In Dogeaters, sex, fragility, and power are intimately linked. Joey’s first sexual experience, organized by his pimp-like uncle, highlights his weakness — he is very young, only ten years old, and his inexperience is emphasized. Hagedorn likens him to a boy riding a horse, and the woman instead is made to seem masculine and ox-like, “grunting” while shifting Joey around with “rough” hands (pg. 44). He is the fragile one as his virginity is taken. However, he grows to become the dominant partner in his future sexual encounters as a prostitute, stealing the money and breaking the hearts of his future lovers.
Joey’s true power over those who are in love with him is showcased through his interactions with Neil, the American serviceman. Hagedorn writes: “But I could tell he was fascinated, just like all the rest of them” (pg. 73). Entranced by his beauty, Neil is willing to do anything for Joey. Joey is cruel to Neil and makes him feel “embarrassed” and teases him, playing with his emotions. Further, Joey notes that he knows “how to get to Neil” when he thinks of using Neil to pay for his future life in L.A. or Vegas (pg. 77). Through the power of beauty and sex, Joey becomes dominant over Neil, whose weaknesses and emotional fragility are revealed. Despite being a physically fit and reasonably affluent American serviceman, Joey still controls Neil through this sexual bond.
How do you think Hagedorn uses sex and attraction to subvert typical notions of strength and power? Do you think Joey is truly in control?
Similarly, in General Ledesma’s affair with Lolita Luna, we see how the young starlet exercises control over one of the most powerful and wealthy men in the Philippines. The General “worships” Luna’s face and despite never letting her forget that she is a “kept woman”, openly weeps in her presence (pg. 97). In his close act of sex with Luna, the General reveals his emotional instability to her, while she, much like Joey with Neil, is cruel and callous, as she “enjoys it when he weeps in front of her” (pg. 97). Luna feels she is in control when with the General and uses her body and the act of sex as leverage. Instead of being kind with him and embracing him equally, she remains distant and actually is high on drugs before having sex (pg. 96). Emotionally, she is separated from the man that she is sleeping with, just as Joey is separated from Neil. Both turn sex from a portrayal of love into a form of power struggle and dominance.
How do you think sex and power are portrayed in the novel? Do you agree that sex leads to a power difference between the two people involved?
Claude McKay in “Harlem Shadows” frequently compared sex and love to the symbol of the flower. What themes re-surface here as we look at these different interpretations of love and sex in Dogeaters?
English 4W: Transnational America 