Ana Amuchástegui

Politics, Religion and Gender Equality in Contemporary Mexico: women's sexuality and reproductive rights in a contested secular state

Abstract This article explores the complexities of the interaction between politics, religion and gender equality in contemporary Mexico, by analysing recent developments in public debate, legal changes and implementation of government policies in two areas: 1) the inclusion of emergency contraception in public health services in 2004; and 2) the decriminalisation of abortion in Mexico City in 2008, which was followed by a massive campaign to re-criminalise abortion in the federal states. Three main findings emerge from our analysis: first, that womens sexual and reproductive autonomy has become an issue of intense public debate that is being addressed by both state–public policy and society; second, that the gradual democratisation of the Mexican political system and society is forcing the Catholic Church to play by the rules of democracy; and third, that the character and nature of the Mexican (secular) state has become an arena of intense struggle within which traditional political boundaries and ideologies are being reconfigured.

Dialogue and the negotiation of meaning: Constructions of virginity in Mexico

This article analyzes the social meaning assigned to virginity and sexual initiation in three areas of Mexico. The introduction: 1) notes that such a study may contribute to an understanding of constructs of sexuality, 2) reviews research in sexuality in Mexico, and 3) relates the current study to other qualitative studies of the cultural aspects of sexuality because it focuses on how sexual meanings are constructed. The next section explains how the studys conceptual foundation was influenced by social constructivist accounts of sex and sexuality and reviews the theory underlying the research process. The third section describes the field work conducted among an Indian community that is connected to the larger community, a rural subsistence agricultural village heavily influenced by Catholicism, and a working-class urban neighborhood. Data were gathered from 7 group discussions and in-depth individual interviews with 14 men and 13 women 15-30 years old. Next, the analysis is shown to have revealed recurrence of four major thematic categories that were analyzed in terms of narrative, metaphor, and rhetoric and in terms of dialogue and polyphony. An example is then provided to illustrate how deconstruction was used to interpret the dialogue. The discussion of findings points out that common constructions of meaning in the three communities proved to be as important as differences. The influence of Catholicism, urban culture, and formal education were recognizable and strong in all settings.

Women's interpretations of the right to legal abortion in Mexico City: citizenship, experience and clientelism

In April 2007, after a period of intense social debate, the Mexico City Legal Assembly legalized abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, which was an unprecedented development in womens rights in Mexico. Within the context of a proliferation of public discourses about womens citizenship rights changes in womens social status in Mexico, this article explores the extent to which the newly legalized character of abortion is interpreted by women as a right. Drawing on 24 interviews with women who had a legal termination of pregnancy between 2008 and 2009, this research shows that legalization opens up new and complex relationships between women as subjects of rights and the state. Such relationships are expressed as three discursive figures: legal abortion (1) as a concession from the government, (2) as ‘excessive’ tolerance by the state, and (3) as a right to be protected and guaranteed. The analysis shows that womens interpretations of the right to legal abortion are mediated by profound transformations, which Mexican society is currently undergoing. These include changes related to a shift from a clientist political culture to one more framed in terms of citizenship, the subjective effects of family planning policies, and their ambivalent relationships with Catholic notions of women and motherhood, and the effects of feminist discourses of womens citizenship, abortion, and reproductive rights.

Catolicadas: A Sexuality Education Animated Series

Launched in 2012 by Catolicas por el Derecho a Decidir, Mexico, the animated series Catolicadas has now finished its fifth season. Disseminated both through social networks and a local TV channel, Catolicadas addresses issues such as sexuality and sexual rights, contraception, and reproductive rights including abortion, violence against women, sexual diversity, and the interference of the Catholic Church in public policy. In order to reflect on the impact of new technologies in young people’s sexual education, this chapter will analyze the experience of Catolicadas through statistics drawn from YouTube about the profile and topics of interest for young followers, surveys conducted by Conserved Domain Database through Facebook, which assess any changes in young people’s perceptions of sexual education promoted by the Catholic Church, and semi-structured interviews carried out with sexual educators.

Limits, excesses and pleasures: practices and discourses of sex work in a Mexican rural community

Abstract In Tomatlán, a small city on the Mexican Pacific Coast there is a tolerance zone in which a group of sex workers, separated from the rest of the city by a garbage dump, offer their services to local men. The women present themselves materially and symbolically as agents of regulation with respect to male sexuality, itself constructed as overwhelming and insatiable, which, were it not for services provided by the sex workers, would threaten the family-based social order. Through in-depth interviews with 19 sex workers and 5 municipal officials, this paper discusses how the sex gender system results in a series of borders that are both geographical and subjective. Such borders have to do with periphery and control, body and intimacy, and the boundaries of animality.

