As I continue watching Rubi, one of the representations that stands out the most to me is the representation of gender, especially women. There is a wide range of female characters: Rubi, the main character who is a mastermind of seduction and deception and obsesses over money and status, Maribel, Rubi’s best friend who is kind yet very naive and suffers from a physical disability, Cristina, Rubi’s sister who works to provide and take care of her sick mother, Doña Refugio, Rubi’s widowed mother who is sick and constantly worrying (understandable with the schemes that Rubi pulls) and Elisa, Hector’s godmother who could not have kids of her own but helped to raise Hector. Through these female characters, we see many struggles that women face in the real world.
Rubi’s character pushes back against the traditional poor struggling woman who waits for a man to come and save her… she goes and finds them instead and seduces them to get what she wants. Her evil, narcissistic tendencies don't change that she is ambitious and calculated when it comes to her goals. She fits with many of the typical female antagonist tropes but what differs is how she is portrayed to the audience as a protagonist. Rubi’s actress, Barbara Mori, does such a good job in this role with her alluring beauty and acting talents.
Maribel's character follows the traditional Cinderella as the kind, innocent, naive girl who goes through many struggles but what really stands out from her character is how she is treated because of her leg injury. She is beautiful and kind but is very insecure from constantly getting her worth tied to a disability she can not control; this is a sad reality of many people especially women (even if the telenovela shows a much more dramatized version).
The more middle aged/older female characters, such as Elisa and Dona Lola, Rubi’s “spinster” neighbor, show how women’s worth as they age becomes tied to motherhood/marriage or lack there of. For example, Elisa is verbally abused by her husband over not being able to have children and Dona Lola is judged for not having a husband or any kids.
I think Rubi does a good job at portraying a lot of female struggles. However, most all of them are also tied to men or relationships with men and doesn’t always show a full picture of the woman herself as a character.
Overall, it has been really interesting to pick out the different representations and see certain tropes played out on screen. Rubi is super entertaining and dramatic and I will definitely keep watching.
There are such clear gender roles for women in Latin America, and really in lots of machista societies around the world, that it becomes refreshing to see women in more commanding roles, even if they're roles as a villain. I know you mentioned that rather than waiting to be pursued, Rubi goes out and becomes the pursuer, which I had never thought about before. She's the villain of the story, and therefore is not meant to be a role model to young women, so I'm intrigued by the idea that she goes out looking for men and opportunities and takes her life into her own hands, because by being the villain, her role is encouraging young women watching to do the exact opposite. I've also never considered what you've mentioned about Rubi's female struggles mainly only relating to men. Maybe it's a sign that men are the problem lol ;) However, I guess I've never thought about how in Telenovelas, the issues that women face and the struggles they put themselves through are all because of a man. Whether it's a love triangle, or pursuing a man for money, or wanting to be married, all of these are plots that center around a woman chasing a man/her relationships with men. Why aren't there female protagonists who can go out and be women, without needing men to carry on the storyline?
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