A Victim Of The Double Rape

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Term Paper Title	A Victim Of The Double Rape
# of Words	3252
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	13.01

A Victim of the Double Rape
     There is an old saying that goes "behind every strong man is a strong woman".  This proverb can be used to describe the legacy of Hernando Cortes and his conquest of Mexico.  Like the proverb, he had someone behind him who aided in his goals of dominance.  The woman was Dona Marina, otherwise known as La Malinche.  Her beauty and intelligence made her into one of the most hated and influential women in Mexico's history.  According to Clifford Krauss, "La Malinche is for the most part portrayed as the perpetrator of Mexico's original sin…"  (110).
     La Malinche was a victim of a "double rape"  (Todorov 49).  Her destiny was determined at birth.  As a child growing up in native culture, she conformed to gender roles put forth by her elders.  She accepted her place as a second-class citizen, both as a slave and a woman.  These lessons would eventually play into Cortes' grand scheme of conquest.  Since she was a property of Cortes, her upbringing taught her to follow every one of Cortes' orders..
     La Malinche did not deserve the prejudice put against her.  Despite all the pain her native people and the Spanish gave her, she forgave them for their actions.  Her knowledge of language and customs eventually played a role in her ease of assimilation into Spanish culture.  Her loyalty to Cortes grew into love, which, in turn, wrongly made her a traitor to her own people.  The natives coined the nickname "Mexican Eve", who tempted the Spanish into the native world with her beauty and sexuality.  She was the mother of Mexico, for the child that she and Cortes created became the first documented

mestizo.  This child would eventually follow in his mother's footsteps and conform to Spanish society.  When Cortes left her after conquering Mexico, she lost everything-power, fame, and honor.  She even lost her child.  She had suffered the ultimate betrayal.  She became La Chingada, which meant, "the fucked one"  (Krauss B10).
     Many natives, even present ones, still view La Malinche as a traitor to her people.  The term malinchista is deemed as an insult.  "To be called it is to be called a lover of foreigners, a traitor"  (Krauss B10).  According to Marta Sanchez, modern Mexicans connect the name Malinche to female sexuality.  "The name Malinche, which suggests active power to betray perceived group or national interests, can refer to either a man or a woman, but even when applied to a man, it contains a residual stigmatizing implication of...

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