HIST 351- Winter Term 1 2013
History of Gender and Sexuality in Latin America
Calendar detail:
Role of gender and sexuality from colonial period to the present. The role of the family and the community in reinforcing
sexual and gendered roles. [3-0-0]Prerequisite: 6 credits of HIST, or 3rd year standing and one of HIST 240 or HIST 241.
Class times: W, F 12:30-1:50pm ART 204
jessica.stites-mor@ubc.ca
Office: ART 242 Hours: Mon 11-12
www.elearning.ubc.ca/connect
Naj Tunich, Mayan Cave Painting
“The time has come to think about sex. To some, sexuality may seem to be an unimportant topic, a
frivolous diversion from the more critical problems of poverty, war, racism, famine, or nuclear
annihilation. But it is precisely at times such as these, when we live with the possibility of unthinkable
destruction, that people are likely to become dangerously crazy about sexuality. Contemporary conflicts
over sexual values and erotic conduct have much in common with the religious disputes of earlier
centuries. They acquire immense symbolic weight. Disputes over sexual behavior often become the
vehicles for displacing social anxieties, and discharging their attendant emotional intensity.
Consequently, sexuality should be treated with special respect in times of great social stress.
“The realm of sexuality also has its own internal politics, inequities, and modes of oppression. As with
other aspects of human behavior, the concrete institutional forms of sexuality at any given time and place
are products of human activity. They are imbued with conflicts of interest and political maneuvering,
both deliberate and incidental. In that sense, sex is always political. But there are also historical periods
in which sexuality is more sharply contested and more overtly politicized. In such periods, the domain of
erotic life is, in effect, renegotiated.”
-Gayle Rubin
G. Rubin, “ Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality.” Culture, Society, and
Sexuality: A Reader. Ed. Richard Parker and Peter Aggleton. New York: Routledge, 1999. 143.
Detailed Description:
This course will examine a range of historical issues around the concepts of gender and sexuality in Latin
America. The course traces the development of gender and sexuality theory through its application in
recent historical research on the subject in a variety of settings, including Meso-America, the Caribbean,
Brazil, the Southern Cone, and the Peruvian Andes. Readings and discussions will center on five major
themes that signal significant transformations in sexual- and gender-based identities and social roles:
indigenous practices at the time of conquest; the process of colonization; the construction of
independent nation-states; revolutionary struggle; and the era of globalization and U.S. neo-imperialism.
Course Objectives:
Students that successfully complete this course will be able to:
 Identify major themes of the history of sexuality and gender in Latin America and situate them
within historical and geographic contexts.
 Understand developments within the critical theory on sexuality and gender and apply them to
historical topics.
 Take a critical position and present coherent arguments on gender and sexuality issues in the
form of a research paper.
 Demonstrate competency and oral skills in class discussions.
Required Texts:
Sigal, Pete. From Moon Goddesses to Virgins: The Colonization of Yucatecan Maya Sexual Desire.
Austin:
University of Texas, 2000. ISBN 0292777531
Burns, Katherine. Colonial Habits: Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru. Durham, Duke
University Press, 1999. ISBN 0822322919
Restrepo, Laura. The Dark Bride. New York: Harper Perennial, 2003. ISBN 0060088958
Hershfield, Joanne. La Chica Moderna: Woman, Nation and Visual Culture in Mexico, 1917-1934.
Durham:
Duke University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780822342380
Green, James. Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil. Chicago: University
of
Chicago, 1999. ISBN 0226306399
Brennan, Denise. What’s Love Got to Do with It? Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic.
Durham: Duke University, 2004. ISBN 0822332973
Student Evaluation:
Four in-class essays 10% each (40% total)
Participation in class discussion 10%
Novel analysis 10% (3 -5 pages)
Film analysis 10% (3 - 5 pages)
Final Exam 30% (Take home)
Extra credit option: Additional Film critiques are worth up to 2% each towards final grade, max 5%
Weekly schedule:
Week 1- Introduction to gender and sexuality in Latin America (Sept 4, 6)
A- What is gender? What is sex?
Recommended:
Joan Scott, “Gender, a Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” American Historical Review 91.5
(1986): 1053-75.
