by el puelche on Thu May 03, 2007 12:42 am
Separacion total de bienes.....when you get married in Chile they will ask you how you want your worldly goods or possesions divided up and...so, STDB basicly the complete division between man and wife in regard to posssessions.....Usually any male with weath will enter a marriage with this stipulation.....there are several reasons for it but usually the first reason is that through the courts, whatever trouble the man gets into, the court can only take what is in his name....so, families will start this way and for example the main family home will be in the name of the wife so that no matter bad business goes on there can be no taking of the house. As well, this lends tot he security of the wife and children as she knows that no one and nothing can take the home out from under her.
Now if you worked at the hardware store in town, or the supermarket it wouldn't matter...I'm talking about the movers and shakers in any town, city or community(there are some other marriage laws that go in with this but thats not the point right now of why it is done). Business can go south fast and the male of the marrage can find himself in alot of trouble fast and therefore any assets he has are directly affected. Debters Prison in CHile is alive and well and a very serious issue.
So....there is the tendency for many latin males to stray from thier vows and so create other offspring in thier endeavor to enjoy life. It isn't unusual that at a certain age successful male latins are able to seperate themselves to some degree from thier original family and live a life of "variety" so to speak. THis can be typical of professionals that have an income that will support such a lifestyle. In effect what happens is that the wife becomes aware and, as she "owns th house in her name only", makes life un-bearable for hubbby at home and so he makes other arrangements. Sometimes the husband will help out at home with cash but usually he will not as he will just as much need that cash for the new honey or honeys.
Chilean law is such that a wife must recieve her husband and make a home for him where ever she is. So, for example, the husband can leave the house but the wife must accept him back when ever he chooses...even to the point that if the wife leaves the home and goes to her mothers' house for example and the husband shows up at the house, she by law must allow a place for him in the house.....there are several corallaries to this but effectively the point is that although CHilean society is matriarchal, the wife is screwed and left with little defense against a husband that neglects her.
This creates a special circumstance for the wife in that she becomes abandoned in her own home....usually the wife has no income and then at 40 years old when the husband leaves she has really less than any real chance of providing for herself and her children. She can, when from a better off family, expect a certain amount of help from parents but it can happen that her mother is in the same situation....a wicked circle.
Now it happens that when what I have described is the case, there is also a societal and cultural paradox at hand....a well off family one day is the next day on the edge of loosing everything and really thrown into the ranks of the poor....the cliche'd elite cannot let this happen and so a inter-group support system comes to play....after all La Senora Maria Paz Correa de Ugarte of yesterday and today the same woman as "Maria Paz" cannot be allowed to slip beneathe the the waves of poverty and filth...no matter where her husband sleeps.
Maria Paz is brought up to the rector of the private school and he is made aware that the three children will be late in tuitions this semester...and by the way can't they pay alittle less??? What if she helps in the office? and so it goes for Maria Paz all over town....favor after favor is called in and she is saved from the humiliation of not having enough cash to make it all be okay at the end of the month. THis is all done with no mention of a break-up or that the husband is off somewhere with someone else. Utmost dignity is upheld until....
Maria Paz after awhile runs out of favors, its been going on for awhile. THe better families will even invite her to the same boat parties or the couples weekend at the refugio, all knowing that she would be alone...no one actually says it but everyone knows..."Maria- Paz you and Juan Carlos are invited and if Juan Carlos can't come the first day then just ride with us...." they know that jc will not come but they feel obliged to bring Maria paz along so tht t=she escapes the dreariness of her present circumstance if just for a week end.
Maria paz has a lot favors perhaps still but no cash for the regular things...and it happens...one male from the social group she belongs stops over at the house to see if he can help...its the middle of the day and the kids are in school. THe maid only comes thress times a week now and he shows up on the off day...he has been thoughtful and brought some gifts for the children...she is so stressed out and tired....he offers a massage and well...if its a good deal for her...he is of a stature in the town professionaly and financialy she will allow him to massage away the pain of the day...and so it goes....a few visits here and there and although there isn't really money on the dresser when he leaves...the tuition at the school is somehow paid, the bill at the supermarket is paid and Maria-paz goes to the seamstress for a new outfit and well...amazingly there is no bill to pay.
Maria Paz is off course still married as there is no divorce in CHile...does she become pregnant?...what does it matter? she's married and certainly the child is her husbands...but then the shine of a new mistress wears off and so Senor # 1 isn't around as much and then not at all and a Senor #2 comes in to help her out....not as shiny and new as Senor #1 but still a provider...and then Senor #3 and then SEnor # 4 etc....there isn't enough money for an anullment and the husband wouldn't allow it anyway and so she slips away to places she would never imagine having to go. THis usually takes years and finaly the children are out of school and not really her problem now. If Maria Paz is smart and quick, she has saved a certain amount from what has fallen off the table of the Senores so that when her allure in the bedroom is no longer enough, she has something from which to live.
Most towns will have several different groups and clicks....there can be several Maria Paz in every group...there is always at least one Maria Paz in every town. Senor White made it his job to be the Senor # 3 for all the Marias in the town.
In his thinking...she was sliding out and desperate or at least more desperate and willing...willing to provide the info on all her lovers....as the Senores didn't see her as a wife to be feared for her knowledge....she would see all the secrets of the village, and all the deals going on...she was like a picture on the wall and heard it all...after all what could she do to harm anyone?...nothing...and so SEnor White would cull the information from the soiled daisies and reap the benefits....she heard about the meetings, the phone calls, the secret meetings and the really secret meetings...and by the time Senor White was in her bed she had to deliver the info so as to justify her expense to him....willing and able and even willing to go on the offensive and find out info that he needed.
Senor White always had at least 6 or 7 of the Marias....he knew everything so he got there ahead of everyone else and bet on the cards they had, they thought they had or hoped to have...he knew so much he even knew what the dealer had before the card even came up...they never had a chance.....I guess when you're used to manouevering around the likes of goering, himmler and speer this wasn't too out of range.
That is the brutal truth of it all and harsh it is....
p.
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