Límites, excedentes y placeres: Prácticas y discursos en torno al trabajo sexual en una zona rural de México

Resumen: En una pequena ciudad de la costa mexicana del Pacifico se encuentra una zona de tolerancia donde un grupo de trabajadoras sexuales, separadas del resto de la ciudad por contenedores de basura, ofrece sus servicios a los hombres de la localidad. Las mujeres se presentan, material y simbolicamente, como agentes regulatorias de una sexualidad masculina que se construye desbordante e insaciable y que, de no ser por ellas, amenazaria el orden social fundado en la familia. A partir de entrevistas realizadas con trabajadoras y con autoridades municipales, en este articulo se analizan las maneras en que un sistema de sexo-genero produce localmente una serie de limites cuyos ejes son, al tiempo, geograficos y subjetivos: la periferia y el control, cuerpo e intimidad, y la frontera de la animalidad. Palabras claves: trabajo sexual; heterosexualidad; cuerpo; poder; Mexico Limites, excessos e prazeres: praticas e discursos em torno do trabalho sexual em uma zona rural do Mexico Resumo: Em uma pequena cidade da costa mexicana do Pacifico se encontra uma zona de tolerância onde um grupo de trabalhadoras sexuais, separadas do resto da cidade por conteineres de lixo, oferece seus servicos aos homens da localidade. As mulheres se apresentam material e simbolicamente como agentes reguladoras de uma sexualidade masculina que se constroi de forma transbordante e insaciavel e que, se nao fosse por elas, ameacaria a ordem social baseada na familia. A partir de entrevistas realizadas com trabalhadoras e com autoridades municipais, neste artigo se analisam as maneiras com que um sistema de sexo-genero produz localmente uma serie de limites cujos eixos sao, ao mesmo tempo, geograficos e subjetivos: a periferia e o controle, corpo e intimidade e a fronteira da animalidade. Palavras-chave: trabalho sexual; heterossexualidade; corpo; poder; Mexico Limits, excesses and pleasures: practices and discourses on sexual work in a Mexican rural community Abstract: In a small city in the Pacific coast of Mexico there is a red-light district where a group of sex workers, separated from the rest of the town by trash containers, offer their services to local men. The women present themselves both materially and symbolically as regulatory agents of a male sexuality understood as overflowing and insatiable and which, were it not for them, would threaten a social order founded in the family. Drawing from interviews with sex workers and municipal authorities, this article discusses the ways in which a sex-gender system produces local borders which are both geographical and subjective: periphery and control, body and intimacy, and the boundaries of humanity and heterosexuality. Keywords: sex workers; heterosexuality; body; power; Mexico

Limites, excessos e prazeres: práticas e discursos em torno do trabalho sexual em uma zona rural do México

Resumen: En una pequena ciudad de la costa mexicana del Pacifico se encuentra una zona de tolerancia donde un grupo de trabajadoras sexuales, separadas del resto de la ciudad por contenedores de basura, ofrece sus servicios a los hombres de la localidad. Las mujeres se presentan, material y simbolicamente, como agentes regulatorias de una sexualidad masculina que se construye desbordante e insaciable y que, de no ser por ellas, amenazaria el orden social fundado en la familia. A partir de entrevistas realizadas con trabajadoras y con autoridades municipales, en este articulo se analizan las maneras en que un sistema de sexo-genero produce localmente una serie de limites cuyos ejes son, al tiempo, geograficos y subjetivos: la periferia y el control, cuerpo e intimidad, y la frontera de la animalidad. Palabras claves: trabajo sexual; heterosexualidad; cuerpo; poder; Mexico Limites, excessos e prazeres: praticas e discursos em torno do trabalho sexual em uma zona rural do Mexico Resumo: Em uma pequena cidade da costa mexicana do Pacifico se encontra uma zona de tolerância onde um grupo de trabalhadoras sexuais, separadas do resto da cidade por conteineres de lixo, oferece seus servicos aos homens da localidade. As mulheres se apresentam material e simbolicamente como agentes reguladoras de uma sexualidade masculina que se constroi de forma transbordante e insaciavel e que, se nao fosse por elas, ameacaria a ordem social baseada na familia. A partir de entrevistas realizadas com trabalhadoras e com autoridades municipais, neste artigo se analisam as maneiras com que um sistema de sexo-genero produz localmente uma serie de limites cujos eixos sao, ao mesmo tempo, geograficos e subjetivos: a periferia e o controle, corpo e intimidade e a fronteira da animalidade. Palavras-chave: trabalho sexual; heterossexualidade; corpo; poder; Mexico Limits, excesses and pleasures: practices and discourses on sexual work in a Mexican rural community Abstract: In a small city in the Pacific coast of Mexico there is a red-light district where a group of sex workers, separated from the rest of the town by trash containers, offer their services to local men. The women present themselves both materially and symbolically as regulatory agents of a male sexuality understood as overflowing and insatiable and which, were it not for them, would threaten a social order founded in the family. Drawing from interviews with sex workers and municipal authorities, this article discusses the ways in which a sex-gender system produces local borders which are both geographical and subjective: periphery and control, body and intimacy, and the boundaries of humanity and heterosexuality. Keywords: sex workers; heterosexuality; body; power; Mexico

