By: Sabryne and Amber
BACKGROUND INFO. ON AUTHOR
MAYRA SANTOS-FEBRES
• Born in 1966, of Puerto Rican descent
• Is currently an Associate Literature Professor at the
University of Puerto Rico.
 She’s won critical acclaim for her two books of poetry
and short stories including two prizes:
•
•
Letras de Oro Prize from the University of Miami (1994)
Juan Rulfo Prize awarded by Radio Sarandi in Paris
(1997)
 Published a collection of short stories called Pez de
Vidrio containing 15 short stories on the topics of:
 sexual desire, race, identity, social class, and
political status in the present day Caribbean society
QUOTES
“…Her face was a perfect balance of make up and chimera. Valentina never seemed
completely done up, she never exaggerated the tone of rouge, or lip pencil, she
never wore wigs. Her midnight auburn tresses were all hers; the starved yet wellmuscled, frame hers; the risqué, but never clownish, sense of fashion, all hers. It
took her years to obtain the happy transformation of her body into pure luxury;
years leafing through beauty magazines, catalogs of haute couture, make up
manuals…the most beautiful and daring of all dragas on the coast…” (Febres 58)
Discussion Questions:
1) Why do you think Sirena admired/ idolized Valentina so much?
2) Could there be underlying reasons rooted in her childhood? Perhaps a result
of not having a mother to look up to?
QUOTES:
VALENTINA FRENESI
“…Valentina took care of him while he was recuperating. She made
him give up the street, and she worked double to pay for
medicine, bandages, food. She prepared chicken broth, rice,
mashed potatoes, and small pieces of stewed veal to settle her
protégé stomach…” (Febres 67)
“…Promise me you wont let this ever happen to you ever again…”
(Febres 67)
“He had to return to work the streets now and then. Those nights
Valentina watched him like a hawk. She waited on the corner
with a hit of coca in her hand, ready to alleviate the fear of death
that came over Sirenito as soon as he climbed into a client’s car.
Valentina made all the arrangements herself; out of the corner
of her eye she memorized the license number of the car…and
she made him renew his promise never to let anyone stick it in
him again, not even for all the money in the world…” (Febres 69)
“…And I would die if something happened to you again…” (Febres
69)
Discussion Questions:
1) Do you see any differences between Martha and Valentina?
2) Does Valentina seem more maternally and emotionally involved
with Sirena?
3)Does her love seem conditional or unconditional? Does this seem
more like a business relationship?
QUOTES:
UNDERSTANDING SIRENA SELENA
“Pero se murio, Tina. She died. No one else in my family has lifted a finger for
me. So I just have to take care of myself. Use what I have to my advantage.
And where else can I do that? Where am I going to earn cold hard cash?”
(Febres, 66)
“…and Sirena feeling like the unhappiest being on the face of the earth, threw
himself into the cotton-filled breasts and the muscular arms of his hermanashe was more family to him than his own.” (Febres 66)
“…With his silent crying he could tell his sister everything, better than with wordsthe pain of abandonment by his mother, the death of his grandmother, the
sleepless nights looking for a place to rest, the anxiety of living with the
constant danger of a run-in, fed up with everything, mistrusting even his own
shadow, accustomed to being unloved, used to the filthy lust that thrives in
the street, esa calle, that was his home and his grave…” (Febres 67)
Discussion Questions:
1) Do you think that Sirena Selena’s rooted issues of abandonment and
lack of security have in some way led to her current lifestyle?
2) Do you think that in some way, she fulfills the desire to feel loved and
comforted by sleeping with different men? Or does it just have to do with
making money and surviving?
QUOTES:
SIMILARITIES
“…Not Leocadio. He just likes to stay at home or clean houses with me or spend
hours fixing up the patio, sweeping leaves. Sometimes the patrona lets me take
him to her house and he keeps himself busy looking at the plants and thinking up
new ways to combine them in the gardens…and he really clings to me” (Febres,
56)
“…When he began to feel better, Sirenito started to help with makeup sessions, to run
errands, to take care of pieces of Valentina’s wardrobe, to choose bases that
obscured more effectively the shadow of her beard. Alert to any need of his
hermana’s, he spent the whole day cleaning the apartment…” (Febres, 67)
Discussion Questions:
• 1) Do you see any similarities between Leocadio and Sirena Selena?
• 2) Do Leocadio’s qualities in any way remind you of Sirena Selena’s
characteristics?
