The "Corrido de Rosita Alvirez"(text H) tells the story of a young girl who disobeys her mother by going to a dance where she is murdered by a man with whom she refuses to dance. This corrido emerges from the category of ejemplo corridos, and as the word ejemplo implies, they set an example with their "thematic content and their function in Mexican society" (Herrerra-Sobek). Because the dance and dangers of the dance are popular topics of the folkloric ejemplo corridos, such as "Jesús Cadena", "El guero Candelario", "Los Pavos Reales", and "micaela", it is evident that the dance played an important part in the socialization of the people of Mexico.

The above version of "Rosita Alvirez", dated 1935, depicts a disobedient, flittacious young woman who willfully insults and disrespects a man in public, older versions, such as "Rosita Alvirez", from approximately 1885 portray Rosita as an innocent victim of a man's machismo brought forth from a hurt ego. This machismo is larger than life, similar to the Greek mythological giant, Hippolytos. Hipolito, or the shortened form Pólito, is used as the killer's name in all the Rosita corridos. This name recalls the tragic life of a Hippolytos, whose troubles with a vengeful stepmother lead his father to curse him (Herrerra-Sobek p.31) -- it seems this curse is embodied in the name.

In this version of the corrido, Rosita is portrayed as a disobedient daughter in the second stanza when she does not respect her mother's wishes for her not to go to the dance:

Su mamá se lo decía:
Rosa, esta noche, no sales;
Mamá no tengo la culpa,
que a mí me gusten los bailes.

Although this is an oral tradition, there is some question regarding the semantics of the third stanza of this corrido. In this particular written version, the meaning is clear because of the semi-colon after dirigio. The meaning, thus being interpreted as: Hipólito arrived at the dance and went straight to ask Rosita for a dance. Then she turned him down, because she was the prettiest woman there. Thus making her beauty her reason for rejecting him, which seems to reflect an arrogant attitude on the behalf of Rosita, making her less likable. But in other versions of the corrido, the lack of punctuation suggests a different meaning.

Hipólito llegó al baile
y a ella se dirigió
como era la mas bonita
Rosita lo desarió,
Rosita lo desarió.

This could be interpreted as: He arrived at the dance and went straight to her because she was the prettiest. Then, she turned him down. Thus, her beauty is the reason that he asked her to dance. This makes her excuse for not dancing with him (she does not know how to dance) more believable, and adds credibility to Rosita as the victim.

The older corridos do not include stanzas such as 4, when Rosita injures Hippólito's ego by saying "No me inporta nada, contigo no he de bailar," or stanza 6, when Rosita's mother calls her a pizpireta (flirt), and saying for this she will die. Rather, the older corridos have elements suggesting innocence such as the speech event, "No lo hago por desaigrarte, Si es que yo no se bailar," which establishes the identity of Rosita's genuine inability to dance. These corridos also portray Hipólito as having a bad attitude and displaying his machismo, such as in stanzas 7 and 8 of this text from Vicente Mendoza:

Pólito le dice así
-Rosita, no es la verdad,
Si es que no sabes bailar,
Si es la poca voluntad.

Pólito les dice así
-Señores, pongan cuidado,
ésta de mi no se burla,
no soy ningún desgraciado.

Stanza 7 qualifies this corrido as an ejemplo corrido, because here Rosita tells her story to Irene, telling her not to forget the story of Rosita and the trouble she got into for disrespecting a man.

This "lesson" is assuredly one in the realm of men, and not of gods, because in stanza 9, Rosita goes to heaven and Hipólito goes to court to tell his side of the story. This stanza exhibits formulaic qualities, as it is found in other folkloric corridos, such as "Delgadina".

The representation of the woman in "Rosita Alvirez" reflects the cultural and patriarchal restraints which place the female in a position inferior to that of the male. Many of the scholarly analyses and investigations regarding the corrido denote the gender conflicts and oppressions placed upon the female. Maria Herrerra-Sobek, a prominent corrido researcher, posits that the corrido has a "function of socializing the young and, in this particular case, women into acceptable roles of behavior" (Herrerra-Sobek, 1990). In the many versions of the corrido, whether it be where the female is an innocent victim or where the female is to blame, Rosita always reaches a tragic ending. Inevitably the female always dies. Still, in another version of the corrido the death of Rosita becomes a mockery. In this satirical version or parody, the life of the female is devoid of any value -- reflecting the general mindset of a traditional patriarchal dominated society.

The devaluing of women is further, but more subtly, manifested in the manner in which the female and male figures are presented in the corrido. From the ten corridos (including the three versions) we examined, we have come to the realization that there exists a "shift in focus" of character/s of the male/s. The attitude and actions of the murderer become the center of attention. Further, the figure of the father vindicating his daughters death becomes substantial to the corrido. In the three versions that we encountered where the female is depicted as an innocent dame the references to the male characters is much greater than in the others. In "Corrido de Rosita" from the Gallery Collection, there are six stanzas referring to the male characters and only two alluding to Rosiat's character, four of which are direct speech events by the males and only one speech event by Rosita. Still, in another version "Rosita Alires", from Estudio y Clasificacion de la Musica tradicional hispanica de nuevo mexico there are four direct speech events by Rosita compared to six belonging to the male characters. The last and final version we encountered also reflects an emphasis on the males. In contrast, when the female is depicted as the culprit of her own downfall, the focus shifts to emphasize her individual character, rather than that of the males. The female's flaws of character are stressed; Rosita's refusal to obey her mother and her presumptuous and coquettish demeanor become the core of the corrido. >From the seven versions we came across, not one mentions the father and each grants only one speech event, if any, to the character of Hipólito. Instead, the stanzas used attempt to paint a picture of a young dame who deserve to die. Stanzas such as the following are used to describe a haughty and flirtatious Rosita:

Su mama se lo decia:
-Rosa, esta noche no sales"
-mama, no tengo la culpa
que a mi me justen los bailes."

-Rosita, no me desaires,
la gente la va a notar.
-A mi no me importa nada,
contigo no he de bailar

Su mama se lo decia:
-Ya vistes, hija querida,
por andar e pizpireta,
te habia de llegar el dia.-,

This "shift in focus" is significant in that it can dehumanize Rosita and strip her of her individuality transforming her into an object or possession which can only affirm her innocence through the arrogant portrayal of the murderer and the fathers vindication of her death. Rosita can only affirm an untainted and pure reputation by depicting the murderer as a violent and dreadful character. In addition, the presence of the father is essential in claiming her worth as an individual. Yet, when Rosita is blamed for her tragic ending, due to her disrespectful ways and haughty attitude, her individuality is emphasized. Rosita's character alone, can affirm her culpability. The "shift in focus" is set so that regardless of the situation, the female is always degraded and stripped of all values. In the versions where she is innocent, Rosita is merely an object belonging to a patriarchal society, where only through the justification by a male, can Rosita make claims to any self worth. In the versions where she is responsible for her own downfall, again Rosita is an individual devoid of worth and deserving of death because of her rash and conceited personality and unacceptable demeanor.

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VicenteT.Mendoza and Virginia R. R. de Mendoza. Estudio y Clasificación de la Música Tradicional Hispánica de Nuevo México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mézico, D. F., 1985.

Herrera-Sobek, María. The Mexican Corrido: A Feminist Analysis. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1990.