Lydia's Open Door

INSTDE MEXICo's NIOST MODERN I] ROTI.IHI,

ZONA GALACTICA $ 3.OO

Patty Kelly 3 {-l u;J I

tr\|\'t,.RsI'f l otr (i ,\ t, t t,'o R N I A t, lt l,lss Ilerkeley Los,4trg'les l,ortdott f rontispiecr: lirxtlr Needs Vru. P.rrticipatel (Entry ticket to the Galactic Zone.)

Lnivcrsity of California Press, onc ot tlre m()st di{tinguishcd umversity presses in the Unitcd States, enriches lives around the world by For rrty cousin Jofut, utho /irst int,itetl me advancing seholarship in thr: humanities, social sciences, and natural s.:ienca;. Its activities are supp()rtcd by the UC Press Foundation and by to Chiapas philanthropic contributions from indit'iduals and institutit'rns. For more information, visit www.ucpress.ed u. For nty tetu:lie'r Jttrtt,. tt,ho bntup;ltl trrc buck Paru of this btxrk appearcd prcviously in "I Made Myst'lf from Notfring" in lv(rncn in Chittlttrs: Mtking History itr Timts of Struggle and Lhe. ()uläctit:tt, Hope, ed. Christine Ebe.r and Christine Kovic (New York: Routledge, For u)oürcn oJ'tlte Zonu 2tro3), and "Awkward Intimacies," in Anthropologists in the Fidd, ed. who mode rne u)ent lo ,strtr: Lynne Hume and Jane Mulcock. O ztxtT Columbia Univcrsity Press. I{cprinted with permission of the publisher.

Univeruity of California Press llerkeley and Los Angeles, Califonri.r

Univcrsi$ of California l,ress, Ltd. London, England tO u$ by Ttre Regents of the University of California

Ubrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Public.ttion Dlta

Kc'lly, Patty, 1968-. Lydia's open door : inside Mcxico's most modcrn brothcl / patty Kellv. P. cm. lmludcs bibliograpltical referenct s and index tsrN ; 92b52G25535-7 (cloth : alk. papt r) - |'rN 9?6-G52l>25516'{ (pbk. : alk. paper) l. Ptstitutrs - Mcxico-Tuxtla (,uti6rrez. z. prosti tu tion- TuxtlaGutidnez. l. Title rirer5rJ8{r44 2

Fin&d ln Ncw Leai [co&xrk 5o, a rur,7u rccycled fiber of f Hücd pGlcor|sumcr wa5te, prrxessed chlorine.free. end m€cts the minimum rcquirements of lPmnwttcc ol Palxrl. l,et us cartortize lltc wltores. Sat.urrlay's r:alt'ttr.lar ol lltt' s:rints: Belr'. l,ola, virgins. rtrt:ottstitttlt:tl, pul'v(:vot lllartyls Ntalgot " 1rer1tt'tual lirll ol grucr'. i( )lltt'('s ()l' g('lt('rr )sil \'.

\brr gi'e Pleasure" .lt n lt.rt' trttlu'tltt:r ,f tltrt w,rkl' ltrtrl votr ask lbl rrothitrg iIr cxchangtr but sotttt: trtist't'itlrh: rtoitts' Yott tlott't dt'rttaltrl to lxr Ioved. respcctecl, taktlt t'ttrt'tll. ttor tlo Yott itttitaltt lltc u'ivt's with ttreir *hining, reprirlantls, atltl jcalousy.

Jairle Sabirres, Tirxtlcco pu'l

I have said to rrty tlir:nts, l'rotrt this door to lhele [tlrtr rtlar rvall of hcr room], you ('an takt: dowrt lny Parlls as yotr wish. lrettilttst' that is what I do. But t-rursirlc, rcrsp(x'l rle. . . ' That I will always grrard:lhat I ask for reslxr(l.

[,orerra. Tttxtlet a sex l'ol'kt'r

jrrs( srrrvO tlurrrr, ltut Thet, [the tlients] rhiilk tlrilt a,,(' iu.1r l11rr.1' 10 that's nol lrow it is.

Bärlrara. Tuxtleca sex xrtrker Contents

List of lllustrations XI Preface xiii Map of Chiapas xxiii

Introduction 1

1. Modern Sex in a Modern CitY )2 2. Hidden in Plain Sight Street Prostitution 53 3. Inside the Galactic Zone: Regulating Sex, Regulating Women 76 4. Convergence: Panistas, Prostitutes, and Peasants 7o2 5. "It Began L:rnocently": Women of the Ambiente 721 6. Sellers and Buyers r5a 7. The Secrets We Keep: Sex, Work, Stigma r83 8. Final Thoughts: Understanding, Imagining 20.4 Epilogue 214

Nofes 227 Bibliography 2)9 Index 255 Illustrations

1. A surprise birthday party in the Zone xvii 2, Aserenade xx 2 3. Clients and taxi drivers at the main gate to the Zona Galäctica

+. Tuxtla's newest shopping mall 37

5. The road to the Zona Galäctica 40 6. A microbus 4a

7. Dofla Mari's mödulo 44 8. Women detained inside the Centro Reclusorio talk to a man on the street 58 g. A suspected street prostitute being processed after a raid 6r 10. Gloria, Javier, and Carlos Prepare for a day of work 79 11. A room in the Zone 83 tz. Inside the Anti-Venereal Medical Service 86 L1'. A client heads home 217

xi Preface

I had passed by the road leading to the place dozens of times since my first stay in Chiapas inlggz. The sign said simply, Zona Galäctica. Alarge white arrow pointed south. I had thought the Galactic Zone, located in the bustling, lowland capital city of Tuxtla Gutt6rrez, was some kind of center for astronomical observation. Five years later I was again in southern Mexico, visiting relatives and rooting around for a dissertation topic. I went north to Tabasco and considered working there. But the state lived up to its name-it was really hot-and I soon retumed to the cool mountains of Chiapas. There, a friend who knew of my interest in commercial sex told me about a man I should meet-a doctor who worked at the Comitän Center for Health Research. Days later I was sitting knee to knee with the doctor in his cramped, book-filled office. Dark eyes flashing and hands moving wildly, he spoke to me about sex work in Chiapas. To say he was enthusiastic would be an understatement. He leaned forn'ard, put his hands on my knees, looked into my eyes and said, "For example, I am

xltl ft+ tii XV rir PRLfACI PREFACE

a hygiene" movement that sought to control'among nld. a'd I u'ant t. have anal sex with you.,, He was speaking hypo. ont of a "social illness'2 thetically, course, about female prostitution and sexually transmitted 'f the difficulties and risks sex workers face con things, cerrring client desires ,'Mujer,,, from municipal authorities to do ethnographic and condom use. he said, giving my thigh iffiil"*jpermission a gentle "There G alactic zone e1sr enousL_,o11 slap, is s.meplace you have to see.,, The next dav oiida*ori i" the y: he ,,This 1L Ronald::ii^Ht-: weitzer brought me to the Calactic Zone. i*ia" the brothel? world [of commercial sex]," 'ä to account It vvas a side Chiapas tl*s, not offer easy access to the outsider' which helps of I had never seen before. orderly, clean, orga- "does research in many key areas; but gaining access should nized-it seemed that e'erything was in its place. Modern concreE .ffi" paucity of buildings :F challenge rather than an insuperable barrier."3 once painted pink and blue and orange and yellow and green J"*"0 as a Women of various I found that access was not a problem'a Populations who a1;es arrd appearances lingered in doorways, strolled iäOru,rc zone, (prisoners' the mentally ill' prostitutes' about, or sat and ate at o.e of the zone's food stands. in some way The Gaiactic Zorn .t,.riümür"Oonalized was not a planetarium but a who are scrutinized by others brothel, and not just any brothel. It was a F,c students), 1t"1t1t: l.t]lli: what Michelllttttt Foucault calls fairly new, legal, and state-regulated supermodern or'the state), and who are subject to model brothel built f|o,s- with public funds gaze, a surveillance that maket.itn::110]: a'd intended to transform commercial . ing sex in the i'norr,uti, ::.Tilti:sci- region from an are, for better or worse, easily studied by social uncontroiled, informar activity to a highry regulated forur i.ä;Sr, to pÄJ",,,, of formal service-sector employment. rh" *o-"r, of the Galactic Zone *":" My decision was a visceral one, | i.T:::1"^tj:li:ll111Y unmarked to question and examinationby doctors' adminis- by thoughts about the realities of caree{, funding, and field- "*;täoin"a, and subiect ease (and n'ork. s.mething rike rove police' This disturbing fact lent a certain at first sight, it was deeply felt anä not partic- btors, and municipal zone as an anthropoiogist who ularly logical. I had found my field site. l.. unease) to my entry into the tsao*ona I Furthermore' given the local panista returned to Chiapas to start fieldwork a year rater. Begiruring 5' ioutd also question and scrutinize' the pro and ject, I went t. the palacio policy of transparencia (transparency-clear actions Municipal to meet with rüxtla,s director of pub ü ;";"nJs lic heath, pnnisttt (meml'er to create distance.froT a of the conservative right-wing National i: tco*,t"Uility intended their beliefl*.t:Tq in the l1?":lt:::3zone as a legit- Action Party, or PAN) and a gynecologist. He introduced i U-t*OOon impunity), along with me to the newly "r,a deny c.lected m;1yor, also a panista young, i public works project, there was little reason to gynecologist. good_looking, and ir"," ard i-portunt called. They were proud charismatic, the mayor extended a hand to ,,It u..o, to ihe Galäctica, as it was sometimes me and said in English, is i * fairly a p.'asure t. meet you. döveloped relationships' some casual' some close' I am the mayor." I liked him. My flars about '' d ttu place. I in the zone and with govem- rvorking closery with members of a politicar party t qtt*t and naturally with many women whose conservative at orl sexuality, religion, certain others I was unable to form a relationship 'rews and politics were so very different from my ., i*t offi.iutr. with all but vanished. stemming mostly from the potential contradictions 'wn Being a politician and gyrecologist is not unus ,al , alt had concems, in Mexico; in fact, the mayor's father was .betweenfeminismandfieldworkandfromthewaysthatthedevelop- Tuxtla's first panista- at gynecologist-mayor, the field can, ironically' put research populations back in the r97os. As Maria Mies has observeä, gyne ment of raPPort in cologists, alo.g betrayal' and abandonment by the with the state, are the "guarclians of modem patriarchy.,,r 'greateruirt of exploitation, in the zone wanted to l{hen gynecologists run the state, such guardianship rrsealcher."6 Yet l found that many of the people is advanced. to Doctors a.d public I felt my own need to listen' to observe' to try health sPecialists have long been involved in political talk and be heard' And affäirs in was going on in the Galactic Zone' Mexico-during the revolutionary period, such men (referred make some sense of what to a public as llrgicrrisfns), along with following my introduction to the workers during criminologists and social workers, were at the In the days PRIFACf, PREFACE xvii

Iecture on miscarriage, various women approached me. They introduced themselves, questioned me, and told me how to do my research. I couldn't just go around asking a bunch of questions, they said. As Lorena told me, "I have something to say, and I hope it doesn,t make you mad, but if you go around asking questions like 'How long have you worked I ,Are here?' 'What do you earn?' 'How old are you?, you married?, no one's going to answer you." Such things, said Lorena, were better leamed tfuough friendships. Lorena and Desir6e cautioned me to be careful and hinted at the divisiveness that I would later find permeated relationships in the zone. I kept regular working hours in the Zona Galäctica, though I did not live there as some women do. A zone administrator persuaded me to give English classes to a small group of interested workers, and I did so a few momings every week. At first, I balked-I didn't come to teach English, didn't know how, and naively thought maybe the classes would be some kind of insult to Mexican sovereignty. But I soon became known as la ttucstra (the teacher), though I was sometimes also referred to as Ia güerita Figure t. A surprise birthday party in the Zone. (a diminutive term denoting a fair-skinned person of any national ori- gn).t I purchased a white laboratory coat at the suggestion (almost insistence) of Edith, a zone secretary. All female municipal staff wore them, one of the workers had already paid it. It was sometimes difficult to and, she said, it would help me caitsr nmnos (literally, avoid hands) and accept their generosity-I saw each meal they paid for as the equivalent dirourage unwanted attention from clients. The lab coat helped to carve of the hard work of sex with one client. I began to measure gifts, meals, out my social role as a woman in the zone who did not sell sexual ser- drinks in terms of sex acts. Sex became currency. Rather than converting viees. But also I feared it would cause workers to identify me with the pesos into dollars, I began converting pesos into sex. A quick lunch was staff of the zone's Anti-venereal Medical service and. distance me from intercourse, an evening of cocktails, a blow job. The relationship between workers, so I used it selectively. sometimes I wore it just to please the money and sex became clear for me, and sex took on a new and decid- @ical service staff, who would occasionally cast disapprorring looks edly materialist meaning. if Frry. ay I walked about the zone without wearing the marker of my sra- As an anthropologist, I am cognizant of the power dimensions of the Sa"dncent" woman. Sometimes I wore it grocery shopping. I liked discipline: ciass, gender, citizenship, ethnicity-our relationships in the l$eat-it made me feel safe when I strolled through the ro.,gher field are marked through and through by inequalities. But for more than downtown Tuxtta (l never felt unsafe in the zone) and gave me a a year I was far from n'ry Brooklyn home, and it felt good to be accepted .belongtng. Following the purchase of the lab coat, some in the and cared for. One warm moming in late April,I arrived to find that a lplto refer to me as la doctorcitn. To most, I was simply patty. surprise birthday party, the only one I have ever been given in my life, of the zone were generous. Often when I would attempt had been organized for me at Pepe's food stand just inside the main gate. älewhen arriving at the zone by pirate taxi, I would find that Pepe brought extra plates and plastic cups. Sex workers brought an I'REFACE PREFACE xix

orange frosted cake decorated with the words Felicidades patricia (Con- Outside is a group from the Galactic Zone, where I have been doing grahrlations Patricia). Jesris, the leader of the pirate taxi drivers, brought fieldwork for the past six months. Opening the door, I find Rafaela and a cake too. Juanita gave me a gold ring with a red stone, and pepe gave Esperanza, who work as prostitutes; Roberto, a brothel janitor; a man I me a heart-shaped ring. viviana bought me a tank top and matching skirt mistakenly asslune to be Esperanza's husband; and a guitar player and that actually fit. Nobody had bought me clothes since I was a teenager. As accordion player. All, hired musicians included, are drunk to some I opened gifts, the zone's janitorial staff and police gleefuily set off roud degree. The guitar player's eyes are a deep sunset red. My friends hug fireworks in honor of the celebration. There was some heated discussion me and tell me over and over, ";Es tu dia!" (It's your day!). In our as to whether or not I should share the cake with the zone,s administra- drunken, sleepy, dreamlike state, we sit in the darkness on the curb in tive staff; they never included sex workers in their celebrations. A group front of my house, singing and swaying to the music. Someone requests of us left the zone and spent the day drinking beer, napping, swimming, "Cielito Lindo," one of the few songs I know well enough to sing. Ay, ay, and eating botnnas (small plates of cheese, grilled meats, anJ pickled veg- ay, ay, canta, no llores. T}rre etables) song begs us to sing rather than cry. Every so at a local bnlneario (bathing resort) along the muddy tanks of the often Roberto's head drops, long black bangs falling over his closed eyes Rfo Grijalva. The women of the Zona Galäctica rooked out for me. They kept as he begins to nod off. Roberto came to Mexico from Guatemala several me out of harm's way, invited me into their homes, and gave me years ago, and came to Chiapas from Cancrin, he advice on love (some where worked in the of it very sound). And, they brought *e u s!rer,ud". sex industry. The man I thought was Esperanza's husband is actually a client from the brothel and a schoolteacher. He stands up slowly, readying to sing. He brushes off his khaki pants, clears his throat, and takes a ll moment to gain his composure as if living out some secret dream of star- I sleep dom right there on the lonely sidewalk in the dark. He sings smoothly on the third floor of the modern concrete house on Avenue 14 and sweetly. Rafaela belts out a few long, loud, plaintive ranchero-style Poniente sur in the city of ruxtla Guti6rrez, in a bright yellow room that laughs. Her sharp, strong voice cuts the would be the through darkness. Afew lone fig- servant's quarters, if I had a servant. I awaken to find the head ures begin to emerge into the early moming, shadows passing us by on of Paula peering through the window. A six_foot_tall, rail_thin, blond curadian their way to work. Rafaela, who, like Esperanza and Roberto, is also an evangerical Christian in her rate twenties, she makes an roommate, ,,Do immigrant from Guatemala, tells me, "We want you to have good mem- ytlikely given the nature of my own work. you hear ,Las lvlananitas'?" ories of Mexico." she asks. "rt's for you." I hear deep, resonant voices, maybe accordion. "Las The sky is beginning to lighten. During a pause in the music, Roberto an Maflanitas" is a song traditionally sung at birthdays and the schoolteacher debate end other celebrations. over the finale. Roberto, often melancholy, rt is not quite 5:oo in the moming and stin dark wants a sad song, while the teacher hopes for a happy ending. Happiness l stumble out o ßttFide- of bed (a twin mattress covered with a mosquito balanced wins out, and then the birds begin to sing their morning songs. The musi- d precariously on old wooden crates) and reach :,,F for a cians wander off up the hill on foot, guitar and accordion in hand, while Hff asl_eeR, I struggle to unlock the multiple locks ;l:lt*p5u. on the giant we stay on the curb in the cool moming, chatting and laughing. Only I can hear the musicians on the other side of it, and *49r_Ooor. they do realize is a son then I it Teacher's Day, holiday celebrated quite seriously ilm'6stas las maianitas. . . . rnspiradas y bonitas, te las ";; in Mexico (and what holiday isn't?), and this is why they have brought the songs of the däwn. . . . rnspiring and delight_ ffil_:...1T* ry the serenade. Giggling, Roberto says to me, "We are teachers too, but we $eing them just for you . . . I It is my first serenade. teach sex." It is nearing 7:oo A.M. Someone hails the next passing cab. We PREFACE

or in or having left sex work behind' on to do sex work in other areas' as well as for those ai"J' StU' this book is for them' some cases, having will who will follow' That more women who came before them and those Derrick reminds us' "Things follow is not inevitable' As writer Jensen but we-tend to forget' To be the way they are'"8 It's simple' don't have to inad- Zone is and necessarily thank the workers of the Galactic ""t""u'y to Lorena' Esperanza' Sonia' Magda' equate. Still, gracias arü_ mil besos Bonita,Adriana,Rafaela'Evita'Gabriela'Desirde'M6nica'Lydia'Flor' and the rest of the women Aleiandra, Ramona' Bärbara'Viviana' |uanita, wisdom' and gen- Galäctica for their oPenness' kindness' in the Zona I am theyiaught me to sing instead of cry' erosity.e Like the song goes' beyond grateful' much made mry life and work much' Man/other PeoPle in ChiaPas I am indebted' Abtazos have been without them' and better than it would Vigil' Diego' Magdalena' Viviana' Adriana and so many thanks to Polly' nieces and nephews' Leticia john and Susan, all my tot"i"' and Kovic' Pancho fu*iiy, io'""u Ballinas Guillen' Christine Aserenade. Photo by Patty Kelly. Belmonte urra Duncan Paula Zondag' Jeanne Simonelli' Aguelles, Stephanie Paladino' L6pez Trelo' Elena Gonzillez' Earle, Kate O'Donnell' Aracely .tuJlo Rus' Gabrielle Vargas{etina' Hanley, Ruiz' Marla Hart' Jan all embrace and they are gone. I stand on the curb, clutching my Gisella Juan and staff of robe to th"late David Halperin' the faculty my body and watch Stefan lgor Ayora Diut' as one of the white volkswagen Beetles that serve as the people of the Galactic Frontera sur (EcosuR), all taxis throughout Mexico heads down El colegio de la the hill toward the city center. The L6pezAguirre' Dr' Bayardo Mufloz' Larissa Narcia, Dr' Gonzalo srur is up, the tortilleria (tortilla shop) next door is now Zone, to Eduardo open and a line is Helmer Garcia Mesu; and thanks hrming. women, Dr. Paco Roias, and Dr' children, and a few men wait to buy breakfast, clutch- in the sun' Among those in for nearly a decade oflazymomings ing in their hands the colorful cloths in which they,ll wrap their warrn Talavera and my dear Sara Chävez and Gabriel Orozco; lortillas. Mexico City, I th; in the other things' lying by my side Maria Guti6 ttez for,among so many of this manuscript' noca älu"tu while reading parts i warm sand at nUya pro- to my teachers in the anthropology Immense gratitude also goes lrr Uew York Graduate Center' including June gram at the City Universityäf t much more)' lane Schneider' me a home in Chiapas and pr one year the women (and men) Nash (who gave my I met in the Galactic Zone were my and of course' Marc Edelman' Shirley Lindenbaum, Louise Lennihan' l*:t them will ever get the opportunity to read these pages. lrna my mrhal stay in Tuxtla, I have retumed to the zone each year. mentoranddearfriend,whocontinuestoadvisemethoughlgraduatedothers at CUNY' With and love you all' Also' among new long ago. I am indebted to inctr visit, I find fewer old friends. I'm never ,.,ru ,"h"Ä"r this is thankstoEllenDeRisoandthemembersofthedissertationwriting pmd ruws or bad. Most have by now left the Galactic Zone, having gone _t._ -. . PTI,fACE

