Rejecting Machismo in Tomás Vallejos’ “Piñons” and Edgar Gomez’s “Malcriado”

Abstract

Both Tomás Vallejos' “Piñons” and Edgar Gomez's “Malcriado” feature unnamed narrators who are young Latino men coping with the reality of being gay. Both narrators come from families that value machismo and uphold violent ideologies. In “Piñons,” the narrator's family prepares for piñon season, where they will pick the fruit from the trees and gather to roast the piñons. Each year, the family strips the trees for all they are worth, and the men spend the evening drinking heavily, boasting of sexual conquests, and encouraging fights amongst one another. In “Malcriado,” the narrator is sent to visit his uncles in Nicaragua, who attempt to toughen him up by taking him to a cock fight and pressuring him to sleep with a woman. While both characters ultimately reject machismo, the narrator of “Piñons” is more easily able do so because of the affirmations of a trusted individual in his life; the narrator of “Malcriado,” however, is completely alone even amongst family, and he is only able to take those first steps toward self-realization when he discovers that he may in fact be able to find a community of other people like him who will provide him future support.