotional oppression constraints that women dealt with as a result of men sexual greed. As Cruz continues to dissect the patriarchal society in the poem, she delves into the root of the issue, that is to say men. Cruz uses anaphora throughout her poem to emphasize that women were wrongly accused and ill treated by men. The same “men” prey, oppress, love and eventually look at them with disgust are the same men whose “arrogance is allied with the world, the flesh, and the