gruup that Jane so wisely guided, ;:.}:, and which included Danning wang, 1l!:. Ieon Arredondo, Suzanne l+.: S i:i! Scheld, Carol Meyers, Kitty riiil::, Clarke, and Youngmin seo' Infinite gratitude to Roger gi i' Lancaster fo. his encouragement and for reading various incamations of this manuscript. Thank to Phil you Young and carol silverman, from my days back at the university i of Oregon. And I thank my students and colleagues, especially Cathy Solomon, Eric Bronson, and Tim Dansdill (for helping me remember what really matters, as only a poet can). Great appreciation to my editor Naomi schneider for taking o., tt i, project and for being so beautifulry supportive and real. also.at_tfe University of Califomia n"r"r", toJacqueli^e U,,u't yo,, volin, Valerie witte, and Bonita Hurd. Fieldwork and writ_ ing were done with institutional support from the city university New York, the organization of of American States, and the American Association of University Women. Love and thanks to the Bellamore and Kelly families and for keeping to my friends me together all these years. They include Angeta Green, Mildred Kelly, Terry Kelly, Emma'K.,ick".bo:üä; Salvas, Vendley, Kathy O,Brien, Jesse Mike Farruggia, Stacey Brurr,,Lorr,a Doug Flanes, Raneri' Elsa and Ali Bahramp.r*, Chiapas our,o., Conley (who rescued me twice this week alone), Anna Maranal, Michael no^giorr,o, n.th Dobrish, Ed Heindl' Erika Foxton, Bill James, Rory and Kian, Cressida Longo' Hatch, Barb Jen Harris (for her work on the map that appears in this book), Tyler Hays' and Dorcas and Karam. Thank you, Brooklyn: to sal and and Sar and Frankie Ar and Jimmy and rony and Felix the and. everyone from neighborhood, and to Lyäia Santos for giving me a home here. Endress gratitude to my teachers Dana Flynn and to Jasmine Tärkeshi and all my triends, felrow teachers, and students at the Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in New york City. Without you all and might've the ieachings, I given up a long time ago. I thank all the teachers, kind people, turus, swamis, mystics, muses, poets, freaks, and saints world elsewhere in the whose paths I've been lucky to cross over the years. Any good in this book, we all share; the " mistakäs I,ll claim as my own.

i i. : i -..1-.-.. Introductiort

The dirt road is long, seemingly isolated, and flanked on both sides by trees and tropical vegetation characteristic of southem Mexico's swelter- ing lowlands. Düring the wet season, the road is muddy. Heavy rains carve deep gashes into it, making it difficult to Pass. At the height of the dry season, cars traveling the lonely road kick up a brown dust that coats the trees and bushes, leaving their foliage beige rather than green. Sometimes this dust enters the pirate taxis that travel the road, filtering through the floorboards and settling into passengers' clothing, hair, and eyes. On this road I have seen flocks of large, black vultures hopping about, Iooking at once joyful and sinister, picking what little flesh there is from the carcasses of unlucky dogs. The narrow road, which local newspapers dubbed the Highway of Death following the stabbing of a taxi driver there, opens into a wide, ln-IRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

spirit and that for many women makes the work most difficult to bear. State-regulated prostitution, though legal, controls and criminalizes women who defy cultural norms by selling sexual services, and its health and social benefits are questionable at best. This book can be read as an argument for the decriminalization of prostitution and against the regulation of prostitution by the state as it exists in Tuxtla. 3 ZOIA DE This book is also an ethnography of a particular place, the Galactic TOLER Zone, a legal brothel administered by the municipal government of Tuxtla Gutidrrez, the capital of the state of Chiapas. A local and regional enterprise, the zone is quite unlike the well-documented international sex tourism that occurs in countries such as Thailand and the Dominican Republic.r Constructed in r99r, the Galactic Zone was the creation of Governor |osd Patrocinio Gonzälez Garrido, a member of Mexico's then ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) and a close ally of priista (member of the PRI) president Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Both Salinas, who fled Mexico when his Fi.r;ure ;. clients .rnd taxi drivers at the main gate to the Zona Galäctica. photo by Pattl'Kelly. term ended amid scandal and accusations of mismanagement, and Gonzälez Garrido, whose term as govemor (1988-1993) was characterized by human rights abuses and the militarization of the state, sought to unpaved clearing. A few cars and city buses are parked beneath a large modernize the Mexican economy through the implementation of neolib- sign reading Zona de Tolerancia (Tolerance Zone) in bold, black letters. It eral economic policies on a local and national scale. And so this book is is here in the tolerance, or "red light," zone that legalized female prosti- also an ethnography of a particular time: the neoliberal era. tution occurs and that working-class men of the city of ruxtla Guti6rrez Neoliberalism, as David Harvey writes, is "a theory of political eco- and the surrounding area come to purchase sex, The tolerance zone is a nomic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be brothel, and its name is the Zona Galäctica. advanced by liberating individual freedoms and skills within an institu- This is a book about women's sexual labor in neoliberal Mexico. ln the tional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free tbllowing pages, I argue for a recognition of sex as work. while I markets, and free trade."2 This is a rather irurocuous definition for an eco- acknowledge the class- and gender-based exploitation that is character- nomic development ideology with grave and far-reaching consequences. istic of female prostitution as practiced in the zona Galäctica, it is also A global phenomenon, neoliberalism represents a new more aggressive true that such exploitation is not unique to prostitution or to the Galactic stage of capitalism marked by financial and trade liberalization and the Zone; it is found in all forms of work that poor women throughout the embrace of the global "free" market; a rejection of the Keynesian social world must perform, as domestic services such as sex, child care, and contract, accompanied by cuts in social welfare spending; the privatiza- housekeeping are increasingly commodified under advanced capitalism. tion of state industries; a push toward export-led growth; and the dereg- what is unique in the state-regulated Galactic Zone is the stigmatization ulation of prices, wages, and environmental protections. Neoliberal of workers, a stigmatization that is especially damaging to the human economies are sometimes characterized by the "feminization" of wage INTRODUC'rION INTRODUCTION

labor related to the boom in low_wage service_sector jobs, informal work, American Free Tiade Agreement (NAFTA, a key feature of neoliberal pol- and manufäcturing employment.3 Maquiladoras, export_oriented foreign icy) in 1994, Mexico has witnessed rapid economic change and increasing factories seeking cheap labor in the developrng world, are a centrar feature economic integration with the United States and the rest of the world. Yet H of neoliberalism F in Latin America.* Neoliberalism also have benefited few u engenders cultural these changes, touted as a cure for Mexico's ills, l! changes such as increasing exposure I to advertising in daily life, rising con- Mexicans. Poverty has increased in both rural and urban Mexico; sumerism, and the transfbrmation ,,needs.,, I of material desires into monthiy incomes for self-employed farmers fell by nearly 9o percent : Put more plainly, what neoliberarism means is underfunded public between r99r and zm3.' The monthly income of men working in cities schools and hospitals; crumbling public housing and the growth of scat- dropped a little more than 16 percent between r99o and zooo.8 But it is tershot shantytowns lacking state-funcled infrastructu.e r,r"h as running poor women and children who bear the brunt of the inequalities pro- water or electricity; the growth of export-oriented free-trade zones where duced under this new economic order.e Since the passage of NAFTA, women sew lace onto panties they cannot afford to buy and where indus- poverty in the poorest female-headed households increased by 50 Per- trial runoff contaminates the local groundwater; small-scale farmers who cent.l0 Between 1989 and 1998, public assistance for children living in cannot compete with cheap agricultural imports being forced to leave households receiving government aid was cut by two-thirds.l1 Today, their rural communities to find work in cities-whe* tt uy sometimes about half of all Mexicans live in poverty. end up working in maquiradoras and living in shantytowns.s But neorib- A central aim, if not the central aim, of this book is to make visible that eralism has been good to some: there has been an increase in the number which has been hidden. Specifically, to uncover and make real for read- of Mexican bilrionaires, resurting in part from the privatization of banks, ers the humiliations, despair, illnesses, and even deaths suffered because factories, and other in.ustries once owned by the rtut". r'. zoo5, this con- of an unjust economic system and social beliefs and practices that centration of wearth earned Mexico its ninth-prace ranking .'.o.ta*id" i^ degrade those occupying the lowest rungs of global society. This is a number .f bilrionaires, behind the united states but ahead of saudi story of structural violence. The anthropologist and physician Paul Arabia' ln zooT Mexican terecommunications tycoon Carlos slim became Farmer observes that the suffering engendered by this form of violence is the richest man in the world, fulfilling the desires of the previous title- produced or "'structured'by historically given (and often economically holder, Microsoft,s Bill Gates, who publicly declared in zoo6, ,,I wish I driven) processes and forces that conspire-whether through routine, wasn't [the worrd's richest man]. There is nothing good that comes out of ritual, or, as is more commonly the case, the hard surfaces of life-to that."6 constrain agency."r2 There is little bloodshed in this ethnography and lit- The history of the Galactic Zone may be viewed as a locar example tle in the way of outright physical conflict. The violence here is diffuse, of this process of global neoriberal capitalist expansion and modemiza- quiet, and not very dramatic. In fact, readers may at times find them- tion-a process marked by a widening gup between the rich and the selves entertained. There are descriptions of agency, resistance, and joy- pool' the decrine of rural life, growing urbanization, exclusionary poli- ful occasions. There is even beauty. But the lives of the women who are tics, decreasing state interest in social welfare, and increasing state inter- the main subjectb of this book have been marked by economic and social vention in the sexual and social lives of the Mexico,, *ori;,.g classes. inequalities that have cheated them of a different and better life. And This book, then, may also be read as an argument that free trade and free while they may sometimes sing instead of cry, do not forget that their markets do not make free people. moments of resistance and of happiness occur within a broader context of since the foreign debt crisis of rggz and the passage of the North extreme and global inequality. F,tt S':.' fi {.r : 0 tNTRouucrroN INTRODUCTION 1 ii;.i';,

!.:'" ,. , SEIUALITY, MODERNITY, AND *j.,::, SOCIAL CHANGE Mexico gendered and sexual practices and beliefs have often been politi- cized, inspected, and contested. Examining the practice and regulation of There are certain periods in history, times of change and crisis, when ffi" sex- prostitution enables us to see just how this happens. Concem with the uality comes to the fore. As Gail Rubin has written, sex may seem a friv- Fi ,,people lives and work of mujeres publicas (public women) intensified in the years rii' olous topic, but during times of social upheaval, are likely to preceding and following the Mexican Revolution (r9rr-r9r7). During become dangerously crazy about sexuality. Consequentry, sexuality the liberal regime of dictator Porfirio Diaz Q876-r9rr), the state pursued strould be treated with special respect in times of great social stress.,,r3 modemity through economic liberalism and advocated a social order sex, writes the historian Jeffrey weeks, "has long been a transmission bert characterized by eradication of vice and inculcation of values such as for wider social anxieties, and a focus of struggles over power, one of the family, thrift, and hygiene.ls Power was maintained through political prime sites in truth where domination and subordination are defined and intimidation, and sometimes, force. The Porfiriato, as the expressed."l.r sbategizing, period came to be known, was steeped in a political program based on Modemization projects have historically been accompanied by strug_ rationalism and science. Not unlike in neoliberal Mexico, during the lib- gles over moral and sexual codes.rs The late nineteenth and early twenti- eral era industry and foreign investment grew (aided in part by an 1883 eth centuries were characterized by rapid economic and social change in agrarian law that opened rural lands to foreign companies). The shift much of the globe: industrialization, continuing colonial activity, urban- farming compelled many men and ization, from subsistence to commercial and a new and growing concern with social hygiene and public women to seek better fortunes in rapidly industrializing cities. The costs health were signs of the times. so was the emergence of what Michel of modernization, then as now, were steep for many Mexicans, rural and Foucault calls scierrfia scxunlis-the modern production of a singular urban, who were increasingly impoverished by the excesses, brutality, truth of sex, in which sex became a question, a suspect interrogated, an and social upheaval that marked the Porfiriato. For poor women in urban object of study, and eventually part of "an ordered system of kno=wledge,, Mexico, prostitution was sometimes an answer. intricately linked to relations of power.16 Sex itself was newly divided, During this period, the medical and govemmental establishments into the "normal" and "abnormal,,, the,,moral,, and,,immoral.,, constructed the female prostitute as a sexually promiscuous deviant Sex, it seemed, was suddenly everywhere. But it was hard to grasp, beyond redemption, while male clients who purchased their services and the question of definition became paramount. Sex was (and is) were seen as engaging in normal behavior expected of men. The sirnultaneously personal and politicar; rebellious and conservative; Reglamento para el ejercicio de la prostituci6n en Mdxico (Regulation for provincial and modern; threatening and fulfilling. During the period in Mexico) subjected women over the age of about the exercise of prostitution which Foucault writes, sexuality began to generate a qualitatively fourteen who worked as registered prostitutes to medical and legal sur- new kind of social anxiety as well as new discourses and social policies. veillance.le The Reglamento was intended to protect the citizenry from From the old world to the New, laws were passed calring for the sanitary debilitating venereal infections like gonorrhea and syphilis' Women sus- inqpection of prostitutes, the moral reform of bourgeois women and their pected of working as clandestine prostitutes were subject to arrest and dapgerous sexual passions, and the punishment of individuals invorved forced medical inspection and registration. Porfirian values of female in,3he "white slave trade" (which did not involve human trafficking but honor and purity did not extend to the poor women who worked in the was actually a widespread morar panic stemming from the occurrence of urban Mexico. While predicated on white streets, brothels, and hotels of women who had intimate relations with nonwhite men).rz 'ds notions of modernity and hygiene, the enforcement of the Reglamento elsewhere during periods of political-economic transformation, in and the prostitute's presumed moral degeneracy were not untouched by

*.i-.. . 8 rNTRoDUcrr()N I

religion; Catholicism's sexual morality and patriarchardoble mornl (moraL change, cultural transformation, double standard) simmering political hostilities, and the all but guaranteed the marginalization of women who militarization of civil society. unlike the social reformers of sold sex.2u revolutionary Mexico, political elites like Governor Gonzälez Garrido viewed state- The Porfiriato bred not onry marginalization but also dissent. The regulated prostitution Mexican in neoliberal Chiapas as a path fo modernity and Revolution left more than one milion Mexicans dead; exiled to development. Yet there is great ambivalence about the prostitute herself: Europe, Porfirio Diaz was not among them. The revolutionary state that she is stigmatized by those who seek to control prostitution (and by soci- eventualry replaced the porfirian one took a somewhui different ety at large) but also viewed, in many instances, approach to commercial as capable of redemp- sex and those who practiced it. Early visions of "modern" tion and, as I heard many times, "reintegration into normal society." The a and "revolutionary" Mexican society included an eventual nature of prostitution remains a controversial issue in modern-day end to state-regulated prostitution, seen as a distasteful and archaic Tuxtla, even within the municipal govemment itself. I recall the panista legacy of the P'rfiriato. The prostitute was now constructed as a victim of poverty, porfirian mayor, during a conversation with political leaders in the Palacio Muni- male vice, and false modesty, one who, as historian cipal one aftemoon, calling prostitution an "economic Katherine Bliss writes, and a moral prob- courd be redeemed through the application of revolutionary lem," while his panista colleague, the director of public health, disagreed principles: "Legislators, public officials, ani private citizens vehemently, insisting that morality had nothing to do with it, that for sex alike invoked the 'redemption' of 'fallen women, as their cause celöbre, workers it was purely a socioeconomic issue. promoting legisration to ban procuring, to train women to work in alternative occupations, to persuade clients to restrain their tendency toward sexual promiscuity, and to abolish the Reglamento itself.,,2l To be sure, the revorutionary A CHANCING ECONOMY AND SOCIETY 19z6 Regramento para el ejercicio de la prostitucidn was still rooted in previous beliefs uüo,rt u.""ptable male promiscuity ln 1938, following a lengthy dispute between Mexican laborers and inter- and enforced female purity (prostitutes withstanding); it continued national oil companies, President Läzaro Cärdenas Qq64-r94o) expro- the medical and legar surveillance of female prostitutes in the priated Mexico's U.S.- and European-owned oil resources and national- name of public health. But in contrast to the porfiriato, revolutionary ized the social reforrners oil industry. During his years in office, Cärdenas also embarked hoping to create a modern nation also sought to trans- upon an unprecedented implementation of agrarian reform as promised form nrnle sexual promiscuity, rehabilitate pubtic women, anä recast sexuality by Article z7 of the r9r7 Constitution, redistributing more than 49 million as a scientific rather than moral issue.22 Revolutionary sociar acres of land, much of which had been illegally taken from campesinos reformers, writes Bliss, "had long deplored prostitution because o, *nu, during the they perceived dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. The majority of the lands were to be itsnegative implications for economic development redistributed as ejidos, communally held lands that could not be bought, and national progress."33 Debates conceming state-tolerated prostitution, sold, along or traded. Such redistributive and revolutionary reforms incorpo- with the activism of both feminists and eugenicists, eventually led rated rural populations into the state, giving new legitimacy and power to the abolition of the Reglamento in rg40. But the suspension of state- to the federal govemment. regulated prostitution did not, as she notes, put an end to prostitution._ In decades In contemporary the following the revolution, the Mexican economy was Mexico, legal and regurated prostitution exists in thirteen characterized by state-directed economic growth mixed with the growth of the nation's thirty-one states. Ä chiupur, the Galactic Zone of private enterprise. During this time, the oxymoronically titled and was created in rggr, a time of shift and crisis, a period of rapid economic long-ruIing Institutional Revolution ary P arty maintained political con- l() INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION ll trol through a combination of corruption and cooptation. Labor unions restrictions on foreign investment in industrial production and financial functioned not independently but under the auspices of the ruling party. services, and the privatization of state-owned industries and a loosening "Democratic" elections were a farce, as the autocratic PRI took the presi- of govemment oversight of prices, *äg"", and protections in favor of the dency for seventy years straight. "free" market. During the r98os, more than seventy Third World nations What precipitated the massive shift in Mexican political ideology and submitted to neoliberal structural adiustment, effectively putting their economic policy in the r98os? Recession in the United States, coupled economies into the hands of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.26 A new era with the r98z foreign debt crisis in Mexico and other developing nations, of economic globalization (and what astute observers would call a "recol- was followed by a shift in Mexico's political-economic ideology and onization" of the developing world) had begun. practice, toward neoliberalism. M".l.o t titlgty*ylth neoliberalism began during the presidency of By the early r98os, poor countries of the developing world were eco- fos6 L6pez Portillo (t976-t982).L6pez Portillo's term ended at the onset nomically vulnerable to neoliberal restructuring for a number of reasons. of the debt crisis, as a worldwide recession and declining oil prices left Third World nations owed more than US$7oo billion to U.S., European, Mexico unable to pay intemational debt incurred following the discovery a and Japanese banks that had been making loans with variable rather than of new oil resources in the r97os, when the country was considered low fixed interest rates; by the late r97os, soaring international interest rates credit risk by intemational lending institutions. increased debtor countries' annual debt payments by hundreds of mil- By rgSz,Mexico's foreign debt had grown to fifty-eight billion dollars, Iions of dollars, leaving many nations unable to pay.za At the same time, an almost ninefold increase since :972.27 The country declared bank- these nations were also losing important export earnings as a result of the ruptcy. The debt crisis led to implementation of structural adiustment worldwide recession. The crumbling economies of the developing world policies, first by L6pez Portillo and then by his successor/ Miguel de la provided an opening for increased insertion of poor nations into the Madrid Hurtado. Pressured by the International Monetary Fund and the global marketplace at their own expense. AWitness for Peace publication World Bank to adopt neoliberal stabilization policies in exchange for new explains the transformation: "The solution [to the debt crisis] proposed loans, the state began to implement reforms associated with structural by economists in Washington, DC, was to 'deregulate' poor countries' adjustment programs, such as the encouragement of the private export economies-removing all barriers to trade and letting the private sector sector as t/re vehicle for new economic growth and an increase in foreign iake over as the'engine of growth.'According to this solution, hard cur- investment in Mexico.28 In essence, the "bailout" of Mexico by the rency-desperately needed to pay down the massive extemal debts- Intemational Monetary Fund and World Bank was less debt "relief" than could be brought intc'r poor countries through increased foreign forced immersion into neoliberalism and.an intensification of ongoing investment."s unequal North-South relations that have existed since colonization. These changes were achieved in part through a process known as And so, during the r98os, the Mexican economy underwent profound strucfual adjustment, in which global financial institutions such as the changes. ln 1986, the priista president de la Madrid (1982-1988) began to World Bank and lnternational Monetary Fund disbursed more loans to privatize some sectors of the state oil industry, once a great source of Third World nations. These new loans were earmarked for paying off national pride.ze His successor and former policy advisor, priista Carlos older debt, but, unlike previous loans, which flowed freely, structural salinas de Gortari, halted land redistribution and endangered existing adiusüncnt loans came with strict conditions intended to make the strug- ejidos by sponsoring the reform of Article z7 of the Constitution and sign- glingeconomies more "efficient." Among the conditions were reductions ing onto NAFTA. In so doing, he relinquished much state-directed eco- in govemment spending and in wages, removal of trade barriers and of nomic activity, ceding ground to national and international capitalists. IJ INl'RODU(]'TION INTRODUCTION I:]

