How does one emit or achieve this phenomenon we call "power"? Although the short stories, Never Marry a Mexican, Woman Hollering Creek, and La Fabulosa: A Texas Operetta by Sandra Cisneros portray stories of "male superiority," if one were to search deeper, traces of womanly power can certainly be discovered. As each story unfolds, this "power" matures into something much more meaningful. Through these three stories, Cisneros illustrates power as: learning and developing it; having confidence and demonstrating it; and simply possessing it as sheer authority and control.
In the story, Never Marry a Mexican, Clemencia learns to subconsciously develop power because "not a man exists who hasn't disappointed [her]" (69). Through the actions of the male sex, she achieves this notion of power. Since men have failed her, she gains the power to choose to " never marry. Not any man" (68). Given that she prefers not to marry, her power grows to a sense of independence. She is " amphibious a person who doesn't belong to any class" (71). What Clemencia denotes by being "amphibious" is her ability to associate with various classes of society. Eventually, she proclaims this developed "power" while speaking to Drew when she says: "I paint and repaint you the way I see fit, even now Making the world look at you from my eyes. And if that's not power, what is?" (75). Thus, Clemencia's power starts from displeasure in men, yet finishes with the manipulation of the cause.
While Clemencia's story largely has to do with gaining knowledge the hard way, Woman Hollering Creek's story describes a different sense of power. When Cleofilas meets Felice for the first time, she sees a " woman in [a] pickup- (55). Though commonplace nowadays, to Cleofilas, this was no ordinary woman. Cleofilas was the type of woman who planned on a telenovela type of lifestyle when it came to abuse, yet, when push came to shove, she admits to being "so surprised she didn't cry out or try to defend herself she didn't fight back, she didn't break into tears, she didn't run away as she imagined she might- (47).
