Crybaby Candidates and Apaleadores: Manly Self-Restraint, Violence, and Ethnicity in Late Nineteenth-Century Guatemala City

Abstract

ABSTRACT The cultivation of coffee and the Liberal Reforms of the 1870s instigated a transformation in the social composition of Guatemala City’s urban elite as rural and working-class ladinos rose to economic and political prominence. In response to this social mobility, criollo elites codified the precepts of hombría de bien, or proper manhood, in etiquette guides to distinguish themselves from ladinos, who they argued were characterized by rudeza or brashness. Contrary to criollo insistence, however, both they and ladinos prioritized self-restraint as the hallmark of their manliness. Where the two groups differed, however, was the constitution of self-restraint, especially concerning rage, cowardice, and the nature of violence. The political careers of Próspero Morales and José León Castillo provide examples of competing views of manliness during the 1890s. Crucially, the coffee depression during the closing years of the century signaled a shift toward ladino manliness as violence pervaded political life.