The country was beginning .rrrother major period of economic liberaliza- of the ruling PRI was beginning to crumble. In the rggos, many Mexicans tion that in sorne ways par.rlleled Porfirian effbrts of a century earlier. organized around Cuautdmoc Cärdenas, a former priista and the son of The Harvard-educated technocrat Carlos Salinas was the man who Läzaro Cärdenas. Disillusioned with the pRI, Cärdenas broke away from institutionalized neoliberal policies. salinas believed that by doing so he the party, unsuccessfully running for president against salinas in rggg n'as presiding o\rer Mexico's mociernization and subsequent entry into under a left-of-center banner. Many political analysts believe that Cär- the "First World."'Ihough Salinas's reforms were initially considered to denas actually won the election, which was fraught with irregularities.s be a success by many neoclassic.rl economists, during this period the gap The PRI began to lose control as governorships and mayoral races betu'een the rich .rnd ptror grew even wider. By the end of salinas's term throughout the nation were won by opposition parties such as the con- in rgg4, the poorest 2tl percent Mexico's population were eaming only 3 servative PAN and the center-left Democratic Revolutionary party percent of the total income nationally, while the wealthiest ro percent (Partido de la Revolucidn Democrätica, pRD). Though the pAN is known received 50 percent of the total income.3, Neoliberalism brought rising for its embrace of neoliberalism and extreme social consewatism, partic- unenrployment and reduced social welfare spending.By tggs, the mini- ularly on issues of gender, sexuality, and religion, voting for the conserv- rnurn wage in Mexico was lower in real terms than it had been in r9go.3r ative party in a nation ruled by the priista one-party system for decades ln Chiapas, only slightly more than one-third of the employed popula- became a radical act. In r99r, Tuxtla Gutidrrez had not yet fallen to the tion earned the daily minimum wage or more.3r particularly hard hit PAN, though it would h t9g5.t By ,gg7, the pRI would lose their major- lvere rural populations and those dependent on small-scale agricultural ity in the lower house of Congress as well, and lose the important may- production. salinas's neolibe'ral policies did not ease poverty but institu- orship of Mexico City to the now vindicated leftist Cuautdmoc tionalized it. Cärd,enas. The nation would follow suit in zooo, electing panista and former Coca- In order to ameli.rate sorne of the unintended consequences of the Cola executive vicente Fox. Later that same year, the pRI would lose neoliberal program, salinas founded solidaridad (solidarity), an Chiapas to the Alianza por Chiapas, a surprising alliance of the right- antipoverty program that pmvided federal funding for local and regional wing PAN, the leftist PRD, the Green party, and the Workers party. community-based development projects and for national programs such Just as the inequalities of the Porfiriato had bred the dissent *rai lea to as tortilla distribution to families otficially certified as ,,needy.,,33 While the Mexican Revolution, diverse social movements resisting the neolib- hardly a successful attack on poverty, solidarity was a useful tool of polit- eral plan were erupting throughout Mexico. opposition was simmering ical and social control-tunds were often strategically disbursed in an throughout the country in the years preceding the r99r construction of effort to undercut opposition parties, garner support for the pRI, and fur- the Galactic zone;by the mid-r99os, popular protest movements would ther concentrate presidential power.3i be sweeping the nation. still, political discontent grew, as much of the Mexican population suf- At the time of the Galactic Zone's birth, the Zapatista Army of National fered increasing immiseration. while the PRI could still gain party loy- Liberation (EZLN), a small guerrilla army of mostly Mayan male and al$ through the promise of individual economic rewards, the politics of female peasant farmers, waited in the selva Lacandona (Lacandön jun- neoliberalism are rooted less in cooptation than in exclusion and some- gle) of eastern Chiapas and planned for the moment it would make itself times force.3s small landholder populations unable to compete in a global known to the world.'38 This moment came on |anuary r, 1994, when economy characterized by large-scale agribusiness increasingly migrated nearly three thousand well-trained, armed, masked, and uniformed to urban centers in Mexico or to the united states. others mobilized indigenous women and men emerged from the eastern lowlands, seizing politically, breaking away from state-sponsored unions. The hegemony nine towns and smaller villages throughout the state. Tukirg the name of INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

the murdered revolutionary hero Emiliano zapata, the Zapatistas opened fire on their truck in the state of Guerrero.tt Among the Popular declared war against the "illegal dictatorship" of Carlos salinas and the Revolutionary Army's demands was an end to corrupt PRI rule. ln the neoliberal policies that threatened their way of life. After skirmishes that state of falisco, once-prosperous communal and middle-class small-scale left more than seventy rebels dead, the Zapatistas retreated back into the farmers now facing land repossession formed El Barz6n, a debtor's selva Lacandona, where they remain active today, building autonomous, alliance whose actions have ranged from debtor's strikes to the tarring democratic zapatista communities.3'Though the battle lasted less than a and feathering of a money-lending banker in drought-stricken Chi- week, the Zapatista struggle continues. The conflict remains one of low huahua. Now a nationwide movement, there are an estimated five hun- intensity, marked by intermittent dialogues with the govemment and dred thousand to one million members of ElBarz6n.4 occasional violence against Zapatista supporters by govemment_ The EZLN uprising and the subsequent collapse of the peso tn ryg+ sanctioned right-wing paramilitary groups.a, It was no coincidence that tarnished Carlos Salinas's image as the man who would bring modemity the EZLN chose the first of January as the day of their uprising. It was to Mexico. His reputation was further tainted by the arrest of his brother precisely on this day that NAFTA was inaugurated, and the Zapatistas Raril on charges of both corruption and murder after he was accused and knew well the threat represented by the trade agreement and the broader convicted of masterminding the killing of |osd Francisco Ruiz Massieu, neoliberal economic plan of which it was a part.al PRI secretary-general and former brother-in-law to the Salinas brothers. The diverse demands and goals of the Zapatistas reflect the hetero- The 1994 assassination of priista Donaldo Colosio did not help matters geneity of social movements in Mexico and the new forms of political much. Colosio was to be the next president, chosen less through the farce culture emerging throughout Latin America. Along with their call for known as general election and more by el dednzo, a PRI tradition in which "work, land, housing, food, health care, education, independence, free_ the next president is appointed, or "fingered," by the outgoing president. dom, democracy, justice and peace," the rebels soughi revolutionary During a public appearance, Colosio was shot in the head at close range changes expanding the rights of women and indigenous peoples.n, They on national television in a murder that many Mexicans believe was rvere inclusive, inviting all of Mexico to support their struggle: students planned by PRI insiders who felt he had strayed from their agenda. and street kids, workers and the unemployed, urban populations and Carlos Salinas has lived in various countries under a self-imposed rural, gay and straight. The EZLN created a new politicar opening in exile since 1995, though there has recently been some discussion of a Mexico, one that was quickly filled by mobilizations of disenfranchised retum to Mexico. My last sighting of the fallen president was on Mexican populations of every stripe. Much of the nation, identifying with the television in 1998. The once-dapper technocrat was in a decrepit concrete Zapatistas' struggles and weary of nearly seventy years of corrupt pRI room somewhere in Mexico, unshaven, wearing aratty, stained tank-top, rule, responded positively to the uprising. Subcomandante Marcos, the maintaining a hunger strike in a vain effort to get his brother Raril EZLN spokesperson, took on superhero status both at home and abroad; released from prison. He has since written a book, appropriately titled T-shirts, ashtrays, and even condoms emblazoned with the image of the Un paso dificil a la modernidad (A Difficult Step toward Modernity). masked crusaders of southern Mexico were soon for sale in plazas thrcughout urban Mexico. The Zapatistas were not alone. In the southem states of oaxaca and MAKING CHIAPAS MODERN Guerrero, guerrilla movements arso erupted in the countryside. The Popufar Revolutionary Army announced itself in tg96 ata memorial ser- Chiapas holds an unenviable position as one of Mexico's poorest states. vice for seventeen activist farmers who were murdered when police Yet the poverty of Chiapas is uneven and sometimes difficult for the tu&*.,-. "r I INTRODU CTION TRODUCTION

casuäl visitor to see. During my first visit to the region in rggz,I spent a cent of the population of Chiapas suffer from malnutrition, and in the month in Palenque, a hot lowland town best known for its spectacular highlands and forest this percentage increases to go%. A campesino,s lvlayan ruins. It was not until I left Palenque town for the selaa thatrwtt- average diet consists of coffee, com, tortillas, and beans.aT nessed the extreme poverty that shapes the lives of rural and indigenous Mexicans and that spurred the Zapatistas to action. The memories are In an effort to quell dissent among the poor, who might object to living faded now: village after village lacking running water and electricity; a under such bleak circumstances, Govemor G onzärezGarrido revised the near empty casn de salad (health center) furnished only with a table, a state penal code upon entering office in r9gg, broadening the definition small pile of used, pus-filled gauzet and a single wooden bench; a young of rebellion and effectively criminalizing both political opposition and man overtaken by tuberculosis-violent coughs wracked his body and public protest. New and harsher penalties would be imposed on indi- practically shook the flimsy walls of the one-room house he shared with viduals found guilty of "rebellion," ,'civil disordeq,,' ,,conspi his parents and siblings and racy.,'ß The govemor often used a military model of social control to resolve Nearly 25 percent of Chiapas's population over the age of five speaks social problems and contain any elements, agrarian activists in particular, an indigenous language;as Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolobal, and Chol are the who resisted his efforts. Years of absence from the Mexican political nost common ones, and they reflect the diversity sys- of Mayan identity in tem have the not softened Goruälez Garrido. In a jury zoo5 interview with state. Though linguistically diverse, the indigenous people of ,,Nice the newspaper Cuarto Poder,he stated, people are no good for gov_ chiapas have long shared the common experience of poverty and eming a country"ae Rancho Nuevo, the large military base constructed on oppression. since the arrival of the spanish some five hundred years ago, the outskirts of san Cristöbal assured a constant military presence in the the vast majority of indigenous Chiapanecos have lived under almost Central Highlands. Repression was increasingly used to keep counter- serflike conditions. Some Maya retain small parcels of land they farm as hegemonic visions in check. their ancestors did. Integration into the global market has not proved As a gubernatorial candidate, Gonzälez Garrido espoused salinas,s easy for these small farmers; for instance, the steep r9g9 decline of coffee discourse of. concertaciön, "consensus building across the political spec- prices in the world market slashed by two-thirds the incomes of-many in trum,"s' but during his govemorship a new politics of exclusion and chiapas who had invested in coffee, one of the state's main agricultural clientelism emerged in Chiapas. Both cooptation and force were used to products.tr others must labor for the wealthy, sometimes as migrant ensure stability as the neoliberal project was put into play. Though laborers who leave home to work large tracts of land, growing com, cof- poor Chiapas received more solidarity funds than any other state, these were fr:e, and cattle for little pay. health and a lack of access to health care insufficient to reverse the extreme poverty endemic in rural indigenous are, as the Zapatistas note, poverty's loyal companions: areas and exacerbated by neoliberal austerity measures that cut public spending. These funds were also tightly controlled by the governor, as The health conditions of the people of chiapas are a clear example of well as by loyal priista mayors and caciques (local power the capitalist imprint. one-and-a-half million people have no medical brokers). As subcomandante services at their disposal. There are o.z clinics for every r,ooo inhabi- Marcos bitterly observes, 'Among the constructions tants, one-fifth of the national average. There are o.3 hospital beds for accomplished by solidaridad [solidarity] are the Cereso [prison] Number every 1,ooo chiapanecos, one-third of the amount in the rest of Mex- Five, the jail in san cristdbal, the barracks in Rancho Nuevo, the other jail ico. There is one .perating rt'nm per loo,ooo inhabitants, one half of in Yajal6n, the one in Tila. Jails and barracks are what were built by ; the amount in the rest of Mexico. There are o.5 doctors and o.4 nurses solidaridad."st In Chiapas, solidarity was less an effective means of I per r,ooo people, one-half of the national average. . . . Fifty_four per_ diminishing poverty than a symbol of the continued presence and power llJ rNrRoDUcrroN INTRODUCTION rg

the vent alcohol abuse, of state and the unequal distribution of power. Solidarity slogans and drug use and distribution, within the confines of were painted on walls statewide, often on schools and clinics left the brothel.5s unstaffed due to the lack of Governor GonzälezGarrido funding. played an unusuany large role in the creation of the Josd Patrocinio Gonzälez Garrido had many dreams. He dreamed of municipal Zona Galäctica, provoking a great deal of gossip modernizing about the governor Chiapas, a place that much of the country viewed as back- and his sexual habits. As one official in the state Department ward because of its poverty, large indigenous population, and seemingly of Public Hearth told me, "That guy was reallyinterested in feudal economic system. In keeping prostitutiory" which with economic reforms happening at is ordinarily a matter of municipal, not state, con_ cem' Local the federal level, the governor implemented policies to modernize eco- gossip suggested that Gonzälez Garrido's interest in prostitution nomic exploitation in Chiapas. Among Gonzälez Garrido's contributions stemmed from his own sexual activities with the male transvestite to neoliberal policy in Chiapas were the decrease of state supports such prostitutes of Tuxtla. whether true or not, his [!e-1est in controlling as loans and credit for grain and coffee production, the promotion of prostitution was clearly related to his politi"ui i't#rt in moJernizing Chiapas large-scale export a1;riculture, and the privatization of state industries.s2 and quelling dissent in artemative cultures, be they agrarian As these policies accelerated the decline of rural life, urban areas began to activists or sex workers.so experience unprecetlented growth when rural workers headed to cities By regulating and controlling prostitutes, long associated with crime 1 and seeking employment.ln rg7o, almost z8 percent of Chiapanecos lived in deviance, the state hoped to discipline sex workers and bring into I urban areas; by tggS this figure had risen to percent.53 At nearly half a the formal modem market a sexuar-economic 44 activity that had formerly I existed rnillion people, Tuxtla Gutidrrez is one of the state's fastest-growing outside its control. In an era marked by globalization and prirra- tization, cities. I often heard the mayor worry aloud about how to handle the large there has been much discussion about the weakening power of the int-lux of new arrivals who came fleeing rural poverty. state's7 Popular mythology and certain theorists of globahÄiion alike assert The politically ambitious Governor Conzälez Garrido also dreamed of that economic globalization is engendering a "stateless,, and ,,bor- derless" modemizing sexual comnerce in Chiapas.sr As in liberal Porfirian world in which national governments will become all but obso- Mexico a century earlier, in contemporary neoliberal Mexico we see an lete.ss But neoliberalism is less about the withdrawal of the state from public r:conomic n'rodernization project and a concomitant concern with sex and life than about the shifting of arenas of state interest and intervention. social order. As the state withdrew from other sectors of the economy, under neoliberalism, the state is responsible for creating and maintaining such as agriculture, it sought greater control over corrunercial sex in structures, institutions, and laws that support the free market.se I4/hat is Chiapas through the 1989 Zona Rosa Project. The Zona Galäctica was a evident in the case of the Galactic Zone is a redirection of state ßentral feature oi the govemor's project. It is not unlikely that this effort, energies toward the symboric and social controt of disenfranchised pop- ppearheaded by Gonzälez Garrido, was linked to the militarization of the ulations.60 Drawing on social theorist Karl polanyi, who viewed govem- ptate and a form of preparation for dealing with the coming uprising, mental control as crucial to market economies, sociologist Gerardo otero concurs plong with other social tensions, such as uncontrolled population growth that, "far from minimizing or reducing state intervention in the economy, l" th".ity. Among the. goals of the project were the relocation of brothels the self-regulating market requires intervention to create mar- "upplo-p.iate" kets and fo sites "outside the perimeters of the clty," far from pri- sustain them."61 withdrawing state support from small-scale agricultural .pab fumes, schools, govemment offices and churches; the registration producers while promoting free trade policies forces farmers unable hrU snict medical examination of female sex workers; and the supervi- to compete with cheap imports to enter the labor market on terms favorable !,etlggle.rs and clients by municipal authorities in order to pre- to elites; creating the infrastructure to corral and control female INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 2l