• 3) Do you think they’re both afraid of losing or being rejected by those
who’ve shown them love and security? Are they in some way
motivated by the fear of losing protection?
QUOTES:
REGAINING SIGHT
“…Before when he was overcome with melancholy, he would hum tunes or sing
bits of the chorus, but the bolero itself escaped him, as if he suffered from
an illness that made him forget the words as soon as he remembered the
melody. However, that night, for some reason, he remembered an entire
bolero and then another and another. Abuela…she was bringing all the
boleros to his breast, word for word, the perfect memory of their melodies.
Each song made his face hot, made him feel things that he had dispatched
as useless…” (Febres 69)
“…Sirenito regained his sight. He waited for the client to release his face and
drive him back to his corner. He took the money in payment for his services
and got out of the car. He didn’t even count the bills…his abuela’s boleros
were all the wealth he needed to protect himself from nights on the street
forever…” (Febres 70)
Discussion Questions:
1) What about Abuela’s boleros gave him his spirit back? Why do
you think this happened?
2) What do you think his grandmother is symbolic of , or rather how
is she represented in the life of Sirena Selena?
QUOTES:
UNDERSTANDING HUGO
“The people looked at him without seeing him, or pretending that they didn’t see him, the
son of Don Marcial Graubel, that feeble white boy who looked like a girl” (Santos- Febres
104).
 Discussion question:
 Do you think Don Marcial Graubel took Hugo to have sex with a female to rid his son of the
image he was known for? If so why do you think the act of his son sleeping with a female
would accomplish this goal?
“Maybe the party will let Hugo out of the bad mood he’s been in for months now. What is
going on with him? Nothing seems to suit him lately. Who know, maybe he’ll be impressed
with how careful and efficient I’ve been….and finally he’ll be happy. Who knows, maybe after
the guests leave, he’ll want to….where did I put my lingerie? I should take it out and leave it
on the bed…just in case.”( Febres 74)
 Discussion question:
 Do you think the trauma Hugo experienced as a young man created a sense of resentment
towards women? Can we actually see this resentment in his relationship with his wife?
HUGO’S MASCULINITY WITH SIRENA SELENA
 Hugo’s sense of masculine identity:
 Discussion Questions In the book, the author described Hugo’s experience with Eulalia as a “ritual”; in regards to
masculinity do you believe when a male loses his virginity it transforms him into a man?
 How do you think Hugo represents the masculine dominant role? Or do you see any gender
role playing going on between Sirena Selena and Hugo?
 Hugo and Selena:
“He took a cigarette from his pocket, lighted it, moved over to a wicker chair, and sat down. As if
in a movie theater, he watched the delicate, wicked boy- woman gracefully setting the stage for
her intricate love song?” ( Santos-Febres 107)
 Discussion Questions:
 Hugo seems to have an intense infatuation with Selena, where do you think this emotion comes
from?
 What do you think Hugo’s intentions are with her? Can we deem them to be merely sexual, or can
we say that he is intrigued by her performativity and desires that for himself? Is it more of a sexual
tension or would you say mere curiosity?
MARTHA’S TRANSFORMATION
Without heels I couldn’t walk from here to the corner, not even if I had a gun to my
head. “It took so much work to learn the difficult art of mastering the stilettos and the
thin straps, at the beginning of her transformation. A whole year it took her to forget
the mannerisms of the Pentecostal youth she once was; to learn about glamour,
begin collecting dainty poses, the eyelash-batting, the smiles of famous singers, the
undulating runway walk, until she found the perfect combination of her new identity”
(Santos-Febres 90)
 Discussion Question:
 Can an identity be truly replaced regardless of a sex-change? Do effects still
linger? Do you think that the belief of getting a sex change to “become one” has
in some way led Martha and other drag queens to believe that life will be perfect
after that?
CLIPS AND QUESTIONS
•
Do you think the performance of drag in and of
itself can skew or threaten an individual’s own
sexual identity?
•
Do you think it just applies to those who “haven’t
come out of the closet” yet or can it go beyond?
 Confessions of a Drag Queen
•
Do you think that it can serve as a foundation to
help those who are undecided about their
sexuality? In what ways?
 Confessions of a Drag Queen 2
REFERENCES
Last, F. M. (Year Published) Book. City, State: Publisher.
Santos-Febres, Mayra. (2000) Sirena Selena. New York: Picador
http://vimeo.com/14327115
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB4UK53tkZU&feature=youtu.be
THANK YOU!