...reciprocating, which is to imply sexual impotence. For example, Octavio wrotes: "The Chingada [La Malinche] is even more passive. Her passivity is abject: she...violence, but is an inert heap of bones, blood and dust." As sexually inferior, woman can only be passive while he is active: we can only receive, we cannot...

...Strange. In contrast to Guadalupe, who is the Virgin Mother, the Chingada is the violated Mother. . . . Both of them are passive figures. Guadalupe is pure...taint is constitutional and resides ... in her sex. This passivity, open to the outside world, causes her to lose her identity: she is the Chingada. She...

...gender. Octavio Paz, in "Sons of La Malinche," explains the roots of this dichotomy thus: Giiadalupe is pure receptivity, and the benefits she bestows...and dust. Her taint is constitutional and resides, as we said earlier, in her sex. This passivity, open to the outside world, causes her to lose her identity:...