Pictographic sign (Glyph T761) for male genitalia, used as a title in Classic Maya inscriptions.
B- Sexuality and the Primitive Savage
Start Sigal – Chap 1-3
Recommended: Marianna Torgovnik. “Defining the Primitive/Reimagining Modernity,” in Gone
Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. 3-41.
Questions:
1) What is sexuality in ancient indigenous American societies? 2) How did indigenous societies
understand homosexuality? 3) How did gender relate to power and social hierarchy? 4) How did the
Maya understand sexual behavior? 5) What defined Mayan masculinity or femininity? 6) Is it possible to
reconstruct pre-Columbian sexual ideologies? What evidence can be used by the historian to understand
sexuality in the ancient past? 7) How does the Judeo-Christian filter of accounts of the past shape our
understanding of gender and sexuality in non-Western cultures?
Week 2- Modes of Reproduction (Sept. 11, 13)
A- Rituals of Kinship and Community
Sigal – Chap 4-6
Recommended: Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” Theatre Journal. 40.4
(1988): 519-531.
B- Reproducing Empire
Sigal – Chap 7-10
Recommended: Sherry Ortner. “Gender Hegemonies.” Cultural Critique. 14 (Winter 1988-1989):
35-80.
Questions:
1) How do kinship relations script gender roles and sexual customs? 2) How are class and gender
identities related to one another? 3) Are gender roles performative? 4) What is the role of blood in
determining social relationships in ancient Mesoamerica? 5) How does the state utilize marriage and
reproduction as means to reinforcing power relations and social hierarchies?
Week 3- Sex and Conquest (Sept. 18, 20)
A- The Colonizer and the Colonized
Burns – Introduction, Part One
Recommended: Ann Laura Stoler. “Tense and
Tender Ties.” Journal of American History. 88.3 (2001):
829-865.
B- FIRST IN-CLASS ESSAY (Sept 20)
Questions: 1) How does the paradigm of conquest color
gender relations during the initial encounter of Europeans
and indigenous peoples in the New World? 2) How is
sexuality related to colonization? 3) How did the Spanish
understand their sexual experiences during
colonization? 4) Did the colonization process affect the sexuality of
the colonizers? 5) What social, political, and economic issues were
raised by the practices of “sexual conquest” of the Americas? 6)
How was gender renegotiated in the process of imperial expansion
in Mesoamerica and the Andes?
Catalina de Erauso,
“Lieutenant Nun”
Week 4- Sexual Control and Sexual Deviance (Sept. 14, 27)
A- Bodies, Souls and the Catholic Church
Burns – Part Two
Recommended: Michel Foucault. “The Subject and Power.”
Critical Inquiry. 8.4 (1982): 777-795.
B- Crime, Witchcraft and Sins of the Flesh
Burns – Part Three
Recommended: Max Kirsch, “Queer Theory, Late Capitalism,
and Internalized Homophobia.” Journal of Homosexuality. 52.1 (2007): 19-45.
“El Chalequero” José Guadelupe Posada
Questions: 1) What role did the church play in
determining gender and family relationships? 2) Did the
organization of a dual authority system, between civil and
canonical law, impact the gendered struggles of colonial
life? 3) How did colonial racial constructions prefigure
sexual and gender relations in colonial Latin America? 4)
How did the religious orders structure and maintain their
influence on sexual practices in the Americas? 5) What
role did deviance play in revealing the fissures of authority
in colonial gender relations? 6) What kind of forms of
resistance did the crown and/or the Catholic church tolerate and why?
Week 5- Policing the Nation, Policing the Body (Oct. 2, 4)
A- Honor, Family, and Civil Codes in the long 19th century
Restrepo - pages 1-90
Recommended: Sherry Ortner, “The Virgin and the State” Feminist Studies. 4.3 (1978) 19-35.
B- SECOND IN-CLASS ESSAY (Oct. 4)
Restrepo – 91- 173
Week 6- Intimacies of Knowledge (Oct. 9, 11)
A- Scientific Reproduction and Medicalized Sexuality
Restrepo – 174-261
Recommended: Peter Conrad, “Medicalization and Social Control.” Annual Review of Sociology. 18
(1992): 209-232.