prolititutes who previously worked independently or informally (or as before the police arrived, I was fairly certain that the man was the same farmers) also serves elite interests bv creating an ordered urban environ- one who slept on the roof of the flower shop right next door. Conver- ment and highly regulated workers and consumers. Regulating prostitu- sation soon tumed to stories of robbery and rape. Joel, young, middle- tion and confining prostitute's makes them "legible," allowing the state to class and college-educated, launched into a story about a bricklayer he see them, administer them, and control them.62 knew who had raped quite a few women. He laughingly told me, his sis- And so in December 1,gg1,, Governor Gonzälez Garrido, along with ter, and his girlfriend, about how the man had raped a Mexican teenager prüsta city officials, inaugurated the Galactic Zone. such ceremony is who had been out for a walk with her boyfriend. He had also raped a commonplace in Mexico, where political officials of all levels, from the gringa (Western woman) as she was waiting beside her broken-down car president ot the republic to the mayor of a small village, preside over the on the highway. The gringa, Joel said, was "older" and "ugly." While the openings of schools, bridges, highways, and in this case, a brothel. These story, intended to entertain, continued, the other women in the room lis- t'estivities, which often include the cutting of ribbons, live music, and tened, unfazed. Maybe they were even amused. On the other hand, I was speeches, are a validation of both government authority and benevo- horrified. Seeing the look on my face, |oel said, "Oh, well, you have to lence. They make the power and generosity of the state visible through hear him tell it." Would hearing the rapist tell the story actually make it public spectacle. smaller govemment successes too, such as the installa- furury? "Somebody like that ought to be locked up in Cerro Hueco [the tion of a streetlight or placement of public trash cans, do riot go uncele- local prison]," I said. Cecilia, Joel's girlfriend, gave me a pitying look that brated. A new lamppost in a low-income neighborhood in eastern Tuxtla suggested I was incredibly naive and said, "But Patty, it's very difficult to is dwarfed by a large sign advertisirrg the current municipal administra- prove rape." Of course, she was right. In Mexico, rape is prosecuted at tion's program for providing lighting. ln the Galactic Zone, the presence the state level. Government statistics estimate that a girl or woman is of the state is everywhere felt. Trash cans installed yäars earlier still bear raped in Mexico every four minutes, though surely, due to underreport- the insignia of the previous priista municipal govemment. on an outside ing, this figure is much, much higher.63 Throughout Mexico, women and wall between the men's toilets and the Anti-venereal Medical service is girls who report rape to the police are often viewed with suspicion and a large plaque celebrating the state's creation of the Galactic Zone. The aggression and blamed for the crime, while rapists themselves receive entry tickets that clients must purchase at the main gate bear the panista impunity. Furthermore, while all states criminalize sexual violence, sanc- administration's slogan, "Tuxtla Needs you. participate!,, tions imposed often depend on the "chastity" of the victim: in Chiapas and in ten other states, there remain old laws in effect regarding estupro ("intercourse with an adolescent girl through seduction or deceit, as GENDERS AND SEXUALITIES IN MEXICO opposed to force"), which is not punished if the perpetrator marries the young victim.s It is sometimes difficult to understand gender inequality, even when one Over the years, I had been subject to occasional and sometimes has studied, witnessed, and experienced it. The doble moral, as well as extreme gendered harassment in Mexico. Generally, I shrugged these women's vulnerable position in Mexican society, was finally driven incidents off. At the time of this conversation, I had spent months inside a home for me during a late-night, beer-fueled conversation in the apart- brothel. But hearing Joel's story and seeing the women's responses to it, ment of friends in Tuxtla who were not affiliated with the Galactic Zone. I really felt for the first time that I understood the inequality that contin- we had been discussing a man who had entered my house from a neigh- ues to mark women's lives there. boring roof a few nights before while I was in bed. Though he had left Still, gender equality is on the rise in Mexico.6 Contemporary Mexican INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

men of all classes, inclutring the working class, may do housework and ter of socially conservative parents; she often has romantic relationships care for chirdren. women increasingly work outside the home, become with foreign men who pass through the tourist town in which she lives. political leaders, and divorce their husbands.6o But Mexican culture, like Deeply religious and active in the Catholic church, Esperanza works in many cultures, is generally a patriarchal one in which women are subor- the Galactic Zone but lives with her husband. Th"y have been trying to dinate to men' It is still important to examine the impact and power of conceive a child for some time now. Lorena works as a prostitute in the cultural ideals about gender and sexuality upon women,s and men,s zone too, engaging in heterosexual sex for pay, but shares a home with lives and bodies. Gender here refers to the historicalry determined and her female partner and their four children. In contrast to Lorena's out- socioculturally constructed character of femininity and masculinity. spokenness about her sexuality and other matters while in the brothel, cendc'r, like class and_ ethnicity, plays a central role in the workings and her children do not know that their same-sex parents are in a romantic expression of power.nT relationship. Despite a canon that, by its very nature, seeks a more homogenous Researchers and civil society alike have shown that "traditional" gen- expression of gender and sexual practice, heterogeneity prevails in dered and sexual beliefs and practices in Mexico have shifted and trans- Mexico, where belief and practice are marked by class, ethnic, and formed in recent decades.Tl \A/hat we see in neoliberal Mexico is a sexual regional variation, and where stereotypes are manipulated, shaped, and culture marked by contradiction and uncertainty-a contrary mix of reshaped. Virgin brides, though still tiesirable, are a rarity ir, .rrb". resurgent conservatism alongside a new sexual liberation and experi- Mexico's Formal marriage itself, though considered a source of sociar mentation. Roger Lancaster has written'of capitalism's schizophrenic legitimacy, particularly for women, is not the only option, as couples cultural character, its "tendency toward innovation and cosmopoli- choose to live in uniür libre (civilunion) and divorce becomes more com- tanism" that vies with its "need for order and disciptine."T2 This tension mon' In Chiapas, rg percent of the adult population live in uni6n libre, a is evident in Mexico and in the Zona Galäctica, where tradition and close second t. the state of Nayarit, where älmost r9 percent live in sim- modernity, control and freedom, uneasily coexist and compete. Such ilar conditions'"' Hom.sexuality is stigmatized (nongovemmental orga- transformations of the gender-sex system in Mexico are linked to changes nizations report th.rt fifteen homophobic murders are committed each precipitated by the economic crisis, such as middle-class women increas- nronth) but has also become more visible. Mexico City,s gay pride parade ingly finding work outside the home and a rising incidence of female- drew more tha^ thirty thousand participants in the year zooo, while only headed households. But these changes, as we will see, have not neces- five years earlier fewer than a thousand people attended.To sarily brought gender parity. ln contemporary Mexico, gendered, and sexual beliefs and practices In his study of masculinig in a working-class neighborhood in Mexico are diverse, at once contradictory and cohesive, often straying fa, from City, Matthew Gutmann discusses a cultural transformation that he cultural myths about strong, men and pure women. rn the forlowing refers to as "degendering," in which certain beliefs and activities, such as pag,es we wiII meet women who simu\taneous\y dety and embrace cul- alcohol consumpfion and housework, are disassociafed from a particular tura\ idea\s about gender and sexr,ra\ and whose gender identity wtri\eotteno.'*.id\y."^".J*rrr,;";;.räi'ilJJjr'.::ffiviews on such i ^ and Lfu*ed with other social secfors, such as youth, the class, or particular ethnic groups.73 It is true that, in many sec- My good friend Nan'.t ,: u colleg,e_educated professional Iüexico, gender roles and gendered activities have been undergo- ,1;l.ltlrorroh rn -_A^_r supp.- orter I":r,* t of tt .or,r"* I :llrdent " n\ rivä It is also clear that there exists rn Mexico a mul- ; *,lh r" ",r"; th. d;*;;;ü::_LX" the fact this is masked :*T::::::utime stopped f i,*,i idgati.$Sp; of multiplicify easily speakrng toher. Sitvia is " ,.";;,;;il;:ää,ä ol$g Mexican macho and the mujer abnegada (self- 4+ tNTRODUC',TTON INTRODUCTION 25

,,shouldn,t sacrilicing u'oman).7r "Whyi' Gutmann asks, the study of man. Nor do many resemble less contemporary notions of machos as gender in Mexico similarly reject specious conclusions about ubiquitous "honorable men" who use their Power wisely'8o prosti- (national) machos and. abnegntlas, and replace these stereotypes with Yet nearly all the men who aPPear in the following pages visit (and descriptions and analyses of the diversity of changing gender identities tutes and/or seek to control and regulate the activities of women to iden- in Mexico at the end of the twentieth century?,,7s men) who engage in prostitution. This may tempt some readers . This ethnography of the Galactic Zone examines the diversity of tify them as stereotypical macho mexicanos who exploit and dominate ichanging gender identities and gendered activities. But it also examines women. But as I argue in this book, the relationships and distribution of ,the persistence of both men's domination of women and the fact that power in the Galäctica are far too complex to be reduced to a problem of ,beliefs govem- and activities surrounding sex-and stigmatized. commercial sex machismo. Despite this complexity, whether they are clients or in particular-have not undergone this process of degendering that mänt officials or ejidatarlos (land reform beneficiaries), these men Sener- moral high tgGutmann describes. ally share a sense of sexual entitlement and of standing on the By acknowledging and exploring gender inequality, I am not trying to ground in relation to the sex workers of the zone' stan- promote essentializing formulations of gender in Mexico or adhere to for- Whether practiced, believed, contested, or not, the moral double the stigma- mer simplistic, ahistorical stereotypes of the Mexican macho and,the pas- dard, men's sexual entitlement, women's subordination, and of sive, sexually pure, and self-sacrificing woman. It was octavio paz who tization of certain women all make their mark on society in a variety set forth this classic, stereotypical formulation of Mexico masculinity and ways.Forinstance,women'sentryintowagelaborisatoddswithcul- and femininity in his widely read Labyrinth of soritttcle.T6 pgz'sideal women are tural ideals that emphasize a woman's domestic role as wife, mother, virtuous, the embodiment of motherhood. Those who are not constitute a daughter.Womenwhoworkoutsidethehomehavehistoricallybeen tnere- familial and societal shame and are stigmatized. Men are powerftrl and stigmatized in Mexico. one of many spanish words for prostitute' endowed with a right to experience mercre, meaning one who eams;8t the link this power and their sexuality.what triz,has its root in the Latin J ääep Paz writes about are archetypes embodied by few living, breathing between women who eam money and perceived immorality has beings' Many researchers have already shown that such simplistic for- Even today, domestic servants are often viewed as outlets for male loots. More mulations are untenable, since cultural idears are historically produced sexuality within the household, particularly for teenaged boys'Ez held up and dift-er from the realities of actuäl behavior.z In addition, such models recently, the sexual morality of female factory workers has been in arö di$erentially ascribed, applied, adhered to, and resisted according to to pubiic scrutiny. As the northem border region began to industrialize the particulars of class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.Ts Along with therg6os,Mexicanwomenbegantoenterfactoryworkintheexport- of Mexico social movements of the poor and politically disenfranchised, there has oriented maquiladoras. With the passage of NAFTA, the whole emerged in Mexico an increasing awareness of the inequalities of gender became a free trade zone, and even more women entered into factory and sexual orientation, accompanied by the growth of feminist and gay work. Women, who account for some 6o percent of all maquiladora rights movements seeking to address and transform those inequities. workers, were hired because they were presumed to be submissive' Gutmann's claim that "the nncho nrcxicnrro stereotypes are today highly exploitable, and less expensive than their male counterparts's and laagely inappropriate and misleading" is an important corrective to ear- perceived as a threat to a social order marked by gender inequality associated lier pervasive images.;'There are few men in the following pages who female economic reliance uPon men, female workers are often factory conform in full to the modern idealized image of the Mexican macho, with promiscuity, immorality, and even prostitution' As one that is, a domineering, indepe.dent, tough, womanizing, hard-drinking worker told the anthropologist Maria Patricia Fernändez-Kelly, "Many 'j ü INTßODUCTION INTRODU CTION 27

people, especially men, treat you differently as soon as they know you from children, citizens from country, and sex from pleasure, even amidst have a job at a nuquiladora. They think that if you have to work for all this separation, movement, migration, and dissolution, there emerge rnoney, there is also a good chance that you're a whore. But I assure you other sorts of corurections, strange and surprising encounters and I that my friends and I are decent women.,,8{ engagements between disparate groups-for instance, between peas- The vulnerability and precarious social position of women workers is ants and prostitutes and politicians. evident in the northem border city of ciudad where poor young luärez, There have been, among activists, academics, and sex workers, many women and teen girls from throughout Mexico travel to work in one of the bitter and divisive polemics about commercial sex' Some have argued city's hundreds of intemationally owned factories. since 1993 nearly four that all prostitution is patriarchal exploitation and female victimization hundred young women, often far from home and family, have been found and does not constitute "work."8s Others discard terms such asaictimiza- murdered. lf the morality of a woman who simply works outside the fion, focusing instead on agency, the social construction of sexuality, the home may be suspect, one can imagine the suspicion that accompanies the variety of female experience in sex work, as they call it, and sometimes transgressio. of a woman who works outside the home selling sex. even its liberatory potential.e \Ä/hen framed in terms of debate, contrasting patriarchy with female power, the complexity of the multiple Power relations embedded in the ORDEIT AND PROGRESS: ETHNOCRAPHY practice of prostitution is obfuscated, reduced to a simple question of AND NEOLIBERALISM gender inequality. In this book, I-vie.w prostitution as a form of labor'' the false ( experienced drfferentlypy d_ifferent wo1e1,1ej9cting dichotomy '" i ilriros lrc l,glrrk,rl ai (,\tr(,nltl\ "lrorrlrl of äxploitation/liberation.8T The heterogeneity of sex work is visible in | $.u,,1 ,,,",..' the-zone, making it difficult to formulate grand generalizations about (:l,a;s.,,,,, li.rrrrg;rl { llirrlr't.lr. prostitution. I am not alone in placing myself in the sex-as-work camP. Recent writings by sex workers, academics, and activists has shifted This is the story of the modernization of the sex industry in the city of away from reductionist celebrations or denials of female power and Tüxtla Gutierrez during the neoliberal era. It offers a view from above: of instead illustrates the complexities and contradictions of sexual labor.s politicians, bureaucrats, city workers, campesinos, and an anthropologist In an effort to distance myself from polarizing debates, I have chosen as they interact within the world of sexual corunerce. And it is a view to use the terms prostitution and sex tuork interchangeably.8e Prostitution,, tr.m below: of sex workers and their clients who directly experience defined here as the exchange of sexual services for money, is one form of prostitution in a multitude of ways. It is a local story that is culturally sex work, different from erotic dancing, phone sex, and participation in specific, where women and men enact, contest, and reimagine gendered pomographic films or still photos. There are other reasons too for using and sexual cultural norms within a regional economy in which sexuality both terms. Along with the modernization of the sex industry, there has is bought a.d sold. But it is also a global story in which these very developed in Tuxtla a modern vocabulary of sexual commerce that now women and men struggle to negotiate their places within a rapidly includes words like sexoseraidora and trabajadora sexual (sex worker). The changing cultural system and within an increasingly global political- used I terms prosf ituta (prostitute) and putn (whore) continue to be economic system in which modernity, democracy, and neoliberal capital- throughout Tuxtla, but sex workers and zone administrators alike ism have become dangerously synonymous. And even as structural ser worker.n some westem feminists and sex forces and increasingly use the term governmental policies separate peasants from land, parents workers make much of the terminology used to describe women who sell INTRODU('TION INTRODUCTION

sex. Antiprostitution feminists continue to use the term prostihtte,believ- what Daniel Bradburd refers to as "being there."e3 In his book about poor ing it conveys a Agee writes, "This is a book sense of the exploitation and coercion found in commer_ white sharecroppers in rural Alabama, fames cial sex, while those in necessity." He continues,"If I could do it, I'd do no writing at all the pro-sex-work camp use the term sex worker to only by legitimize sex yet be fragments of cloth, bits work as a form of work. in Tuxtla, terms rrke sexoserai- here. It would be photographs, the rest would dora and trabnjatlorn sarurtr lumps of earth, records of speech, pieces of wood and iron, do not suggest greater acceptance of sex as of cotton, legitimate work or diminished stigmatization of the women to whom phials of odors, plates of food and of excrement."n* Ethnographers are these words to do what are applied. Though sex workers themselves may prefer equipped only with words, and in many cases we do our best these labels while recog- to others, i' contemporary Tuxtla these terms are only Nancy Scheper-Hughes calls "good enough" ethnography another way to sanitize and modemize commercial sex in Mexico; thev nizing the flaws and challenges of the anthropological endeavor.e5 q91to!-e true legitimation of prostitution as work. Still, feeling and textures aside, there are knowable facts: Agovemment- It would ' seem obvious that, in studying and writing about prostitu- run brothel was built in the capital of Chiapas in a time of social change 'tion, one would be lives in . . i, informed by feminist theory and gender studies. And and economic turmoil. Fifty percent of the Mexican population to I am. Because sexual to suffer gender inequality F"-. commerce is about much more than gender and poverty. Despite social gains, women continue sexuality, I also rely on theories of space in Meico; poor women are doubly marginalized. Poor women who work \j . and place, sociar control, and ,1,' indige- ' Po-!!!igal economy- But more than anything, I mäke use of ethnograp,hy. I as prostitutes are marginalized and slrgmatized. Call these women " rely most on likes to the lived experience oi thu people I came to know during nous and their marginalization only increases. An old friend my lwelve months in Tüxtla, as well as on my own experiences.r, remind me during moments of crisis or depression, "Feelings aren't facts." i do not intend to rehash here the academic debates about reflexivity, This kind of self-help clich6 annoys me''Facts-women who sell sex are _t t representation, \ self and other, power differentials, polyvocality, objectiv- stigmatized in Mexico-engender feelings: I'm afraid my children will - ity, and so on. This mix and we come closer is n.t because I do not think such dialogu" hus be"r, find out what I do for a living. Let fact and feeling or does one worthwhile productive. Critiques of anthropology,s corJniar history, to the totality of lived experience. As Galeano tells us, "\'Vhy fcminist concems enter with the inequalities fbund in fieldwork and ethno- write, if not to put one's pieces together? From the moment we graphic writing, us to divorce a.d postmodern discourses on partial knowredge and school or church, education chops us into pieces; it teaches €xperimental writing, all have contributed to a more ethical discipline soul from body and mind from heart. The fishermen of the Colombian bounded by artificial for they invented the 'less notions of objectivity and slightly less con- coast must be leamed doctors of ethics and morality, sticted by ideas about what constitutes academic writing. word sentipensante, feebng-thinking, to define the language that speaks the An old poet once told the uruguaya^ writer Eduardo Galeano, ,,Those truth.'% urho make objectivity a religion are liars. They are scared of human As the modern neoliberal project requires a certain taming of chaos, of scholarship so too Plin'-z has long demanded tristance, sterility, and profes- populations and ideas that threaten the production of hegemony, spnalism' Even within anthropology, one of the few academic aisci academic writing unfortunately demands the management and control plinee that displays some the shaping of torerance for difference within its ranks, there of sometimes unruly data. Writing ethnography requires iq little room for playful exploration, for intimacy instead of distance, disorderly and wonderfully jumbled human experience into linear and ryy tangibility rather than steriliry. orderly knowledge. Writing good ethnography requires doing so without tT* tried to bl!ryler!!rc of human experience or compartmentaliz- . i ald feeling !o the p4ggs.that follow, draw- sacrificing the contradictions irF tte reader into rhythms of the Galactic Zone and giving a sense of ing social facts simply for the sake of analytical coherence. t ". t-. ., INTR()DUCTI()N INTRODUCTION :lr

