“Unable to Break Free of Him”: Sexuality and Postcolonialism in Dogeaters Eve Mandel College

In Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters, stories of characters from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds give readers a taste of life in 1950s Manila, Philippines under a dictatorship. For much of the text, it seems that Hagedorn’s female characters are able to achieve upward social mobility by strategically using their sexuality. Isabel Alacran “has reconstructed her life and past, to suit her taste” by marrying wealthy businessman Severo Alacran, who “is compelled by her beauty” (20). Similarly, Pucha Gonzaga uses her physical appearance to seduce Boomboom Alacran, a rich man with appealing social connections. Voluptuous movie star Lolita Luna can have any man she wants, and everything she needs, her men pay for. Later in the novel, though, it becomes clear that the women are ultimately unable to attain the success they had hoped for by indulging men’s desires. Isabel Alacran, though wealthy and high status, is unhappy; her marriage is built on “mutual contempt” (21) and she considers her own daughter an embarrassing burden. The marriage Pucha worked so hard to secure with her good looks “barely lasts a year” (243) because Boomboom is jealous and abusive. Lolita Luna finds herself a “kept woman,” entirely dependent on the men she...