B- Gendered Media
Restrepo – 262- 358
Recommended: Joan Kelly, “Early Feminist Theory and the ‘Querelle des Femmes’, 1400-1789,”
Signs, 8.1 (1982): 4-28; and Elaine Showalter, “Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness,” Critical
Inquiry. 8.2 (1981): 179-205.
Questions: 1) How did legal and medical discourses come to define social norms of sexual behavior in the
19th century in Latin America? 2) Upon what kind of bases did sexual crimes become public knowledge,
how were they interpreted, and eventually how were they handled? 3) How did Porfirian moral
reformism impact gender roles in late 19th century Mexico? 4) How were science, hygiene, and medicine
implicated in the business of building the nation-state? 5) What did the presence of women writers in
the popular press mean for the representation of gender and gender issues in the media? 6) How did
women defend their interests against and by using positivist discourses?
Week 7- Inscribed on the Body (Oct. 16, 18)
A- Physicality, Corporeality, and Body Parts
Hershfield - Introduction and Chap. 1
Recommended: Judith Butler, “Variations on Sex and Gender,” The Judith Butler Reader. Ed. Sara
Salih. Malden, Massachussetts: Blackwell Publishing,
2005. 21-38.
B- Transgressivity and Expression
Hershfield - Introduction and Chap. 1
Madam Satã, Karim Aïnouz, 2002
**Novel Paper Due
(Oct. 18)
Questions:
1) What meanings did Frida Kahlo give to the
body that challenged traditional Mexican
ideas of sexuality and gender? 2) How were
transgressive expressions of individual
sexuality or gender identities, such as crossdressing and homosexuality, viewed by
Brazilian society in the 1930s? 3) What kind of “corporeality” did gender politics express in
early 20th century Latin America?
Week 8- Political Economy of Sex and Gender (Oct. 23, 25)
A- Gender-based Politics and Social Movements
Hershfield – Chap. 2-3
Recommended: bell hooks, Feminist Theory from Margin to Center, Boston: South End Press, 1984.
B- Masculinity, Sport and National Identity
Hershfield – Chap. 4-5, Conclusion
Recommended: Joane Nagel, “Masculinity and Nationalism: Gender and Sexuality in the
Making of Nations.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. 21.2 (1998): 242-269. Also Michael Messner. Power at
Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.
Questions: 1) How have women’s movements related to other political and social demands for reform or
revolution in Latin America? 2) Are women’s emancipation and equality movements necessarily tied to
left-leaning political movements? 3) What are women’s strategic and practical goals in their gender-
based political activism? 4) How does futbál or futebol in Latin
America relate to the social construction of masculinity?
Isabel Sarli, Argentine actress, Thunder among the Leaves
Week 9- Modernity, Sexual License and Gender Roles (Oct. 30,
Nov. 1)
A- THIRD IN-CLASS ESSAY (Oct. 30)
Green – Intro, Chapter 1
B- Revolutionary Women and Gay Men
Green – Chpater 2-3
Questions: 1) What unique problems did socialist revolutions cause
for women’s liberation in Nicaragua and Cuba? 2) What limitations did reform measures passed in the
1960s and 1970s face in making major changes to family life and gender roles in Cuba? 3) Can women’s
politics be viewed as independent of other political and social movements?
Week 10 - Erotica, Desire, and Love (Nov. 6, 8)
A- Pornography and Erotic Literature
Green – Chapter 4-5
Recommended: Catharine MacKinnon. Only Words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993.
Also, Angela Carter “Polemical Preface: Pornography in the Service of Women,” The Sadeian Woman
and the Ideology of Pornography. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979, 3-19.
B- Sexual Tensions of Desire and Love
Green – Chapter 6-7
Recommended: Andrea Dworkin. Intercourse. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
Questions: 1) Are desire, arousal, and sexual gratification political issues? 2) Why have pornographic
images and texts viewed by the state as threatening in Brazil and Mexico? 3) What relationship does love
or desire have to culturally constructed expectations about gender roles and sexuality? 4) Does the
emotional experience of love differ between cultures, time periods, and situations?