So, this book is organized in the following way: Chapter r situates the not only a centuries-old conflict between indigenous Mexico and "mod- of Tuxtla city Gutielrrez and its Zona Galäctica within neoliberal Meico. em,, Mexico, between communal landholding and private enterprise, but In telling the recent history of the city, describing its transformation from also the multiple, overlapping, and intertwined inequalities, conflicts, lowland backwater to motlern metropolis, I illustrate the ways in which and convergences between and among sex workers, communal farmers, recent pattems of consumption and urbanization in Tuxtla, with its ser- landlords, politicians, and citizenry. vice economy U.S. franchises, shopping malls, women enter and modern brothel, fit Chapter 5 interrogates the circumstances under which squarely within the neoliberal model of development. The creation of the the sex industry, and how factors such as citizenship and marital status Zona Galäctica, I explain, is part of a broader state effort to cleanse the city affect a woman'S work pattems, consumption habits, and even reputa- and remove visible and undesirable evidence of neoliberalism's failures. tion. In examining these circumstances, we see that women enter prosti- Chapter z explores municipal efforts to contain and control the unreg- tüüon in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, and that sex work, nei- ulated and therefore illegal prostitution that takes place beyond the con- ther wholly oppressive nor liberating, is constantly being shaped and fines of the state-controlled Calactic Zone, in Tuxtla's streets, bars, and reshaped by historical circumstance and cultural practice' hotels. The raids against street sex workers are rituals of purification, In analyzing the negotiation of prices and services in the Galactic having less to do with protection of public health than with enforcement Zone, chapter 6 dispels notions of prostitution as the "easy life," as it is so "public of morals" and with cleansing urban space of the social disorder often called by Tuxtlecos. Sex workers are service workers in a new that unregulated visible prostitution is believed to represent. The round- global economy in which gendered household activities such as cooking, ing up of female and male transvestite prostitutes in Tuxtla's streets also cleaning, child care, and sex have been increasingly commodified' In makes clear the unequal application of the law (male pimps and clients their work, prostitutes must be skilled arbitrators, exacting cash from r.t,omen go free while and gay men do not); and it makes clear that the clients, teaching them about condom use, and sometimes enduring ver- raids, despite the resistance of sex workers, reinforce gender, sexual, and bal and even physical abuse. Clients, for their part, through their visits to class inequality. the zone, learn and reinforce masculine desire and privilege in the Chapter examines 3 the strict medical, spatial, and social supervision Galäctica. of zone workers. while the regulationist system of prostitution, freedom from hegemonic as prac- br chapter 7, I describe the zone as a place of ticed in the zone, has sone unexpected benefits for workers who receive norms of gender and sexuality, where women transgress moral norms by condoms and adult education, the health benefits of regulated conuner- exchanging sexual services directly for cash, and gay male food vendors cial sex are proven to be questionable, if not outright nonexistent. In addi- openly express their sexuality. But the zone is also a place of restriction, tion, the surveillance and mistreatment of zone workers by zone staff where sex workers, though their work is legal, are highly stigmatized' serves only to reinforce cultural codes that designate the prostitute as Thisstigmatizationiskeyininhibitingworkersfromdemandingtheir both expendable and dangerous. women's resistance to the restrictive rights and the remuneration they deserve for their labor' regulationist this system, including the 1996 strike in which the workers took The final two chapters revisit both some of the questions posed by the brothel .rdministrator neoliberal hostage, prove that resistance, even among book and the women of the Galactic Zone. Chapter 8 critiques such a divided and divisive population, is always possible. capitalismandstate.regulatedprostitution,examiningaltemativestothe Chapter is an unlikely on the lives 4 story of agrarian conflict, party politics, pros- ,yrt"* in place in Tuxtla. ln the epilogue, I provide an update titution, and the of new lives public good. The efforts of communal landholders to of some of the women of the zone, including their creation reclaim their ancestral lands upon which the Galäctica now stand.s reveal and, in a few hstances, their deaths' MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY 33

A VERY NEW CITY

As capital of the state known as the birthplace of the new Mexican Revolution led by the EZLN, Tuxtla Gutidrrez is perhaps not what many 0NE Vlorlt.r'rr St'r irr a \,kldern C)ity imagine. Located in the hot lowlands of Chiapas, Tirxtla, home to the Galactic Zone, is a city of nearly half a million people. tf Chiapas is, as it 'lirrtlir i. rrol ir plitr.t' l1;1. 11111,it:111'1.-lltr. rrcn. rrglr came to be known after the uprising, "the other Mexico-backward and cirpitrtl ol (.lrirrp:r.. rritlrorrt ilnrirr.li(llri. . . .lr i" likt left behind," then Tuxtla is, in many ways, the other Chiapas.3 In :^892, iul uilnr.( (.\sält'\ l)oitsr.t.iPt to ( ilriirllir.. n lri('lr .lrorrhl Govemor Emilio Rabasa transferred the capital of Chiapas from San lrc rrll tr ilrl nrlulirilt itrrrl ,,Ll ,.lrru.,.lrr.. irrrrl ss.itlLrscrl Cristdbal de las Casas to Tuxtla with the hopes of ridding the state gov-

t'rrirr. irrrrl t lrr' lrrrliirrr. I rLxL lirr:r lrr. emment of the provincialism and corruption found in the Highlands (,tirlritrrt (,tttrrr.. government, as well as to effect the "geographic reorientation of tr1 111 Chiapas," turning it away from Guatemala-the state was a Guatemalan territory until r8z4-and toward Mexico City.l The young Rabasa (he became govemor at age thirty-five) was less an elected official than an appointed one: he was chosen by President Porfirio Diaz to implement the very values (economic liberalism, modernization, and positivism) for which the Diaz regime stood. Rabasa played a key role in the political modernization of Chiapas.s More than a century later, heavily touristed San Cristöbal, with its cobblestone streets and outdoor indigenous markets, is still plagued by a reputation of provincialism, while Tuxtla prides itself on its image as a A.thrtrpologists a.d other s,ci:rl scientists have been at work in Chiapas modern city. Where San Crist6bal makes much of its colonial roots, fbr rnore than half a century. Most research has centered on the indige- Tuxtla showcases its modemity. L u document written by municipal nous Maya peoples of the Highlands region; the Zapatista uprising in authorities, Tuxtla is portrayed as a city without a past, an antidote to San 1994 extended researchers' field of interest both thematically and geo- Crist6bal, with its indigenous population and colonial architecture, both graphically.' The rich work produced by scholars over the decades has of which are considered distinctly premodem: "Outside of the museum, generated a particular image of a Chiapas that is agricultural, indige- the visitor to Tuxtla will search in vain for signs of the colonial era and nous, impoverished, and deeply conflicted over issues of ethnicity, land, vestiges of the Spanish epoch. Tuxtla is like that, it is a very new city, its class, and politics. Chiapas is all these things, but it is also urban, Iadino ancient traces having disappeared with modern urbanization and it (nonindigen.us), and for some, a place to seek economic prosperity. This would be useless to hope to still find here an atmosphere of centuries aspect of Chiapas has received less attention from westem anthropolo. past."o gists, who historically have come to southern Mexico to study indige- Tuxtla is, in this account, cleansed of its colonial past and freed from its nous peoples.2 late-nineteenth-century repuiation in San Crist6bal as a lowland back-

:t2 .J+ \IOD|jRN SEX IN A MODERN CITY MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY :|5

wo()ds town lacking amenities. But in r93o, the capital of Chiapas displaced by * earthquake, and workers from as far away as lacked both a drainage system and paved roads; only the central who had come to build the dam at nearby Chicoas6n, part of had running water, and only four medical doctors were availabh ive, state-sponsored hydroelectric complex. Between tgTo and serve the entire population of Tuxtla and its hinterlands.T the number of residents doubled, reaching nearly t67,ooo.t0 Many of Finally, in the r94os the state intervened, augmenting Tuxtla,s new migrants settled on uncultivated lands in the foothills in the structure "in order to consolidate it as the worthy capital of the and southern sections of the citv. Cl'riapas"; this coincided with the begiruring of the state-led During the r98os and r99os, Tuxtla was one of Mexico's most rapidly of Mexico on a naticlnal scale.d During this period, manv of ruxtla's ing cities. As the debt crisis and economic chaos engulfed Mexico and colonial-style buildings were demolished, along with parks, agiqi the r98os, massive public works projects were undertaken in hospitals, and decayi.rg markets, all replaced by modem structues. During this time, growing economic, social, and political strife image of the city was changing. The state widened principal roads rural Chiapas: croplands continued to fall into the hands of order to accommodate automobiles, ,,symbols the of modemity.,a landholders, many of whom raised cattle; and authorities jailed co.struction of the Pan-American Highway was completed in rq42, inos protesting the loss of lands, as the newly militarized state itating Tuxtla's communication with Mexico City and its expansion, iudicial police repressed dissent. Nearly eighty thousand Guate- new settlements sprang up in the east and west along the hi refugees poured into eastern Chiapas, fleeing the murderous mil- edge. regime of General Efrain Rios Montt. Govemment authorities wor- Yet .ot until the middle of the twentieth century did ruxtla about the possibility of insurrection in Chiapas. begin to develop the infrastructure characteristic of a modem city. By During this period, despite austerity measures implemented through- t96os, the city hatl a new airport and its first automatic traffic the nation, the state govemment in Tuxtla began a campaign to con- Fountai's and rn.numents, symbols of the consolidation of state a new capital showcasing state power and advertising the suc- were built throughout the. capital. Tuxtla's main thoroughfare, of urbanization. Public funds were used to remodel the Avenida Central in the eastern half of the city and Boulevard Beli downtown center and construct the Unidad Administrativa, two mas- Dominguez in the west, was widened. New residential buildings housing many of the offices of the state govemment. The were constructed. some of these neighborhoods were private fte Xfrseum of Anthropology, the City Theater, and the Libramiento Sur, a cionnnietttos (subdivisions), while others, like Colonia Bienestar highway that traverses the city's southern edge, were all built in were sites for state-sponsored public housing. Tuxtla,s wealthier $is period of economic decline and social crisis. When seen in the con- dents tended to live in the westem half of the city (as they still do), fxt of demographic shifts, economic crisis, and political turmoil, it is lit- poorer Tuxtlecos (residents of Tuxtla) lived in eastern Tuxtla (also ifr surprise that the idea for constructing a site for state-regulated pros- location of the Zona Galäctica). Tuxtla is very much a city divided by lihrtion that would control marginal populations emerged during this class-even its movie theaters (like sexual services) are class stratifie4 rangi'g time. from the- more expensive, cleaner, air-conditioned cineplex of thcl 1.'rl In many ways Tüxtla stands apart from the agricultural and indige- central plaza to poorly maintained, cheaper theaters with sound systesu mus Chiapas represented by social scientists who bypass this often- that barely function. j naligned city on their way to the Highlands. Graham Greene's a939 Tuxtla's population surged during the r97os following the arrival d characterization of the "new ugly capital" still holds true for many p.or rural migrants, families from the neighboring city of Chiapa de b{rrists, social scientists, and Chiapanecos alike. Tuxtla has no ruins, fiss,:rF l: i*,:b;i. ..: Sil'" Jö MoDTRN slx rN ff.1 A MoDERN crry MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY fT: 3? li nost of its churches are ' modern in design, and there is tittle indigenous , presence in the city. Its high a*ual population growth rate of T3percent, due largely to internal migration, worries public officials, who wring their hands as shanties continue to sprout in the southern hills overrook- f;-1.1 ing the city. Unlike the whole of Chiapas, where some 6o percent of the economically acti'e population is employed in primary-r""ro, activities such as agriculture, fishing, or cattle raising, ,,"uriy 75 percent of Tüxtlecos earn their living in the commercial and se*ice onry perrent are engaged in "".torr; 4.3 agricurture.il some Tuxtlecos are still landholders, howe'er: many of the city's wearthy families -on"f from rurar landholdings and maintain ranches "u* in the countryside surrounding the city, a status symbol for local elites. Consumer culture, much of it service based, thrives in Tüxtla more than anywhere else in the state. Middle- and upper-class consumers from san Crist.bal and throughout Chiapas cometo Tuxtra to purchase items and receive services (particularly medical care) unavailable in their home communities. Tuxtla's western and wealthier half is American home to big-box stores like office Depot and Blockbu"*, *;;;;;; reflect neoliberalism's reach into southern Mexico. u.s.-based fast_food chains such Domin o's pizza, McDonald's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken dot the landscape; the latter two have drive-througn *i'ao*s, making co.sumption as fäst and easy as possible. u.s. influences permeate con- sumpti.n in Tüxtla and ersewhere in Mexico. some Mexican urban and suburban randscapes have changed so dramatically in recent years that they are nearly indistinguishable from their northe.r, neignbo.s, at least to some' The author and activist Johr-r Ross writes of a gÄp of undocu_ Figure 4. Tüxtla's newest shopping mall. Photo by Patty Kelly. mented workers who paid polleros (smugglers) in fafacnuta, Chiapas, five thousand dolrars apiece for passage to the united states. migrants, The mostly from Guatemala, were dropped ,,Wendy,s, off in front of a malr "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" mantra of U.S. fast food restaurants containing a a KFC, even an Applebee,s, and the ten_plex does not apply in Tuxtla's McDonald's; small barefoot children belong- 'Hollywood cinema' in suburban chihuahua City, a good roo m'es ing to middle- and upper-class families tear through the restaurant and from the u's' border' The workers believed they had ur.i,ed in the u.s., its adjoining playground while their parents order McMexicanas- as one rvorker told a local newspaper, 'rt looked just like how it rooked hamburgers with avocado and salsa. At Kentucky Fried Chicken, now on television."'l: called KFC, the colonel, whose cultural symbolism would be lost on Arnerican venues have made some concessions to local culture: the most Mexicans, has been replaced by a happy cartoon chicken with 3E UOD!ßN SEX IN A MODERN CITY MODERN SEx lN A MODERN CrTY :19

{ ;,.,: Sqbust pectoral muscles. Directly behind McDonald,s is the newly one of the nation's least impoverished municipalities.ls The distribution :, opened Sam's Club, a Wal_Mart_affiliated price club. During the of wealth and misery in Chiapas and all of Mexico is complex and Christmas season, it ofterecl shoppers pine trees shipped from the uneven, and marked by regional and ethnic differences' In Chiapas, united states. The nonunion war-Mart currently o*r,, äÄ7 superstores indigenous residents of the Highlands and the selva suffer poverty the and subsidiaries throughout Mexico (though they go Uy rra.iorrs names: most. The infant mortality rate in Tuxtla is percenti nationwide this Superama and Bodega 3.8 Aurrera, to name two), including one built in figure is 4.9 percent, while in some Chiapas municipalities, such as the central Mexico within sight of the two-thousand-year-olJ pyramids of indigenous town of Chamula, this figure is as high as 16.8 percent.r6 Teotfüuacän (dubbed Teotihualmart by writer and social critic Carlos Tuxtla boasts the highest rates of literacy in the state and the largest num- Monsivais).r3 A few blocks farther west is plaza Cristal, an upscale ber of prisons or, as they are called, Centers for Social Rehabilitation. shopping mall with a food court where local middle-class teens gather despite the con- while While one-third of all homes in Chiapas lack electricity, their younger, darker-skinned, poorer counterparts bag groceries tinued operation of the massive hydroelectric complex mentioned earlier, in Chedraui, the large modern supermarket that is one of the man,s Tuxtla figure is percent; nationally, rz.5 percent of Mexican anchor stores. in this 3.2 homes do not have access to electricity.u And Tuxtla also boasts the Increasing commoditization and united states cultural influences by its administrators to be one of the most also permeate Galactic Zone, considered sexuality in Tuxtla. Though the city has long had its share modembrothels in the nation. of sex workers and even a soft-core po.r,ogruphic movie theater located And so, while Chiapas may be "the other Mexico," in many ways within sight of both the municipal and state goverrunent headquarters, in most resPects to the indige- daily Tuxtla is "the other Chiapa-s," contrasting newspapers that ten years ago had perhaps one or two small ads nous Cliiapal öbserved by anthropologists over the past five decades for edecanes (hostesses) who proviä" ,"*rrul services now contain pages the EZLN uprising. Yet Tuxtla and and and by the international media since pages of such advertisements. The ads often picture blond Hoty- its Zona Galäctica are not separate from the political economic trends wood actresses (Mira Sorvino is a favorite) and thin Western fashion that gave rise to the Chiapas that has become so well known, but rather morJels, who have come to define new cultural standards of beauty and The that contribute to rural sexiness. were born from these same trends. policies poverty and underdevelopment also engender increasing urbanization. Bcfore the arrival of the Spanish, what is now Tuxtla was sparsely pop_ in the is a product ulated Nearly two-thirds of the high population growth city by indige'nous Zoque Maya, who cultivated com and beans. of immigration from other parts of southem Mexico. Despite the city's the city is primarily ladino. Touy' while more than z5 percent of all impoverished Tuxtlecos who Chiapanecos prosperity, however, there are plenty of over the age of tive speak an indigenous tutrg.rug", in Tuxtla are unemployed, or underemployed in the booming informal economy this- figure is just z percent.r{ Immigrant Tzotzrrand rzelta"l ,p""uk"., fro- that flourishes in Tuxtla's streets, homes, and brothels. Those living in indigenous Highland communities such as Chamula and Zinacantän city watch the prosperity from a now the shanties in the foothills above the outnumber the few-hundred Zoques remaining in Tuxtla. The three distance. In the city center below, hundreds of poor people line up each groups frequently workäs day laborers, informal workers, service work- evening outside the public regional hospital, waiting for medical care. ers' and vendors in local traditional markets, selling fresh flowers, veg- The police crime pages report stories of robbery and violence, and the; etables, and traditional foods. private security guard industry flourishes. It may be the other Chiapas, i while chiapas is one of Mexico's most impoverished states, Tuxtla is but Tuxtla is still Mexico. MODTI'N SEX IN A MODERN CITY MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY +l

I fl A}- Äf,TITA

si..::äiJ.-*.;, ä*-. jl,'' *.:.,-.

Figurt The road 5. to the Zona Galäctica. Photo patry by Kelly. Figure 6. A microbus. Photo by Patty Kelly.

MODERN SEX gate to the zone. Directly in front of the visitor, behind a tall chain-link The Zona Garäctica lies four fence kept gated and locked during the day, is the King Kong, one of the m'es from Tuxtla,s bustling city down a lonely, bumpy centeq, area's two nightclubs where some sex workers perform striptease. To the Otr., r:10 nu.*J Uy,niU.urrt green vegetation, the right are two small refreshment stands that flank the entry to the fumhoytiu trees blooming bright orange iri*re springtime. one does not rarely open. front of the stands is a line of arrive at the zone by chance: Galäctica; one of them is In o.," .r'r,rJ, ,""t ,, out. Its location [."nt to the current is a testa_ microbuses and Volkswagen Beetles that provide transportation for zone status of commercial sex throughout much of Mexico; (Most working-class men, do not eyglqlF, yet, idealty, invisibte. clients, workers, and staff. zone clients, The dirt road own their own transportation.) The micros, as they are called, cost four leads to the large, open, unpaved lot outside the main pesos (US$o.47) and make many stops between downtown Tüxtla and UODEI{N 5EX IN A I\IODERN CITY MODERN 5EX IN A MODERN CITY +3

