In the poems “Tú me quieres blanca” and in “Hombre pequeñito”, Alfosina Storni writes about women’s struggles with machismo. Storni openly and actively criticizes the men of society and those who value men and their desires more than those of women. To express her frustrations and emphasize society’s hypocrisy Storni uses many elements of modernism and postmodernism.
Postmodernism is the expression of feelings, postmodernism literature is ironic and sentimental, it focuses heavily on emotions. This literary movement is more direct about the extremes of how a writer feels about a specific topic. Rather than using complex metaphors and symbolism, postmodernism is more direct.
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Modernism, on the other hand, is much more convoluted. Modernism makes use of more complicated forms of language to express an idea and emotions. For example, modernism uses colors to articulate ideas and emotions known as chromatism (McClennen). When using chromatism in literature the reader must think about what do these colors mean. Chromatism is much like using metaphors, colors can have various meanings depending on the context of the literary work. Like metaphors, chromatism can have a direct or implied meaning, but more often the meaning is implied. The use of the two literary movements modernism and postmodernism are very interesting when discussing the matter of machismo. According to Dr. Richard D. Parker in his journal “Behaviour in Latin American Men: Implications for HIV/AIDS Interventions” machismo is the gender hierarchy that establishes levels of power and dominance between men and women, often emphasizing the dominate role to be male while the submissive role is female. Machismo also includes the concept that male sexuality is constantly growing and uncontrollable, while female sexuality is an object of male control.
Many poems by Storni include the theme of machismo and her dislike for how it controls her life. From her poems “Tú me quieres blanca” and “Hombre pequeñito” the reader can understand how there is a large difference between how men act and what men expect from women. In Storni’s works, she demonstrates how men have character and color and depth, while women are boring and lifeless. She writes to exhibit this unfair hypocrisy of double standards.
In “Tú me quieres blanca” Storni condemns men for their desire for women to be pure and faithful while they spend their days with many women. In the first stanza of her poem, Storni writes “Corola cerrada.” (line 7). This line, in particular, is interesting because a closed blossom is symbolic of not a woman not having sexual relations. Also, the way Storni describes the demand to be pure is one dimensional. When taken into consideration the color white has no depth to it is plain and boring. When she writes “Ni una margarita/ Se diga mi hermana.” (lines 10-11) Storni emphasizes how there is life and beauty in flowers and that they are vibrant, but because he loves her white, she is colorless with no meaning (Morello-Frosch). Storni continues in the second stanza of the poem listing how men expect her to be untouched like snow and pure as the dawn. “Tú me quieres nívea, /Tú me quieres blanca, /Tú me quieres alba.” (lines 12-14). Storni quickly denounces these demands by telling men, in lines 15-18, that they have enjoyed the sweet honey and fruit of many women. To the point that their lips are purple.
As a poem that exhibits many qualities of modernism, Storni often uses chromatism as a method of expressing ideas and feelings through color (McClennen). In line 18 “Los labios morados.” this is the first moment that Storni mentions any other color other than white. This is important because white is often used to symbolize purity, but the use of the color purple represents being tainted. Another example of chromatism is in lines 23-26 “Tú que en los jardines/ Negros del Engaño/ Vestido de rojo/ Corriste al Estrago.” The color black in line 24 refers to the man being broken and tainted this is supported by line 26 when Storni writes that men run to destruction. As for the color red, it is a color of love passion and lust. To be dressed in red is symbolic of indulging in one’s sexual desires openly, as red is bright and noticeable. Both colors are a beautiful contrast to the meaning of white in this poem which signifies purity, wholeness, and celibacy, while red and black represent lust, sex, and impurity. Storni’s usage of chromatism is an amazing demonstration of the hypocrisy of men. She then challenges impure men to do the impossible and become pure like how they want her to be.
“¡Me pretendes alba! / Huye hacia los bosques, / Vete a la montaña;/ Límpiate la boca;/ Vive en las cabañas;/ Toca con las manos/ La tierra mojada;/ Alimenta el cuerpo/ Con raíz amarga;/ Bebe de las rocas;/ Duerme sobre escarcha;/ Renueva tejidos/ Con salitre y agua;” (lines 35-47)
After her challenge Storni then tells men that once they have become whole and pure again to then ask her to be white, to be snow, to be chaste but until then she tells men to pretend, she is all those things. “Y cuando las carnes Te sean tornadas, Y cuando hayas puesto En ellas el alma Que por las alcobas Se quedó enredada, Entonces, buen hombre, Preténdeme blanca, Preténdeme nívea, Preténdeme casta.” (lines 50-59)
“Hombre pequeñito” Storni destroys the fantasy that men have power over women while at the same time, Storni expresses her desire for freedom and the freedom of other women. In “Hombre pequeñito” Storni has no tolerance for men and their egos, so she attacks the ego of men by using the word pequeñito making men seem small and insignificant. Though she attacks men so quickly in the first line of her poem, Storni’s poem is surprisingly ironic as well. For example, lines 1-4 “Hombre pequeñito, hombre pequeñito, / suelta a tu canario que quiere volar/ Yo soy el canario, hombre pequeñito, /déjame saltar.” These lines are interesting because when she calls herself the canary trapped in a cage; she gives power to the man who put her in the cage. The irony here is that she admits that she is reliant on what men can do, and without their permission, she can’t be free. Knowing that she is forced to rely on men, Storni expresses her resentments by continuously calling men hombre pequeñito.
The poem “Hombre pequeñito” is filled with so much emotion, the reader can understand that she is sad but more importantly extremely frustrated. Storni’s frustrations can be seen in lines 8-10 “Digo pequeñito porque no me entiendes, /ni me entenderás. /Tampoco te entiendo, pero mientras tanto, /ábreme la jaula que quiero escapar.” These lines refer to the situation social-political situation Storni lived in, the man not understanding her and her not understanding him will always lead to a power struggle between the sexes. In her final stanza, Storni expresses that she can no longer love the man she speaks to; she continues and tells the man to never ask her again to love him (line 12). This final line can lead the reader to believe that Storni has no hope that the little man can ever change and that they should go their separate ways.
In conclusion, Alfosina Storni is a woman and poet of many strong ideals, she was never afraid of speaking out against the injustice of machismo. Storni understood, perhaps long before many others, that there is no difference between men and women, that both genders deserve the right to be independent. Storni was vivid in her use of modernism and postmodernism literary techniques from the metaphor of her being a bird in a cage to thought-provoking chromatism. The way she expresses her thoughts and feeling in her poetry is amazing, she doesn’t make her point difficult to understand but at the same time, she gives the reader something to think about. Though the reader understands her hatred for hypocrisy and resentment toward men who believe they are important, the reader can also understand that Storni has a hope that men can change even if it is unlikely.
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