What did I learn from Dr.Wertheimer’s talk? Do I now think about this issue or topic in a new light? (In particular, point to connections between this guest lecture and the background provided by our Chasteen text or other readings.)
On October 4th, 2022, a guest speaker named Dr. Wertheimer came to LAS101. He spoke about family law in Guatemala and explained to the class and I about a chapter he wrote. The chapter was called “Gloria’s Story.” It was about gender issues and concubinage in Guatemala. A concubine is known as a married man who has another life with another woman. Dr. Wertheimer taught me through his lecture and book, how common it was for men to do this. For example, concubinage was detected in Guatemala by the number of married people not equalling the number of men and women. There were more women than men stating they were in a relationship. He goes further in-depth about this through his writing. The “Gloria’s Story” was about a man named Julio who was married to Cristina, but had a concubine named Gloria. Gloria was only 14 years old; however, Dr. Wertheimer explained that in Guatemala, this occurred frequently. Also, if a man could support multiple families, such as Julio, they would be considered wealthy by society.
Moreover, he taught me the difference between ‘legitimate’ vs. ‘illegitimate’ children. According to Dr. Werthimer, ‘legitimate’ children mean “those who spring from a father and mother that are truly married.” However, ‘illegitimate’ children were those who were born outside marriage. One of the main things that frustrated me in “Gloria’s Story” and during the presentation was how in Guatemala, adultery was also considered illegal if a married woman were caught cheating. This isn’t the worst part but it was illegal to bring a concubine into a married woman’s house. Here, you can see gender inequalities being played out.
The connection between Dr. Wertheimer and the other readings I have done in LAS101 is how Spain influenced Latin America. For instance, when the Spaniards ruled in Guatemala, the church considered adultery illegal in a marriage. However, after Guatemala gained independence from Spain, they changed this law to try to separate the church from the country. In addition, the speaker and the readings both demonstrated how difficult it was for people to live a good life if a country’s economy was not doing well. Although we have not touched upon concubines in LAS101, we have been exposed to gender problems within Latin American countries. For example, women were less educated than men. They also cleaned, cooked, and cared for their children while the father worked. We saw this in the Faundo reading.
I had no previous knowledge of concubinage or Guatemalan family law. I had a great time listening to Dr. Wertheimer speak about “Gloria’s Story” and learning about its background. In my opinion, he sounds like a fantastic professor, and I hope that during my 4 years at Davidson College, I take one of his courses.
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