They provide little anonymity f.,,, f '* for sex workers and clients, who night is a transgressive time, one of diversion and sexuality.ls In the .,; 6niue the bus with others making shorter trips within the city. The darkness, anything can happen. By keeping the zone open during regu- iit' known as piratas (pirate, I folkswase:: or unlicensed, taxicabs), charge lar and "respectable" business hours, it retains a symbolic sense of order fivepesos (US$o.59) and proceed directly to the zone once they are filled. and safety. M*y zone women prefer to work only during the day; keep- This mode of transport is generany co'sjdered more desirable because it ing "regular" working hours lends workers the sense that they are oper- is a quicker and more discreet way to arrive at the Galäctica, though if the ating within cultural norms in some way, despite the stigmatized nature taxi does not fill up at the taxi stand it will slowly cruise one of rüxtla,s of the work. srain thoroughfares with a sign ,,zoNA,,, in the window that reads Clients must purchase a ticket for three pesos (US$o3) at the main decreasing the anonymity of both workers and clients riding in it. gate before entering. Clients who purchase sex in the Galactic Zone are outside the main gate, on the large sign that reads Zona d.-e Tolerancia, doing their civic duty, consuming sexual services in the least transgres- the Coca{ola insignia that once upp"*"a on each side of the sign has sive and most orderly manner possible rather than contributing to the been spitefully painted over, following a dispute with the local Coca_Cola growth of the informal sexual economy found in Tuxtla's streets. distributors over a monetary donation to the zone Christmas party (the the client the is distributors Municipal police briefly search at entry gate, and if he refused the request for funds). Beneath the rarge'sign is a found to be sober (enough) and free of potential weapons/ he will be smaller hand-painted one stating the many rules of the zonel Lingering allowed to enter. Inside the gate are eighteen m1dulos (units), barracks- outside the gates are clients ancr workers who are waiting for transporta- style buildings each containing ten rooms. Though the city administers tion back to the city center. Female municipal staff rarery wait in this the zone, each unit is independently owned. Most owners come to the manner, remaining inside their offices, since they generally prefer leave interact not to zone only to collect rents, preferring to the daily administration of with sex workers and clients. They usually exit their offices onry their unit to a hired hand. Afew, including the well-liked Dofla Mari, pre- when they hear the hom of the pirata o. ,n" nasar calls of the teenage fer a more hands-on approach. Dofla Mari's mddulo is clean, colorful, boys who collect bus fares: "Centro, Cerüro. There,s still room!,, Carlos, Tzeltal a and filled with lush flowering plants. Mayan who looks to be only nine or ten years old, stands outside The landlady Dofla Esperanza actually lives in the Galäctica, although tfe gate selling gum, candy, and lain cigarettes. I was shocked to find she is unpopular with many zone women; sex workers say that even that he was actually fourteen; owing to poor nutrition, many indigenous people Dofla Esperanza's own daughter hates her, and that she lives in the zone appear far younger than their actual age when they are children. because she has nowhere else to go. Withher curly gray hair, glasses, and As adults, hard work takes its tolr, and they often appear oider than their housedress, Dofla Esperanza putters around the zone in a seemingly per- actual years' Javier, an.ther teenager, sells flavored shaved ices bright from a petual state of grouchiness. The gossip about Dofla Esperanza is reveal- blue wooden cart. Like the boys that they are, carros and Javier ing: it is not only sex workers who are stigmatized, but also women who c'n often be found wrestling and play-fighting in the mornings as they do not maintain family ties. Single women, women living alone apart ready their carts for a long clay of rvo.t uitn" main gate. from family, prostitutes, young female anthropologists-all are subject to The zone is open fr'm nine o,clock in the until nine in the scrutiny. :evenin6. The two clubs outside the ^orri^g main gate open only at night. The The eighteen buildings are organized into three rows with wide con- noyl or tire zone's operation refrect municipal concems t with social order crete pathways in between. Each building is constructed to facilitate i:11 *" zone as a place for containea ar,ä orderry sexual practice. As client browsing as well as surveillance of workers: the three sides of the Hdctor Carrilro writes in his study of sexual culture in Guaäahjara, the unit open into a central open-air courtyard through which clients may IIODERN 5EX TN A I\IODERN CITY MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY

macabre than cheery. The zone administrator, El Contador (the Accountant-there is a great love for titles in Mexico) is the primary occupant of the other building. This building also contains a room where municipal police sometimes eat their lunch, and two small jail cells that are used to detain "troublesome" clients and workers. Just outside the cells is a large room with two long tables and a few chairs, used for classes in adult education. Here we find a Foucauldian nightmare, a strange trio of disciplinary institutions: a brothel, a prison, a school, all in one. Aside from prostitutes and municipal staff, many other Tuxtlecos eam their income in the zone. Scattered throughout the Galäctica are small stands where vendors sell food, refreshments, toilet paper, bleach, can- dles, and music cassettes. Nearly all the food vendors are gay men, who find that the Galäctica, being a tolerance zone where hegemonic norms of sexuality and gender may sometimes be challenged, is one of the few Figure 7. Doia Mari,s mtitlulo. photo by patty Kclly public spaces in the city where they can express their sexual orientation as they choose without fear of excessive harassment or abuse.re Many of these workers wear earrings and aprons. sholl n'hile "shopping.,, There are no Others who earn income in the zone are the visiting ambulatory ven- dark corners or invisibleinvicihlo sPaceso^ in the zo'e. Everything is within sight, within;"ä dors and shoe-shine boys, who must receive permission and pay a fee in Just inside the main gate are order to work; middle-aged mustachioed twin brothers with kind eyes two administrative bu'dings. The northernmost building who form the zone's municipal janitorial staff, and privately hired jani- houses the Servicios M.dicos Anti-vÄereos (Anti- Venereal Medicar Service). It is tors who work for the owners of the buildings and perform errands for staffed by three medical doctors, two nurses/ a chemist, a cleaning lady, the workers. Roberto and an older man nicknamed Snub-nose for obvi- and a secretary. The interior of the building is spartan and has a bureaucratic ous reasons are two such privately hired janitors. Small and thin, feer to it: a few desks and plastic chairs' and in a small dwarfed by the enormous T-shirts he tends to wear, the endearing Snub- room off to the side, a table for gynecologicar examinations, nose has a disoriented, exhausted, disheveled look about him as a desk, and a chair. posters and pedagogäl ai"g.u*" though advertising birth control and he had just washed ashore after days at sea. He is sometimes subject to safe sex are taped up n"." ur,a there, along with handwritten signs instructing teasing, and tricked into showering and shaving by being told the mayor *orke.s to bring their worker ia"r,u- fication cards with them will be making a rare visit to the zone. when they come for their weekly gynecological exam' A few prants cling to life \tVhile the ways in which the work of the female prostitutes of the zone in the corners. During the Day of the Dead celebrations, old X-rays were supports their individual kin are readily apparent,less visible is the way cut up in the shape or uut, ur,a r,.rr,g from the ceiling with stri.gs by the prostitution of zone women has become entrenched in the local econ- so.r."or," feeling unusually festive; they remained hanging for months, omy/ generating a flow of material resources that families throughout the creating an atmosphere that was more city rely on for economic survival.2o Though it represents only a small MODERN S!X IN A MODERN CITY MODERN {o SEX IN A MODERN CITY +r

still part of the city's booming service sector, the economic opportunity exchanged sex for money in bars and houses throughout Tuxtla, and offered by the zone is crucial for many Tuxtlecos. the city's previous red-light district, El Cocal, was considered anything Commodified sexual relations have a lengthy history in Mexico; ask but modern. Located in southwestem Tuxtla, El Cocal had been operating any Tuxtleco about prostitution and he or she is likely to comment, "It informally since the early r98os, when private landowners began to has always existed." But referring to prostitution as "the world's oldest build rooms to house prostitutes on a piece of land that was at the time professiory" as the tired expression goes, dehistoricizes sex work, failing on the outskirts of the city. El Cocal grew in a disorderly fashion. to account for how the practice changes and the ways it is shaped by Landlords built poorly constructed rooms when finances permitted, and time-qp1ce, and cqlture. Prostitution becomes essentialized, inevitable, the district took on a shantytown appearance. Many *ork"., remember it as homogenous, and unchanging. While it has a long history in Mexico (his- an ugly place that was poorly rit and sometimes felt unsafe. As in the torical evidence suggests that commercial sex existed in pre-Conquest current zone, the clientele consisted mostly of men of the laboring classes, times), how it has been practiced, regulated, and perceived has varied in along with some lower- and middle-class white-collar workers and space and time. It is constantly being shaped and reshaped by politics, teenage boys from well-to-do families. There was no police presence and economy, and culture. little municipal intervention in El Cocal; it functioned as a wholly private Not surprisingly, the modem tolerance zones in Mexico emerged dur- enterprise. workers were supposed to register with the city's Department ing the Porfiriato, a period (not unlike the current one) in which the state of Public Health and travel to the city center to receive medical examina- was known for its economic liberalism, its conservative views regarding tions, but there was no on-site administration to enforce such rules. sexuality, family, and alcohol consumption, and its embrace of science, with Tuxtla's rapid expansion, El Cocal was soon engulfed by urban positivism, and modernization. Regulating the prostitute through health growth. It became increasingly visible to residents of ruxtla. City officials inspections, registration, and confinement was considered indispensable and complaining residents alike considered the situation unseemly. ln to conserve order and protect public health. r99r, the priista municipal government, acting in conjunction with The first tolerance zones, known as district zones, were located on the Gonzärez Garrido's priista state, expropriated the land beneath El Cocal, borders of tourist and shopping districts, most commonly in northem demolished the buildings, and created a new district. The new, munici- Mexico. Prostitutes were removed from the city center streets, bars, and pally administered Zona Galäctica was discreetly rocated out on the old cafes and subjected to increasing regulation and control. Today com- road to Cupia, far from the city center and invisible to the public. Tuxtla,s pound zones, like the Zona Galäctica, are located far outside the periph- current director of public health told me that the Galäctica was built in ery of the city, invisible to the citizenry. Compound zones began to orrder to "decrease rape and street crime and to decrease the number of appear as early as the 194os as a response to resident and govemment sexoservidoras in the city." concens about social hygiene and public image in the eyes of tourists.2r sitting in Pepe's open-air food stand inside the zone one aftemoon, As in Tuxtla, these zones often coexist with the clandestine, unregulated, Dofla Blanca, a former landlady in El Cocal and current owner in the and illicit prostitution that occurs in streets, hotels, bars, and private Galäctica, recalled the city's actions there, bitterly describing the way she homes throughout urban Mexico. The existence of such zones depends had been given only seventy-two hours to vacate her premises. The on state and local politics, with zones opening and closing as local polit- wrecking crews, she said, demolished one of her rooms before she was ical conditions change. able to remove the contents. Pepe, busy behind the counter preparing The Zona Caläctica was an effort to materialize Govemor GoruäLez üacos, threw his hands up in the air and chimed in (as he was prone to Garrido's dream of modernizing sex work in Chiapas. Women and men do), "And they haven't even built anything on that land. It,s a dump!,, It t ii = vi',*'." r: i.Lii :i ägr!: rs MODf,RN 5EX IN A MODERN CITY Fj' MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY +(-) $$;r. was true- Many times, had I passed by the vacant lot that was once El September 1,991., a deal was struck between the city, the state, and the Cocal. ruling body of Francisco L Madero, the Comisariado Ejidal (Ejido Com- The destruction of El Cocal ;rnd its replacement by the Zona Galäctica mission). Documents in the municipal archives describe the deal as an transformed organized prostitution in Tuxtla from a largely private, exchange of land for "works of infrastructure, consisting of the construc- unregulated and uncontrolled industry to a public-private partnership tion of a recreational park, expansion of the water and drainage systems, operated both by the and city private landlords. Many of the landlords the paving of one road, and the construction of a bridge."23 Documents who purchased buildings in the Galäctica were formerly landlords in El emanating from the Ejido Commission describe the deal as a donation of cocal- This new arrangement effectively gave the city control over com- land to the prüsta municipal president Esquinca M6ndez and Govemor mercial sexand those who practice and profit from it. It also freed the city GonzälezGarrido. This land exchange plays a crucial role in understand- from accusations of lcnoncinio (pimping). By maintaining private owner- ing the Zona Galäctica and its place in modem Tüxtla (see chapter 4). ship of the buildings in which the women worked, the city was able to Though the city government is entirely responsible for the day-to-day keep its distance from pimping, an activity considered deplorable by operations and administration of the zone, the state played a crucial role nearly all ruxtlecos (while prostitution is not considered a crime, the in opening and naming the Galäctica. It is said that Governor Gonzälez pimping of sex workers is). Building owners do not, of course, refer to Garrido gave the Galactic Zone its name, and tales and jokes regarding themselves as pimps, but they are referred to as such in many city docu- his reasoning abound. One city official suggests to me that the name has ments, as it is they who directly earn money from the sex workers by col- something to do with women's breasts: "Galactic. Lactic. Milk. Breast. Iecting exorbitant rents of up to US$4.7o a day. The city, on the other milk. Breasts. Get it?" I don't-his logic is not convincing. A doctor jokes hand, eams three (us$o.35) pesos for each client who enters and one peso that it has something to do with the former govemor's rumored homo- (us$o.rz) for each automobile, and collects rents from vendors and sexuality; puto, a word used to describe both gay men and male prosti- worker payments for medical laboratory fees. tutes, rhymes with Pluto, the planet. Pluto is part of the solar system, city ofticials claim the caläctica is not a great source of revenue; the hence the name Galäctica. Again, not very convincing. But the word expenses of administering the zone, they say, are relatively high. Upon galactic itself, with its tuturistic sensibiliry conveys a sense of the modem, showing me their accounting books, one administrator was careful to tell conjuring up space-age imagery of futuristic worlds. me that under the PAN there was only one set of books in the zone. Whatever the reasoning, the name is fitting: the Galactic Zone is in under the PRI, he claimed, there was such corruption and graft that mul- many ways otherworldly. Like military bases, brothels are, as Cynthia tiple sets of books were necessary. while I couldn't be sure about what Enloe suggests, "artificial societies created out of unequal relations."2{ happened under previous administrations, my own examinations of Upon entering the zone, one is struck by how sharply it contrasts not their accounting books, along with my calculations of incoming funds, only with Tuxtla but also with Chiapas as a whole. There are elements in seemed to support the claim that the zone did not generate large the zone that one would find in any Mexican city: street vendors, the amounts of cash for the city. The benefits of the Galäctica for the city and occasional shoe-shine boy, a few stray, lactating dogs (though I never saw state, then, relate less to revenue eamed than to social hygiene and con- their puppies), men and women coming and going, music playing, and trol of the poor and "deviant," providing a showcase for modemity and the scent of tacos in the air. But certain features are missing: the sight of state power in the capital of one of Mexico,s poorest states. ongoing construction projects-rusting rebar stretching hopefully sky- The site chosen for the Zona Galäctica was four hectares of land on the ward, so common in urban Mexico, is absent. Every building is painted: city's eastem edge, part of the ejido Francisco I. Madero.z h:r early red, beige, light blue, bright blue, hot pink and red, yellow and green, .r::r1".,. I ,.

:, l'i: ':

5() MODIRN SEX IN A MODERN CITY MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY 5r

orange and black, or some equally unlikely combination of colors. This and they violate the dry law [which prohibits the sale of alcoholic bever- contrasts greatly with ruxtla's poorer neighborhoods that are the grim ages on election day and other national political holidaysl and the rule of gray of concrete or dull brown of scavenged wood. There are no street no serving after 6 p.m."* The city government did not consider the prob- children begging or blind men playing musical instrumegrts. And the lems of the Galäctica a priority, and two weeks later, L6pez Pefla sent place is exceedingly clean: there is little stray garbage to be found any- another, slightly more desperate letter, stating, "We have not had an where. A"city" of Sex run by the state, the zone, as a place, is unlike most answer from you and the [Galactic Chicken] continues violating the rules places. It is a public-private enterprise where men come to spend money, of this administration." learn desire, and enact cultural ideals with respect to gender and sexual- Govemor Gonzälez Garrido's dream of modernizing and controlling ity. The women of the zone come to earn money while acting simultane- commercial sex in the state was not fully realized in the Galäctica. The ' ously within and outside the boundaries of acceptable behavior. city's initial efforts at making sex safer by providing condoms to clients, Yet despite the utopian tendencies and aspirations of the Galäctica, the for example, were not terribly effective. In the early days, men received a zone is a real place troubled by real problems. During its first years condom at the main gate when purchasing their entry ticket. Clients were Q99z-t99), the Galäctica, administered by the priista municipal gov_ given neither instructions nor incentive to use the condoms, which often emment, was plagued by problems. The atmosphere, in Bärbara,s words, ended up unused in municipal garbage pails or were tumed into toys, was "a drag." she tells me I would not have liked it and would have been blown up like balloons. unable to conduct my research unmolested, as I generally did. perhaps Nor did the opening of the Galäctica cleanse the city center of sex these early years established the zone's reputation among city residents workers. Clandestine prostitutes, male and female, continued to work as an "ugly place," though I found the Galäctica could often be pleasant, throughout the city, and the number of rooms in the zone was insufficient particularly on slow, warm mornings when groups of us would gather at to house all the displaced cocalitas (women who worked in El Cocal).26 In Pepe's food stand, sipping sugary-sweet black Nescafd and eating its early years, the Anti-Venereal Medical Service lacked fumishings and papaya freshly picked from one of the nearby trees. medical equipment and, most interestingly, a gynecologist. As noted in During the priista period, alcohol was sold in the zone, which con- the municipal archives, "The boss of the Anti-Venereal Medical Service of flicted with the initial proposals of Gonzälez Garrido,s r9g9 Zona Rosa the Municipality is not the proper person to perform this job. Said posi- Project. some workers recall those days fondly, remembering how clients tion is occupied by dentist Richard Cruz Coello." Of course, many of would often buy them drinks. lmmediately after the Zapatista uprising, these problems were resolved with time, and the dentist, whom many of trucks full of soldiers sent to stop the insurrection would arrive with the workers remember fondly (M6nica smiles to show me the work he pesos to spend on drinks for both themselves and the workers. But some did on her teeth), was eventually replaced by a medical doctor. lvorkers, along with landlords and zone administrators, felt the con- During the period of my fieldwork, the panista municipal govemment sumption of alcohol was excessive and that it often led to violence and managed the zone, as it had since 1995. The administration entered office arguments among and between both Dr. Paco Rojas. This administra- workers and crients. on April 7, in 1998 and was led by a gynecologist, 1994, Enrique L6pez Pefla, the zone administrator, sent a letter to tion, it would seem, was designed to run the zone. Many policy changes Municipal secretary Hermann Hoppenstedt pariente asking that some- came with the conservative PAN: alcohol was banned entirely in the thing be done about El Pollo Galäctico (The Galactic Chicken), a restau- zone, and following a strike by sex workers (described in chapter 3), con- rant within the zone that was "selling alcoholic beverages in excess to all doms were given directly to the women rather than to the clients. clients that irequent the place as well as to the prostitutes that work here, Yet despite the efforts of the city to control and regulate prostitution i, MOD€I{N sEx tN A NToDERN CrTY

(and in doing sr-r, further cleanse and mode'rnize the city) by constructing the Zona Galäctica, clandestine or unregulated sexual commerce continued throughout the city. As population growth and poverty challenged muücipal attempts to decrease visible prostitution in the city center, authorities intensified their attention to the men and women who in Plain Sight worked selling sex in T[xtla Gutidrrez. TWo Hidden STREET PROSTITT]TION

