The Revolt of the Cockroach People is a novel about the Chicano Moratorium written by Oscar Zeta Acosta, published in 1973. There are many themes presented in the novel, but one of the most interesting is the gender role. Women are represented as purely physical beings unlike men who are glorified for their work as well. There are many types of women in the novel, but their presence in much different than the presence of the male characters who are supposed to be more important and privileged.
The narrator is a man and all of the characters who are men symbolize masculinity. All of them show off, are not afraid to threat other people, swear and spend time with many women. There are many depictions of sex in The Revolt of the Cockroach People and the narrative is misogynistic. However, it describes well the true nature of these people and their cultural heritage. Some of the characters are strong women, but they are not feminists at all. The narrator describes them according to their physical appearance and not on their achievements. The gender roles are exaggerated although the novel deals with a political movement. Sexuality is a very important theme in this novel as well and tradition is important in this case as well as the representation of women in the media and their usual role in the Latin American culture.
Female characters in The Revolt of the Cockroach People have supporting roles in the Chicano Movement. They help men, but they are mostly their mistresses and serve for sexual purposes. There were influential women involved in the movement, but they are not mentioned in the novel. Women are degraded to sexual objects in The Revolt of the Cockroach People and even those women who fight the most are described through their sexuality and femininity. Acosta says: “Girls with long mascara-eyes, long black hair done up chola style, with tight asses and full blouses bursting out with song” (Acosta 15). This is a chauvinistic description of the women who were also fighting in the revolution and made great contributions, but the novel is not completely autobiographical.
Women are put aside in the novel and their significance is nulled even in the case of Gloria Chavez. The power of the movement is attributed to men, while the role of women is sexualized. When Gloria goes inside the church in a heroic manner, Acosta says: “She charges down the aisle in a black satin dress that shows her beautiful knockers and she carries a golf club in her pretty hands. I am aghast! The Faithful are petrified. No one makes a move for her.” (Acosta 28). She defends the rights of the people, but her role is diminished with the description of her and her body in a sexualized manner. Her heroic act seems to be less significant than her looks and the way she walks and conducts herself. She is arrested, but she does not mind because she has made her statement. This woman is not afraid for her life and enjoys being part of a revolution, but Acosta says: “Her big zoftig ass shakes as she rushes up to the altar” (Acosta 28). This act is powerful, but Acosta makes it more about her physique and not about her courage. Gloria is one of the women whose role in the novel is to create the atmosphere for men to fight and achieve results. This description of female characters makes the male characters more masculine and powerful. On the other hand, Brown and Oscar are described as true warriors, which is even more visible because of the representation of women as décor.
Brown searches for approval in the media where he finds out much about his image. He says: “What they really fired me for was my name. Buffalo Zeta Brown. General Zeta was the hero of an old movie classic, La Cucaracha. A combination of Zapata and Villa with Maria Felix as the femme fatale” (Acosta 67). Men in this novel are shown as cowboys and women find this very attractive. These men fear nothing and are self-confident in many ways. Brown also compares himself with cowboys when young women begin to join him: “They saw me on TV and decided to come down and join the revolution. Isn’t that how the women did it when Zapata and Villa took to the hills? Isn’t that the way young girls are supposed to do” (Acosta 182)? At this point, Brown plays the role of the chauvinistic man and the role of women is degraded as much as possible. The women are now only present as a sexual support for men whose self-esteem is improved.
Chicano movement was aimed at improving the rights of Latin American people in the United States and this novel mostly deals with politics. Marco Acosta, Oscar’s son published the novel as a source of information about the revolutionary movement. He says: “But the riots, the violence, the arguing, never seemed to bother him. He knew it was the price you had to pay for waging an unpopular war” (Acosta 590). Marco means that not many men are capable of waging a war which is supposed to improve the social rights of a certain group of people because it is the war against the establishment. These individuals can die for their cause and they are ready to do it. Oscar used to be betrayed by the people who were with him and he was also pursued by the men of law. A current war against oppression in present today America would have many victims and it could not engage violence. People today fight in a civilized manner provided that they live in a civilized society. There still is oppression, but it has to be fought in a legal way.
Works Cited
Acosta, Oscar Z. The Revolt of the Cockroach People. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.
