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20 - Sexuality in a Distant Metropolis: Buenos Aires from the Late Nineteenth to the Mid-Twentieth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2024

By
Pablo Ben  and
Santiago Joaquín Insausti
Edited by
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks  and
Mathew Kuefler
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Mathew Kuefler
Affiliation:
San Diego State University
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Summary

Although Spanish-speaking lands are often imagined as lands of sexual intolerance, Buenos Aires is better characterized by ineffectual repression and by its recent celebration of sexual diversity. In this chapter we analyze sexuality in Buenos Aires against the backdrop of economic, socio-demographic, cultural, and political transformations that often undermined the regulations of authorities. The decades between 1880, when Buenos Aires became the capital, and the overthrow of President Juan Perón in 1955 were crucial for the formation of modern Argentina and constitute its focus. We begin with some preceding historical trends in the colonial and early independent era, and end with a succinct analysis of a few salient trends after 1955, especially those leading to Buenos Aires becoming a leader of LGBTQ+ rights in the twenty-first century. We discuss immigration, class differences in sexual behaviours, commercialized sex, sexual diversity with marica and homosexual identities, the rise of family sociability, and the push for sexual ‘normalcy’.

Keywords

Buenos AiresArgentinasexualityworking classsame-sexmaricasLGBTQ+Perónmiddle classdeviance
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge World History of Sexualities , pp. 419 - 439
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Further Reading

Acha, Omar. Crónica sentimental de la Argentina peronista: Sexo, inconsciente e ideología, 1945–1955. Buenos Aires: Prometeo, 2014.Google Scholar
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