It is rrc-rt n q'il.t:lt hurtt' -l\rxtla's Balart1,, Nluilrz. rlirector of pulrlic ht'alth' ort raitl" itgaitttt stteet pro.tilttles

lt sourrds like a wittü lnurt'

sttttlt'trt' Joe Pisitlo. ttrttlt'rgra,lualc arrtlrropo|ri1\' on tht' r:titrriualizatiolt of proslittrtiort

of Public It is rz:3o A.M. on a Saturday, and the municipal Department is readying to Health, working in conjunction with the municipal police' prostitutes who work the hold an oper ntiÄ $aid)against the unregistered Zone' Municipal offi- city center, beyond the confines of the legal Galactic the raid' an event one ciuls have invited me to come along and observe the doctor from the zone described as "fun'" Atop a hill overlooking that belong to westem half of the city are two new red pickup tmcks PublicHealthandtwoofficialpolicevehicles.Isitinoneofthetrucks, participating in the napping and occasionally waking to chat with people Real' the city's ,uä W" are parked along a back road leading to Camino by a lush garden finest hotel, which boasts a swimming pool surrounded upscale nightclub La with a waterfall' Also along this road is the popular with parked cars; Uno. On weekend nights, the dark road is usually lined

j-ril il HTDDEN IN PLAIN 5IG}IT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT 55

groups of young " people who cannot afford to Estatal de Derechos get drunk inside La uno sit against the new administration with the centro , on the hoods of their cars, drinking beer. Humanos (State Commission for Human Rights, CEDH); local govem- : Tonight the road is crowded with vehicles, further accu- yet few people are out ment officials hope the videotaping will protect them from drinking by their cars. The authorities seize only a f"* oi Dos rquis sations and future legal troubles. The manager of the san Remo hopes his and a couple of bottles:t.l-^ from "uru, 'of young drinkers. The owners photographs will provide proof of abuses. the cars of most are inside La uno b".urr" para Jt ,r," evening,s special event: The women rounded up are brought to the Centro Reclusorio tfuough the fogged glass walls of the club, I can see,r,'" for Minor offenses; a administratiaa is colored aur,.ir,g, flesh_ Faltas Administrativas 0ail falta shadows of nearly nude men, their disor- muscurar torsos twisting and similar to a misdemeanor offense, such as public drunkenness or hips gyrating' They are surrounded by the darker shadows of women derly conduct), where they are registered and put into a holding cell for who stand below them, arms outstretched, screaming _r* back to La Uno to wait for the next raid, which women hty:'a *r* ,r*. the evening. We then head travelin' male stripteuru ,ho-, and customers and sex work- pAN has arrived in Tuxtla. will take place when the San Remo closes Mrile the is generally known fär its .;;;;:;:^::: the boulevard to make last-minute arrangements. There orgender ers spill out onto u.,.r ,"*ärity, there is a great.""ffä;::T#ää1ät;T:; is anticipation in the air.I am surprised and ashamed to find that, though the party operates. panista authorities in Tuxtla expressed rittre I strongly disapprove of the rounding up of street workers, I share this about the presence concem of the Chippendal""-tit" calls the show (though some mare anticipation. It is a powerful force, not unlike what Foucault officials I spoke with said they aian't want their wives to attend). Around ,,pleasure that comes of exercising a Power that questions, monitors, this time' m're conservative rocal panista authorities Police and health inspectors coordinate Guadalajara in the city of watches, spies, searches out."l bannerl a similar male striptease show there. with one another via radio. A broken siren, the sort that plugs into the As the Tuxtlecas inside the nightclub express sexual desire and fantasy Lighter, sits quietly on the dashboard of the truck I am in. The inspectors in a socially sanctioned way, th1 of municipar an effort to repair it. They seem boyishly speeding "u.urrun .ruru"r", u"gi.,, were fiddling with it earlier in down the hill. We are headed knownflr.o-rn"r.,utr"r,onBourevar;;"11"t"1","til:ääTffit:itowa excited about the raids. One government official, a medical doctor, has for the occasion, as though he were a jewel thief or com- main thoroughfare. dressed in black Three women are stan communicating with his col- from mando. He takes particular pleasure in the .rJo lu.ouo, a. city health ,"ro"lärt'li:T leagues via walkie-talkie, saying things like "copy" and "over and out'" works as a prostitute in the H'J,,ff.:ä:l: zone, slams Ä ,rr" brakes moming, we once again speed down the hill to the are in; of the pickup we At three o'clock in the the other city workers jump out of the bed of the truck and run San Remo. toward the three women, who alsobegin to run. The other the scene outside the nightclub is loud and c'uavan vehicres in the Despite the lack of a siren, have stopped too; police anJ health inspectors dash across chaotic. women are taken by the arms and walked to city vehicles' No street to the san Remo. the All traffic on the bourevard night. Prospective clients t*: has come to a hart. male transvestite prostitutes are arrested on this *O health inspectors round up suspected sex workers, all women as well as men simply out for the evening stand around watching. on this evening, putting them into vehicles and off by the city in order to have their efforts pickup i"ri." the backs of the joumalists, most likely tipped trucks. Some w crying. others look confused. Therman- well publicized, have arrived and are snapping photographs and filming' agerA'pr ofnr the+h., Sanc_- RemqD .-- 1^:". 1* man_ is. ,.u!", pnoägrupns. A young pickup trucks are visible and unprotected. municipar man from the The women in the back of the office of sociar communiätiän walks by is videotaping the entire They duck their heads and try to cover their faces. One woman rene' In recent months, some street workers have filed complaints me with an inspector holding her arm and a rose in her hand. Were it not 5P HTDDEN tN pLAtN srcHT N PLAIN SrGHT 57

for the rest of the police activity around them, it would look as if they been rounded up and will be registered and fined. Waiting to be wene on a date. She asks sadly, ,,Why me?,, A man who is likely a pimp processed, the large group is gathered in a small front room of the Centro lingers about, asking where the women are being taken. Reclusorio. A few women stand at the window, speaking to a small The disciplining of women who subvert social norms by sening sex in group of men who are on the street outside. These are likely their pimps, the streets begins not in the hording center but in the pickup truck, where who have come to pay their fines and get them released. Not all women they are filmed, photographed, and exposed, losing the uno.rymity asso_ have pimps; one woman gives me her address and asks me to go to her ciated with clandestine inrbrmal prostitution. But the raids do more than house to notify someone there of her situation. By the time I get there, I discipline sex workers-they discipline a// women: those who wourd will find she has already been released. A man outside the window offers wait at a bus stop at night, those who would go to the San Remo or to pay my fine. I politely decline his offe{, but wonder what I would owe another.ightclub for an evening out, and those who are simply walking him were I to accept. The group of detained women is loud and angry. by and could be caught up in the chaos. The trucks are now filled with Though I don't feel unsafe, an inspector takes my arm and leads me away women, who are prevented from jumping out by mare health inspectors a few feet, warning that they may hit me. The press arrives and begins to and police who sit on the edges of the truck bed. one woman mistakes take pictures of the women trapped inside this cramped room. There is me for a sex worker and asks suspiciousry why I am allowed to ride nowhere for them to hide. One woman appears very pregnant. inside the cab of the truck instead of in the back. Somebody is calling for cold water. Some scream about the presence of Rather than heading directly to the jail, the truck I am in slowly cruises the reporters, who are then asked to leave. Others threaten to file a com- east along Avenida Central; we are looking for female prostituäs and a plaint with the local human rights commission. well-know^ gay male transvestite prostitute *ho goe, by the name La Many of these women are keenly aware of the law and their rights. Aceituna (The Olive). The women must endur" b"ir,g paraded through Despite this knowledge, the female street workers of Tuxtla are not orga- tolvn as part of their punishment. rruide the cab of the lruck, the inspec- nized, in part because of the stigma associated with prostitution-few tors scan the dark, quiet streets, on the lookout for more suspected pros- women want to be known as sex work activists. When the English titutes' A woman a in black minidress walks quickly into a taqueria; ,,There,s one Collective of Prostitutes formed in iglS, dGt uiää-nonprostitute house- of the inspectors says, one,,, but keeps driving. I find my own wife as their public spokesperson since few workers could or would pub- eyes sca'ning the streets, searching, and fear that if I see a sex worker, I licly declare themselves workers in an illegal and highly stigmatized pro- too will unintentionally cry out, "There's one," so I place a finger across fession.2 ln addition, many street workers are also unwilling to devote my lips in an eftbrt to keep them closecl. Still, my eyes betray äe_they themselves to improving working conditions when they engage in casual dart back and forth, looking. In the back of the truck, a few women are prostitution only sporadically. Amalia is typical of many clandestine crying. But as we near the cemetery, a woman ,,;Baja shouts out, en la workers; at twenty-two, she has three children and is separated from her parada!" (Getting off at the stop!-how one asks ro be let off public trans_ husband. Earnings from her day job as a secretary are not enough to suP- port'ation), and suddenly everyone, men and women, u"gir,s to laugh, port her family, so she works the nightclubs a few evenings a week after their white teeth bright on this near full-moon night. The raids suddenly telling her family that she is going out with friends. Women like Amalia t-eel like a strange game and, with our laughter, its rules are temporarily who engage in commercial sex informally and secretly are unlikely to suspended. commit to a social movement dedicated to sex workers'rights. As a group, the women do not quietly accept their fate. Rather they Yet female and male prostitutes in Mexico and elsewhere are organiz- shout, negotiate, a.d complain. On this outing, eighteen women have ing. Much of this organizing began in the r98os and r99os, as the econ- HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT 59

national Wages for Housework Campaign ryZS. One of Latin Amer- ica's oldest prostitute organizations, the Association of Autonomous.-r, Feryale Workers, has been advocating on behaff of ;;.;ril;ilEr- "f' ador since 1982. From japan to South Africa to lndia, sex workers have been organizing around issues of labor, gender, health, and human rights. Women working in La Merced District of Mexico City have formed the Cooperativa de Mujeres Libres (Cooperative of Free Women) to denounce pimping and extortion. Ir zoo4, independent female sex workers met with Mexico City mayor Manuel L6pez Obrador to dernand, among other things, a shelter for elderly sex workers; a social services center offering sex workers medical, psychological, and legal care; support for mothers who are the heads of households; and scholar- ships for their children. Of particular concem to Mexico City's sex workers is the Ley de Cultura Civica (Civic Culture Law), in effect since August 7., 2oo1.It is important to note that the law is not the creation of conservative panista ideologues-the center-left PRD currently holds power in Mexico City. Sex workers view the law, under which prostitution is afalta administratiaa, as the impetus for the increasing and sometimes violent police raids. Workers asked for the repeal of the Ley de Cultura Civica during their meetingwithperredisfa (member of the PRD) mayor Lopez Obrador; the mayor refused, though he did commit to searching for a solution to sex workers'frequent arrests. The rounding up of sex workers is not unique to Tuxtla or to the conservative PAN. Rather it is a sign of neoliberal times, in which growing urbanization and concerns about social decay, crir'ne, and hygiene have Figure 8. Wtrmen detained inside the Centro Reclusorio talk taken center stage in cities throughout the Americas.a When efforts to " to a man on the street. photo pattv bv Kellv. cleanse city streets of elements and people undesirable to urban elites fail, self-imposed spatial segregation is another option for the middle and ; upper classes. Increasing disparity in wealth breeds class conflict that can om)f became increasingly globalized, global poverty deepened, and. result in violence and crime (real and imagined), fear and suspicion. woren were further inserted into the (sexual) marketplace, providing From Säo Paolo to Los Angeles, the wealthy who wish to remove them- incgrtive for action and activism among sex workers., the A-o.j earli- selves from what they perceive as a dangerous urban environment are eEt prostitutes' movements are san Francisco's Call off your old rired retreating to what Teresa Caldeira calls "fortified enclaves," high-security Eüri:s (COYOTE), forme d n former sex worker Margo james, rypby St. gated and walled communities that are socially homogenous and there- anqthe Engli"h collective of prostitutes, which grew out of th" t.tu.- fore considered safe.s Whether elites confine themselves in high-security HIDDf N IN PLAIN SICTIT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SICHT

endaves rlr cleanse city streets of "marginal" populations and confine them elsewhere, what resurts is the same: a spatial segregation that pro- duces social segregation, which changes the nature of urban space, city life, and social interaction. what's left is less a city-a vibrant place marked by social diversity-and more an urban center with little contact between heterogeneous populations. Reduced social interaction, identified ;u loss "contact" of by samuel Delany in his study of Times square, has profound implications: when heterogeneous social groups become segregated, invisible to o.e another, there is little opport"^ity ro, understanding, love, or even compassion.o \A/hen viewed in this light, prostifu_ tion becomes an arena where socially heterogeneous groups can share intimate interactions, albeit in a controlled environment under police surveillance. Back in Tuxtla's Centro Reclusorio, the detainees who have dared to engage in cross-class Figure A suspected street prostitute being processed after a raid. Photo by patty social interactions by selling sex are processed in a 9. Kellv. scene that is a highly gendered display of power. Each woman must answer a series of questions, revealing her name, age, address, and place of origin. The woman stands next to a desk as four men, some police, some health inspectors, sit, questioning, listening, and writing. An officer small room to be visually examined by a doctor in order to make sure standing behind the desk searches each woman's purse arra prts the con- that she was not bruised or beaten during the course of the raid, another tents into a clear plastic bag. I ask an inspector if the women usuallv carrv effort by the local government to stave off accusations of human rights condoms. He tells me that many workers make the client Urry tnu*, ar,ä violations.T The woman is then walked to a common holding cell. Across many more, ,,au he says with a laugh, do it natural_it feels better.,, The from this cell is another cell for men, many of whom are drunk, singing detainee then signs a number of forms. some cannot write, and so they songs, and shouting about the prostitutes. The women will pay a fine stamp the forms with their thumbprint. The forms are not read to the and be released early in the moming. Much to the dismay of city offi- women, nor are the women given time to read them themselves. An officials, upon their release most will return to work Tuxtla's streets and cer then takes the woman's photograph. clubs. As a group, the women verbally and sometimes physically resist, but Through the raids, power is expressed in multiple ways. There is the u'hen they are processed i.dividually, this resistance diminishes. some pure physical force of the male police and health inspectors who chase refuse to look into the camera. one woman holls her long dark hair down and restrain suspected sex workers. There is the institutional across her face as though it were a veil, leaving onry he, eyes ,risible. She power of the state and the law that allows and encourages the legal pun- remo'es it only to stick out her tongue at the group of police and inspec- ishment of informal workers. And there are more subtle forms of power: tors' l\s she goes to sign the documents, raughing, she seats herself on cultural beliefs and practices that both create and condemn prostitutes, the lap of one of the policemen. An inspector turns to me and says with defining the unregulated prostitute as a threat to public health and social a laugh, 'Aft'ectionate, isn't she?,, Next, the detained woman is ied to a order; the power of knowledge that comes with filming, and collecting HTDDLN tN PLAIN SIGHT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT ()3 personar information about detai.ed workers, transforming them from anonymous because of "socioeconomic difficulties," efforts to control and regulate and clandestine to known and visible. The raids on clandestine prostitutes commercial sex not only fail to address class and gender inequality but and the control of prostitution in general are expressions of power also reinforce those inequalities. that reinforce already e*isting inequal- iti3.of g9-n$9r and class. It is working ACcording to Tuxtla's director of public health, the primary motivation women who are subject to ärrest, for registering street workers is public health, as the city's concerns about not their mare pimps or their male clients. The raids are a reflection of the moral double standard that punishes sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS, grow Yet history has poor women but not the men, whq either as pimps or clients, protit from shown that programs of raids and forced registration have had little or pay for their labor. Though officials claim, and even believe, that affect on the transmission of sexually transmitted disease. Writing of the the .o,r.,äing up of suspected unregistered sex workers is a means origins of the Contagious Disease Acts in Great Britain (passed in 1864, of controlling prostitution and securing public health, it is more a carnivalesque 1866, and 1869 and repealed in 1886), Judith Walkowitz notes that the display of power. It is a way to harass poor women and men throuih ostensible "goal" of the acts to control venereal disease in military men detention and the gathering of information, and to create was undermined, since they were applied primarily to women suspected the illusion of the control of visible prostitution of and never required the medical men.8 As by the state, more than it is'an eff-ective prostitution examination of means of protecting the hearth Tuxtlecos. of in Victorian Britain, the raids in Tuxtla do not call for the medical examination of male consumers of commercial sex. Furthermore, they do not (and legally cannot) require the mandatory medical testing and treatment of clandestine sex workers. Like the Contagious Disease Acts, what the VISIBILITY AND THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL raids express is "a new enthusiasm for state intervention into the lives of Vi,ilrilirr i5 ir lr.irlr. the poor on medical and sanitary grounds."e \^/hile municipal officials profess concem for the collective health of society, only a very small frac- \lit.lrr,l lj, rrrcirrrlt tion of Tüxtla's population (poor and working-class women and male Unregulated-clandestine prostitution transvestites) are subject to intense medical policing. is common in Tuxtla, and while there are no official The question of visibility is an important one. Official discourse sur- statistics on the number of unregistered men and rounding clandestine prostitution focuses not only on health but also on women working in the city's sex industry, they certairJy outnumber the r40 legal zone workers. According the spatial regulation of prostitution. In contemporary Tuxtla, city offi- to reports from one health-related nongovernnental cials approach the perceived problems of urban life (disorder, social organizati.n, on any given night there could be one hundred sex workers hygiene, and epidemic disease) through arrest and confinement. Clan- in the san R"*o utä.r". city officials maintain that destine prostitutes are swept from the streets, while legal workers remain through their raids they are .ot trying to eradicatl prostitution or prostitutes, but rather o*rn conlined in the Galactic Zone, where they are visible to authorities but to regulate and control prortit rriqn, mabrg ir th" iro."r, invisible to other citizens. I attended many goverrunent meetings where !! less visible' As one pubric ,,It health official told me, is not that we want to punish them. city officials again and again referred to clandestine prostitution as "out what we want is to register them.,, panista municipal of context" while discussing the need to place unregulated workers in authorities told me over and over "appropriate tution that thev were asainst but utrrcgutated;rTrT*ilI places." cials generally ffii," * n: "Clandestine" street workers are not invisible-indeed, they are often uncrerstand that *o.."n work in ^ort the industrv highly visible in Tuxtla's public spaces. It is the illegal nature of their work ö{ TITDDfN TN I'LAIN SIGI]T HIDDEN IN PLAIN SICHT o5

