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Male And Female Norms During 19th Century Mexico City

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Male and Female Norms During 19th Century Mexico City The Magic Lantern, published in 1886 and written by José Tomás de Cuéllar, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) is a novella about nineteenth century Mexico. The author wrote this novel to express his thoughts and ideas regarding the manner in which men and women interacted with each other during this time. Cuéllar believed that the Mexican culture set impossible standards, and he conveys this ideology within the short story, Having a Ball. He concluded that men should seek women with more substance, rather than just relying on their looks to achieve status. The novella describes Cuéllar’s views on the French customs in Mexico City during the 1900’s. According to Cuéllar, men valued women solely based on their appearance. The only quality that seemed to affect men, in regards to women, was the way that they dressed, their natural beauty, and they way that the women carried themselves. For example, Don Gabriel, a very wealthy character, invited to the ball had a mistress that numerous other men fancied and desired to be acquainted with. Her presence was significant at the ball as well, for two reasons: she dressed well and had two daughters. The men that were also invited to the ball wanted as many attractive women to attend as possible, so having multiple daughters was certainly an attractive quality. Her husband however was not invited, as this would create a conflict with Don Gabriel. This woman did not posses

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