Week 11- Laboring Bodies (Nov. 13, 15)
A- Transnational Bodies
Brennan – Introduction, Chap 1-2
Recommended: Gayle Rubin. “Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex,” in
Feminist Anthropology: A Reader. New York: Blackwell, 2006. 87-106. Nicole Constable, “The
Commodification of Intimacy: Marriage, Sex, and Reproductive Labor.” Annual Review of
Anthropology. 38 (2009): 49-64.
B- Persistent Inequalities (Class discussion and review)
Brennan – Chap 3-4
**Film Paper DUE (Nov. 15)
Questions: 1) How does the “exotic other” play into the market and the cultural imaginary of the sex
trade in tourist economies? 2) To what extent are sex workers exploited by tourists, and to what extent
are they agents in reproducing patterns of sexual encounter and exchange? 3) How do sex tourists
understand their relationship to host countries and what might this say about their perceptions of
gender and sexuality in their own home countries? 4) What inequalities persist between genders and
different sexual identities in contemporary Latin America? 5) How have identitarian political movements
impacted gender-related political struggles?
Week 12- Wrap-up (Nov. 20, 22, 27)
A- FOURTH IN-CLASS ESSAY (Nov. 22)
**Take home FINAL is due Nov. 29
Course Policies:
Attendance at lectures, discussions, and film screenings is mandatory.
All deadlines, either on the syllabus or announced in class, should be considered inflexible. Any
assignments turned in after the due date will be marked down accordingly. In general, papers are
deducted one letter grade for each day the assignment is late. Extensions will be granted only in the case
of unforeseen emergency. If legitimate problems arise during the course of the semester which might
delay finishing written work or hinder attendance, students should communicate with the professor
prior to the scheduled events. In the event of serious illness, death in the family, or other legitimate
concern, formal documentation may be required. Any work delivered to the department instead of in
class will be time-certified by the secretary.
DISABILITY RESOURCES:
If you require disability related accommodations to meet the course objectives please contact the
Coordinator of Disability Resources located in the Student development and Advising area of the
Student Services Building. For more information about Disability Resources or about academic
accommodations please visit the website at http://okanagan.students.ubc.ca/current/disres.cfm
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all
students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct regarding academic
integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work done by you and
acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to others as required. This also
means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is your work. Violations of academic
integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the break down of the academic enterprise, and therefore serious
consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating
usually result in a failing grade or mark of zero on the assignment or in the course. Careful records are
kept in order to monitor and prevent recidivism.
A more detailed description of academic integrity, including the policies and procedures, may be found at
http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/faculties/resources/academicintegrity.html.
If you have any questions about how academic integrity applies to this course, please consult with your
professor.
Style Guide for Citation of References in Writing:
The History faculty has adopted a guide to follow for the submission of all History papers. Students are
expected to submit all papers in lower level history courses in the format as defined in the style guide.
This guide is available for purchase in the bookstore. Copies are also on reserve in the library. This text
is: Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing History (Bedford Books).
Marks:
A range (80% to 100%)
A+ (90% +)
A (85-89%) A- (80-84%)
Exceptional performance.
Superior grasp of subject matter with sound critical evaluations.
Evidence of extensive knowledge of the literature.
Superior organization and use of evidence.
Persuasive composition. Reflects having benefited from revision.
B range (68% to 79%)
B+ (76-79%) B (72-75%)
B- (68-71%)
Competent performance.
Clear grasp of the subject matter and appropriate use of evidence.
Some evidence of critical and analytical ability.
Demonstrated familiarity with the literature.
Clear composition.
C range (60 to 67%)
C+ (64-67%) C (60-63%)
Satisfactory performance.
Basic understanding of the subject matter.
Demonstrated ability to develop solutions to basic problems with the issues and
material.
Acceptable but uninspired presentation that is not generally faulty but lacks style
and depth.
Generally flawed composition.
D to C- range (50-59%)
C- (55-59%) D (50-54)
Minimal acceptable performance.
Familiarity with material and themes but no consistent analytical or expository
qualities.
Usually awkward, difficult composition and/or organization.
F range (0 to 49%)
Inadequate performance.
Little or no evidence of understanding of the subject matter or use of materials.
Weak critical and analytical quality.
Substandard composition and/or failure to meet the technical requirements for the
assignment.
Grammatical mistakes which exceed the accidental.