Studies on male homosexuality in Latin America
Nesvig, Martin. 2001 “The Complicated Terrain of Latin American Homosexuality”. Hispanic American Historical Review 81(3-4): 689-729.
Nesvig argues that it is relevant to look at the sexual mores of the colonial period as many of these notions persisted into the modern period in Latin America. He notes that homosexuality was considered the ultimate sin against Nature, God, and the Crown. However, this did not stop the fact that it was a fairly common and semi- institutionalized practice. Because cities offered more opportunity for anonymity and for the development of a clandestine subculture with its own slang and codes it was rather an urban phenomenon. Reviews historiographies of homosexuality, informed by the paradigm of honor/shame, where sexuality is a key component. The metaphor of penetration is contained in the myth of La Malinche, makes being penetrated something that equates being colonized, degraded and defeated. Nesvig argues that scholarship on male homosexuality have been framed within these notions of sexuality and "conquest", so that it is frequently assumed that only the passive agent of penetration was subject to stigmatization and punishment. Nesvig notes that historians of Latin America have had a hard time documenting the transition from homosexuality as a sinful "act" (within religious discourse) to an "identity" (within medical and legal discourse) in the same way that has been described in Europe. In early twentieth century there is evidence that in some countries like Argentina homosexuality was considered both a disease and a social threat to the national order. There is the need to analyze more carefully the relationship of sexuality and power.
The late twentieth-century period has been more dominated by scholarship coming from sociology and anthropology (which makes sense since in this period there are direct accounts available from the studied actors) focusing on the meanings assigned to practices, identities, social stigma and social negotiations of meanings. Contradiction and ambiguity seems to be the features of discourses and practices of homosexuality in contemporary Mexico and Brazil, complicating the relationship between sexual practice and gender identity.
Nesvig argues that it is relevant to look at the sexual mores of the colonial period as many of these notions persisted into the modern period in Latin America. He notes that homosexuality was considered the ultimate sin against Nature, God, and the Crown. However, this did not stop the fact that it was a fairly common and semi- institutionalized practice. Because cities offered more opportunity for anonymity and for the development of a clandestine subculture with its own slang and codes it was rather an urban phenomenon. Reviews historiographies of homosexuality, informed by the paradigm of honor/shame, where sexuality is a key component. The metaphor of penetration is contained in the myth of La Malinche, makes being penetrated something that equates being colonized, degraded and defeated. Nesvig argues that scholarship on male homosexuality have been framed within these notions of sexuality and "conquest", so that it is frequently assumed that only the passive agent of penetration was subject to stigmatization and punishment. Nesvig notes that historians of Latin America have had a hard time documenting the transition from homosexuality as a sinful "act" (within religious discourse) to an "identity" (within medical and legal discourse) in the same way that has been described in Europe. In early twentieth century there is evidence that in some countries like Argentina homosexuality was considered both a disease and a social threat to the national order. There is the need to analyze more carefully the relationship of sexuality and power.
The late twentieth-century period has been more dominated by scholarship coming from sociology and anthropology (which makes sense since in this period there are direct accounts available from the studied actors) focusing on the meanings assigned to practices, identities, social stigma and social negotiations of meanings. Contradiction and ambiguity seems to be the features of discourses and practices of homosexuality in contemporary Mexico and Brazil, complicating the relationship between sexual practice and gender identity.
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