Limits, excesses and pleasures: practices and discourses on sexual work in a Mexican rural community

Resumen: En una pequena ciudad de la costa mexicana del Pacifico se encuentra una zona de tolerancia donde un grupo de trabajadoras sexuales, separadas del resto de la ciudad por contenedores de basura, ofrece sus servicios a los hombres de la localidad. Las mujeres se presentan, material y simbolicamente, como agentes regulatorias de una sexualidad masculina que se construye desbordante e insaciable y que, de no ser por ellas, amenazaria el orden social fundado en la familia. A partir de entrevistas realizadas con trabajadoras y con autoridades municipales, en este articulo se analizan las maneras en que un sistema de sexo-genero produce localmente una serie de limites cuyos ejes son, al tiempo, geograficos y subjetivos: la periferia y el control, cuerpo e intimidad, y la frontera de la animalidad. Palabras claves: trabajo sexual; heterosexualidad; cuerpo; poder; Mexico Limites, excessos e prazeres: praticas e discursos em torno do trabalho sexual em uma zona rural do Mexico Resumo: Em uma pequena cidade da costa mexicana do Pacifico se encontra uma zona de tolerância onde um grupo de trabalhadoras sexuais, separadas do resto da cidade por conteineres de lixo, oferece seus servicos aos homens da localidade. As mulheres se apresentam material e simbolicamente como agentes reguladoras de uma sexualidade masculina que se constroi de forma transbordante e insaciavel e que, se nao fosse por elas, ameacaria a ordem social baseada na familia. A partir de entrevistas realizadas com trabalhadoras e com autoridades municipais, neste artigo se analisam as maneiras com que um sistema de sexo-genero produz localmente uma serie de limites cujos eixos sao, ao mesmo tempo, geograficos e subjetivos: a periferia e o controle, corpo e intimidade e a fronteira da animalidade. Palavras-chave: trabalho sexual; heterossexualidade; corpo; poder; Mexico Limits, excesses and pleasures: practices and discourses on sexual work in a Mexican rural community Abstract: In a small city in the Pacific coast of Mexico there is a red-light district where a group of sex workers, separated from the rest of the town by trash containers, offer their services to local men. The women present themselves both materially and symbolically as regulatory agents of a male sexuality understood as overflowing and insatiable and which, were it not for them, would threaten a social order founded in the family. Drawing from interviews with sex workers and municipal authorities, this article discusses the ways in which a sex-gender system produces local borders which are both geographical and subjective: periphery and control, body and intimacy, and the boundaries of humanity and heterosexuality. Keywords: sex workers; heterosexuality; body; power; Mexico

Passionate uprisings: Iran's sexual revolution

Sex is political, no doubt, but hardly anywhere today is this more literal than in contemporary Iran. In a brilliantly written book, Pardis Mahdavi opens a window into the complexities of everyday life of Iranian youth in a society where sexuality is a matter of direct state policing. Through compelling stories and anecdotes, the author shows how the ‘morality police’ called komite are in charge of surveillance and punishment of what can be considered sexual acts, among which are young men and women dating, since it is illegal for unmarried couples to be seen together in public. In this context, sex and fun can put people in jail, albeit depending on policemen’s moods or religious festivities. During her 7 years of fieldwork in Iran, Mahdavi argues that a true ‘sexual revolution’ is unfolding, in the sense that through bodily practices associated with sexuality and pleasure (clothing and fashion, sex and fun), young people in Iran are manifesting their non-conformity with the current political regime. Witness to what seems a profound transformation in Iranian society, Mahdavi considers her informants’ narratives and practices an expression of ‘the insatiable hunger for change, progress and modernity that many of my Tehrani friends linked to sex’ (p. 3). This way, in present day Iran, it could very well be that the advance of the Foucauldian ‘sexuality device’ is being performed more as subversion than as normalisation, in contrast to western modern societies, where it is more a process of subjectification and production of identity. Thus, Mahdavi argues, in a context where open political opposition is muted, young people have turned to their bodies as the site of politics, because as much as the body is the object of police control, it is at the same time impossible to control. Bodies have thus become one of the few sites of resistance that are left for Iranian citizens today. As the author says, ‘by employing an analytical framework that notes that modernity is increasingly expressed in the transformation of gender relations or in the transformation of intimacy in modernizing societies, some young Iranians seem to find it easier to negotiate their everyday interactions than to negotiate changes in the state. For some of these young people, gender and social relations are contexts in which to talk about citizenship’ (p. 20). Mahdavi’s informants identify with the notion of sex as freedom and choice, an idea entrenched in capitalist consumerism. But, in this context, sexuality gets linked to consumption through the political potential of looks: fashion is here an expression of subversion, in contrast to Western capitalist countries where it may show subjection and submission, because it is precisely the regime’s anti-American sentiment that is challenged by claiming what may be called ‘US values’. Mahdavi shows that class Global Public Health Vol. 6, No. 4, June 2011, 465 466