that caus'es some sex workers to be classified as clandestine. Beyond the against street prostitutes, then, are part of the effort to maintain not sim- of municipal authority, they 'crutiny are uncontained, unregistered, and order also in the city by maintaining what unregulated' ply social but symbolic order Though the'visibility of street workers prur"Ä a problem is "clean" and fitting while segregating or eliminating culturally defined for municipal officials and sex workers themselves, it benefits the men social anomalies. and women who work city streets and bars: visibility ensures that Each month the Department of Public Health receives numerous com- prospective clients know where to find them and also piotects workers plaints from city residents. Among the list of grievances are the clandes- fro-m ttre abuses they suftbr when they work in more discreet locations. tine raising and slaughtering of pigs within private homes, street dogs, Neoliberalism has.not reduced poverty in Mexico. Its devastating bats, aguas negras (sewage), septic tank problems, public urination out- impact on rural areas has sent economic .ef,,rgees fleeing to cities, where side of a rental hall for parties where there is only one bathroom, the they often tind ernployment in the informal sector. The numbers of indi- unusual case of a man who defecates in the street in front of his dwelling viduals working in the informal economy as ambulatory vendors and every morning, and public prostitution. day laborers increased by percent 40 between zooo and zoo3, constituting dogs, aguas one-quarter While complaints regarding pig slaughtering, stray or of the Mexican workforce; some researchers suggest the fig_ negras outnumber those concerning prostitution by two to one, tn ry99 ure is closer to one-half.i" visible signs of poverty sometimes take the the Department of Public Health for the first time created a separate file shape of human beings (street ,r"r-,dJrr, prostitutes, street children, and for complaints about prostitution, reflecting the city's new interest in con- the homeless) who inhabit the urban lund".up" and challenge govern- the state from ment trolling clandestine sex work. Despite the withdrawal of officials who proclaim the successes of new ro certain arenas of the economy under neoliberalism, there is continued many Tuxtlecrs and the city government, ""o.o-i""poii.y. visible prostitution äpresents and even growing state involvement in issues of social hygiene, public social disorder, chaos, immorality, a'd potential disease. It is a direct order, and sanitation; it is now the state's responsibility to cleanse clnllenge to co.ceptio.s of ruxtla u, u mod"m and economica'y suc- cityscapes and to lay the groundwork for a social order that will support cessful city so unlike the rest of Chiapas. street prostitution is considered the new economic order. During my first meeting with Tuxtla's new a pollutant; pollution, as Mary Douglas suggests, has much to do with mayor, he showed me a promotional video that highlighted some of the morals'rr When practiced publicly, pÄstitution is transform ed. from a mal successes his administration. I was most struck by the extensive t*cessrio (necessary early of evil) into an unclean and dangerous "matter anomaly, into and repetitive footage of a garbage truck moving through the city at out of place,, or, as Douglas says, ,,d.irt,,: ,,If wecan abstract path_ night, clearly a great source of pride for the administration. The mayor ogenicity and hygie.e fr'm our notion of dirt, we are left with the old told me he was impressed with New York City's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, definition of trirt as matter out of place. This is a very suggesti,re the of New York's stTgets, often at approach. whose tenure was marked by cleansing It implies two concritions: a iet of ordered relations and a con_ the expense of the poor. travention of that order. Dirt, then, is never a unique, isolated with vis- l{here event. Complainants, both male and female, are typically concemed there is dirt, there is a system. Dirt is the by-pÄduct of a systemic ible prostitution in bars, streets, and private homes throughout the city. udering and classitication of matter, in so far as order involves rejecting Complaints are generally not filed by wealthy residents of Tuxtla, who inappropriate elemen ts.,, | ? , are protected from such scandal. Visible prostitution tends to occur in Visible commercial sex, the., is ,,dirt,,, considered unsightly, danger_ working-class neighborhoods and in public sPaces such as the city's cen- ous' and wrong; it is a challenge to a pattern of "tidily ordäd ideus arra tral plaza. In many complaints, prostitution is linked to other forms of ralues" and therefbre must by approached through order.r3 The raids perceived delinquency and immorality, such as the ilIegal sale of alco- ".,."Ä, ITIDDDN IN PLAIN SIGIIT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT b? holic beverages, noise, fighting, and scandarous behavior that endangers both minors and ',public the more densely populated areas of Altamirano, the event highlights morals.,, Describing the teenage prostitutes women's resistance to both machismo in their households and milita- who work in a clandestine bar in her neighborhooa, orrJ.Äplainant wrote, "They rizätiän in their communitv. come out and stand in the doorway almost nude. There are Tuxtla, families with boys and ln it is municipal authorities, not civil society, who take direct girls that pray in the srreet or pass by there and somc even stop to look action against prostitution, and for very different reasons than did the at the crricus. And besides, they create an uproar.,, is women of Altamirano. But while the city's response to unregulated pros- not one complaiirt in municipal archives about the t^ 3"* Zona titution is purportedly r baracuca or the activities motivated by concern for public health and social there. one doctor told me that, folowing the opening of the Galäctica, hygiene, the raids against street workers do not serve this purpose. Sex local women would chase down the bus that Faveled there, battering workers detained by local authorities are given neither the information its sides with their fists. Today, the zone f'nc- (discussion, pamphlets, etc.) nor the means (condom distribution) to pro- tioru with little notice. In Tuxtla, prostitution is generally accepted (and tect themselves. sometimes valued) as Furtherrnore, though the authorities aim to register long as it is confined and invisible. This confine_ ment of people and activities female sex workers, there are few empty rooms in the Galäctica, the ci$r,s deemed immoral helps, in turn, to create a city both "moral" and ,,modern.,, only legal zone; there are certainly not enough rooms to accommodate In other parts of the numbers of individuals who work Tüxtla's streets, bars, and hotels. Chiapas, particularly to the east and south, where The raids military presence has brought are, more than anything, an attempt to spatially control the increasing prostitution to indigenous äorn-- munities, the presence activities of commercial sex workers. "Immoral" populations, lackingf of commercial sex is alarming to maiy residents, disrupting economic and political power, have long been confined to peripheral[ gender rerations and even cultural surv"ivar. v"""g *ai;I no,s arcas; efforts to regulate or eradicate commercial sex are often spatial.to t , women and girls witness and sometimes enter into prostitution- \ something extremely uncommon Tuxtla, in attempting to remove prostitution from public view, city offi- in most communities before the 1994 uprising' some indigenous cials make invisible the rnen and women who are "premodem" symbols men now frequent the cabarets and brothels that opened or expanded of social decay and disordeq, while making visible the power of the state in their communities to serve the many soldiers stationed in chiapas to through a well-publicized campaign against street prostitution. Just as quell the Zapatista uprising. yet unlike in Tuxtra, where citizens have organized the illusion of intimacy is created in commercial sexual relations, the few visible challenges to commercial sex, indigenous women have state, in its effort to control those relations, builds an illusion of stability, conducted their own actions against commer- progress, and order to counteract the disorder cial sex. One day in January in.Altamirano, of growing poverty and : ry97, a town governed by the ! the visible manifestations of poverty: clandestine prostitution, street PRD but living under the threatening presence t of the Mexican army and conservative paramilitary vending, homelessness, the growth of shantytowns; and so on. The raids I groups, thirty indigenous Tzeltal-speaking Muyun women grew are rites, intended to pJftf-y u_rban.space. tired of waiting for their husbands to come home. They arrived Furthermore, the raids are an effective means of gathering information with gasoline at the local cabaret, where their husbands spent their evenings about Tuxtla's population of commercial sex workers in an effort to trans- with the nurclnchas and their body-shows. Matches were lit. l\s the cabaret form them from casual, part-time sex workers to full-time prostitutes, bumed, the women retumed to their homes. According from "delinquents" laboring in the informal economy to disciplined, reg- to newspaper reports, nobody dared to oppose the women, ulated and the owner of the cabaret workers. For many street workers, selling sex is a casual activity did not have them arrested. while the women's actions that they may engage in sporadically in order to eam money in times of succeeded only in moving the nightcrub farther from crisis. Some street workers work nights in order to supplement a low- HIDDf,N tN PLAIN STGHT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT b9 payrng day job oq' as in the case Emesto, a young prostitute, 'f mare transvestite as gay or display "feminine" characteristics.ls Nor do the masajistas to pay for their education. Oth unlike (masseurs) of Mexico City's saunas. There Ana Luisa Liguori and peter the wo-en of rhe zone, who mav;:ffi:ffi"T:[:TrH Aggleton found that most young recent moming until the late arrivals from rural Mexico seek- afternoon, street workers often work shorter shifb. ing to eam a living through paid same-sex sexual activity were self-iden- There is, then, a continuum from part_ a frrrr_n_u work. All the tified heterosexuals.re Derogatory are fut-time zone words rike joto and. maricön are used to sex workers. This is less often ffii;: the case for sheet describe the gay, feminine, and passive partner in male same-sex activity, while a The regulationist homosexual may be masculine or feminine, passive or active.2, The systc,m, with its registration, testing, ment and confine trauestis, generally self-identified guy men who dress as women and of women who sell sex, creates p.or"ri*r"". workers in thö work ruxtla's streets, are women who Gahcuca do not represent the whole of male sexual com- for a variety of reasons hav to some merce or activity in Chiapas. Rather, they are a "subculture within a sub- degree acknowredge their role as ,il1,1*"t::iT::f,:f?"äl culture," a small but visible and trast' unregulated workers, contested presence in the city.2r particularly those who practice prostitution Tiavestis are not allowed to work in the Zona Galäctica. According to recognize o. .o,'c"de ffi:ffi:T:H:?J:* 11t that thei are pro_sti- Juana Ramos, the doctor who performs the medical examinations in the notanewon".o-",,ool'X'ff Anti-venereal Medical service, sex workers of the Galäctica feel threat- :jff if ;:r"::Tlfl,ff ened by travestis, who movement in late-nineteenth-century iTffffi* often are considered much more attractive than Buenos Aires transfor*ä u casuar, zone women. "They maintain themselves very well,,, said the informal economic activity into doctor. a permanent and highly stigmatized This that did littre one characterization of travestis as more attractive than female prosti- to actually improve public health or the lives of sex work- tutes is not uncommon in Mexico. In their study of travestis in ers'r' The passage of the contagious oaxaca Disease Acts in Great Britain city, Michael Higgins the same era affected during and ranya Coen found that the travestis them- poor women in a sim'a r way,calling and for medical selves felt that female sex workers "don't put enough effort into fixing police supervision of workers, which ,,created 'sexually an outcast class of themselves up and creating an attractive look."22 M*y of the transvestite deviant' females, forcing prostitutes to acknowledge their prostitutes better the tus as'public, women sta- fit current norms of beauty in Mexico: thev are all their private associations general ::d.d.eshoting with the thin. Sitting in the mayor's office one aftemoon, u gtorrp of us looked at community of the laboring päor.-ru' photographs of a recent raid. one photograph showed a woman with curly shoulder-length hair wearing a flattering dress and light makeup highlighting TRANSVESTITES the delicate features of her fine-boned face. she was beauti- ftrl. we all expressed surprise at the fact that she was a travesti and not a biological woman. The role that gay malc' tra.svestite prostitutes (know n as traaestts tavestis, having uestiilas) played during or crossed so many cultural boundaries (in terms of this time of herghtened attention commerial to clandestrne dress, behavior, and sexual activity and identity), may often engage in sex reveals much about cultural ., . alitv sexual activities that female prostitutes will not perform. Their clients are and pubric .o-"ia".utions or what .",fiäT:tl1d,f,T:""il. often defined as heterosexual (many gg1, There men are married with families). rygrcial is a great variety of male same-sex sexual activity and Given this fact, it is not surprising that the women identity in Mexico'r7 For of the zone view the example , trrnyateshave sex with men, sometimes travestis as economic competitors who are unwelcome for money' sometimes substituting in the Galäctica.23 tr*- ro, women, but do not identifu while homosexual activity of all kinds is stigmatized in Mexico, as ?() HTDDEN tN PLArN stcltr 7t

mentioned earlier a man who engages in anal intercourse with another worked, who framed the prostitution problem as one of public health ,''un as the active, or insertive, partner rather than as the receptive part- and order and who were relatively mild in their social conservatism, the ner may not necessarily be identified as homosexual.2{ In fact, men who administration of Mayor Vicky Rinc6n proclaimed the arrest of any trans- have active sex with other men (actiaos) may be identified as what Hdctor vestite in the street at any time to be part of a broader municipal program Carrillo describes as lrcntbres or honfures nornnres (men or normar men).* to halt "moral offenses."2e By performing the active role, a man adheres to hegemonic norms of This was not the first time govemment authorities in Chiapas tried to male dominance.zo stop men from publicly dressing as women. In rggo, priista Governor Bisexuality is, in some ways, crisparaged even more than homosexual- Gonzälez Garrido also passed a "public health" law banning trans- iry' In his study of sexual desire in Guadalajara, ,,both Carrillo found that vestism. Travestis continued to appear in public but not without rePer- heterosexual and homosexuar people were strongly judgmentut to-uräi cussions. Between r99r and 1993, fifteen gay men, mostly travestis, were bisexuality."2T My own conversations with ruxtlecos support this claim. murdered in the streets of Tuxtla with high-caliber weapons. Though For example, both Tüxtla's heterosexual director of pubric health and police arrested a suspect who was sentenced to eight years in prison for Roberto, a gay man who does janitorial work in the zone, expressed con_ homicide, many believe the case remains unresolved' According to tempt for bisexuals, suggesting that such people ,,don,t know what they Amnesty Intemational, Jorge Gamboa Borraz, the special prosecutor want"'Roberto went further, telling me there were two sorts of people to assigned to the case, resigned tn tgg4 because of a "lack of cooperation" whom he strongly objectecl: bisexuals and ove^,r,eight people. Cordos (fat from govemment officials.3o The seemingly systematic murders were people), because they show a lack of self-discipline, and bisexuals committed with high-caliber weapons of the sort used only by police and because "they should define who they are, one way or another. . . . If God the military, leading many Chiapanecos to believe that Gonzälez Garrido were to ever punish me,,, he told me, ,,he,d make me fall in love with a and the state police force were linked to the killings. fat bisexual." The killings of gay {n,el in Tuxtla are not isolated incidents but part of Life for travestis and'others who blur social categories and sexual a broader cultural system that cleanses cityscapes and punishes sexual txrundaries can be dangerous and outright deadly. Municipal authorities difference.3l According to the nongoverrunental organization Comisiön throughout Mexico periodically target transvestites in efforts to socially Ciudadana contra Crimenes de Odio por Homofobia (Citizen's Com- "cleanse" cityscapes. During the period of increased raids against street mission against Homophobic Hate Crimes), there are eight homophobic workers in Tuxtla, panista authorities in Cördoba, veracruz, were also murders a month in Mexico, though the number may be even higher targeting sex workers, primarily travestis, claiming street prostitutes given the likelihood of unreported cases.32 These murders usually differ were guilty of the crime of ,,insulting public morals.,, In zoiz, govem- in nature from those of prostitute women-they are often more public, ment officials in Tecate, Baja California, porice amended the city,s and more brutal, and carried out by grouPs of men rather than by individual Qood Govemance Act, criminalizing and ,,men punishing who dress as men. From Chihuahua to Chiapas, the bodies of gay (and often transves- Women and move around public places, causing perturbation.,,2s That tite) men have been found beaten to death, run over, gagged, stabbed, sAme yeat a headlüre in the Mexico City dairy La lornada posed.the ques- and strangled. t[on "Vestidas under House Arrest?" The articre that followed detailed Travestis, as homosexuals and as "nonmen," suffer multiple oPPres- tlre efforts of Tuxtla's new mayor, a panista and the first female to occupy sions; as Mexico City activistluanJacobo Hemiindez says, "They are con- the office of municipal president, to wipe travestis completely from the sidered the buffoons of the system, products and accomplices of rtrrban envüonment. In contrast to her panista predecessors with whom I machismo, who reinforce all the worst feminine stereotypes' Because of ?3 HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGIIT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT 73

ürat, trayestis end up facing a double discrimination."33 : Consider the estis, mostly members of the Gay cultural Circle, began dialogues with generally low socioeconomic status travestis, of and their oppression the municipal govemment regarding homophobia, human rights, and beromes even greater. Yet it must be noted that female sex workers too their right to work. on a Tüesday afternoon in fune, I left the zone and su.ffer multiple oppressions: as women, as economically marginalized headed directly to city hall to observe a meeting of the panista bureau- women, antl as stigmatized, economically marginalized women who crats and the male transvestite sex workers. waiting in the hallway on the traru;gress cultural norms by being sexually available and charging for it. second floor of the municipal palace, I watch the workers begin to arrive. Like travestis, women who work as prostitutes are also targets of dis- They greet each other warmly and are clearly a community. Sitting on a crimination, abuse, and even murder. yet while statistics on the numbers couch are a number of travestis. soon there are nearly two dozen mery of women or travestis murdered each month are not difficult to find, the majority dressed as women, lining the halls of the municipal palace. there is little information on the numbers of female prostitutes killed each Blonde hair pirured up, with bangs falling on a heavily made-up face. month. Doubtlessly, there are many. This gap in information reveals the White leggings, white turtleneck covered with a blue, fitted blazer, and social status of such women-their murders have become mundane. white pumps. Pert ponytails, purses, and false breasts. And then there is while they may make a splash in local papers, these murders are consid- the lovely transvestite I fust saw in the photographs of a raid. Täll and ered unimportant enough that they generally do not elicit as much atten- thin, she wears a long slim skirt covered with flowers and a cropped tank tion or record keeping from nongovernmental organizations, activists, top. Her hair is pulled back into a short ponytail to reveal a beautifur face. police, and national media as the travesti murders or the slayings of As they wait, they are passed by other Tuxtlecos who have come to city young women who migrate to Ciudad Juärez to work in maquiladoras.I hall to take care of business. An elderly indigenous woman wrapped in unlike the female street workers or the sex workers of the Galäctica, a shawl passes, as do campesino men in sombreros and huaraches, many of the male transvestite prostitutes of Tüxtla are part of an orga- panista functionaries in suits, and administrative workers. Now this, I nized social movement, El Circulo Cultural Gay (the Gay cultural think to myself, is Chiapas. Not the chiapas constructed by those schol- Circle). This stems in part from their conscious shared identity as both ars who have focused on the Highlands and the selva, but Chiapas as I transvestites and homosexuals, and in part from the repression they have have known it-an ethnically, sexually, politically, and economically suffered in the streets of rüxtla; these men, despite their competition with diverse place peopled by Mayans, ladinos, and foreign immigrants; busi- one anothe.r as worke.rs in the sexual marketplace, have created a social nessmen, bureaucrats, farmers, and politicians; panistas, penedistas network that provides them with support and solidarity as gay men. (members of the center-left PRD), and prüstas; men and women, rich and Tirxtla's Gay cultural Circle is part of a broad.er gay rights movement poor/ gay and straight, and travestis. that dates from the late r97os in Mexico, when homosexuals (mostly The solidarity that exists among this group of travestis is not shared by men) formed groups with strong politically leftist leanings, like the their female counterparts in the streets or in the Galäctica. It is a solidarity Homosexual Front for Revolutionary (Frente Action Homosexual de based less on their identity as sex workers than on their self-identification Acci6n Revolucionaria) and the Lambda Group for Homosexual as members of an oppressed sexual minority. The lack of organization Liberation (Grupo Lamba de Liberaciön Homosexual).3s Today,s gay among female prostitutes is in part the result of economic competition, activists focus less on leftist politics than on issues Like homophobia and but it is also a consequence of both male domination experienced since Hry/AIDs, though the members of the Gay cultural Circle are actively childhood and thö stigmatization of women who transgress sexuar pu$uing their economic rights as workers as well. norrns. Female sex workers in Tuxtla generally seek total anonymity. Following months of raids on clandestine prostitutes, a group of trav- Despite the transgressive nature of their work, most female sex workers i-l HIDDEN IN PLAIN SICHT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT rD

accept and embrace many of the view protects street cultural ideals that shape their livea Furthermore, as one worker noted, being in public Unlile the travestis, who, through their dress, publiclj reject social workersfromabusebyclientspreciselybecause,,itiswelllitandcen- by displaying their difference, margins could serve to female sex workers in tuxtta can tsally located." Pushing their activities into the and generally do choose to pass for man stood up and asked' normal. As Liguori ;;;;il irrcrease crime and rriolence against them' One note' once men have made the decision ""d are going to continue to cross-dress, their optioru for "In the meantime, what ane we supposed to do? We employment are few, reduced to prostitution The group repeatedly and vending in toleranct to wor! and you are going to continue the raids'" zones like the Galäctica.s passing for for workers to eam normal is not an option for traves. asked for a fifteen-day reprieve from raids in order ds. Though some men on this day "tell clients who are were wary of being photographed the money to help rent a building, otganize' and while in the meeting, the travesti sitting was going on' They next to me, upon seeing a c.rm- accustomed to having us on Avenida Central" what era, asked me, 'Are they going to take photos?,, and proceed"J ao ,"k" alsorequestedthatthecitygivethemfinancialassistancetoopentheir down her ponytail, shaking loose city officials a nela or enviabli thick and wavy new venue. "Give the giris a break," they asked' Though black hair' By arriving at city hall funds for commercial during the day in fulr female dress, the refused both of tlrese ,Jq,,ests (providing public male transvestites willingly gave ,rp ur,or,y-ity and upset a social and sexbetweenmen,eventravestis,isnotapossibility'givenculturalbeliefs spatial order that segregates "deviance." continue to look By meeting with the travestis, about gender and homosexuality), they said they would the PAN revealed that their reputation venue' for social conservatism is uneven, at the options for locating the travestis in their own at best. less visible Following months of iaids, street prostitution did become The meeting between the panistas in the r99os' it became and the travestis focused on a sin_ in Tuxtla, but like drug dealing in New York City gle issue: finding a space for the travestis One evening' after to work where they would not less visible simply b!"urrr" it moved elsewhere' be subiect to raids and constant porice with a doctor from harassment. Importantly, despite months of raids, I was driving downAvenida Central the govemment's framing of the No prostitutes'" He problem as a pubric health issue, there the Department of Public Health' He said' "Look' h'as no discussion of health concerns during the meeting. Tuxtla,s direc- wasright.TherewerenosexworkersatthebusstoporinfrontoftheSan tor of public health stood up and spoke ,,Wedon,t to us' I saw two young first, saying, have any_ Remo nightclub. But as I looked into the car next thing against homosexuality. What likely a prostitute and a we are against is prostitution.,, He men seated in the front and a man and woman, maintained that prostitution should ,,public not take place in view,,'and client, having sex in the back seat' that the men should rook for a building where they can put on their espec- tdculos (shows or performances) and do their work, one located far from xhools and homes, not right on a main street. The travestis began to describe the places they were considering. They briefly considered one location on the Libramiento su1, but it "diJ not suit us because it is too far frqm the city," and another, close to downtown, *""I*o.la bea ,,centrally -*"n*"f problem because it was too located.,, The travestis are caught in a complex dile*mu. Though the city wants t pursue their economic Fo' activities in an area not visible to the pub- liq they fear that being too far from the city center will isolate them from tF y".y members of the public whom they serve and rery on for income. INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE T

tion growth, intemational migration, poverty, and underemployment- coupled with the increased wealth of a small minority, social dislocation, new state attention to health and social hygiene, increased and class- differentiated pattems of sexual consumption, and enduring patriarchal IHREE lnside the Galactic as it exists in Tuxtla t. Zone sexism-all laid the groundwork for prostitution t R l.t c tr t_ .\ T | (; S E X R Ii C today. ^- . Ir L,t T t N c V/ O M Ft N The Galactic Zone is a social experiment with a dual character. It is a garr.ulorr" place for exploration that defies the social order: women there sell sex to .\ll tlri. ultcrnirur tr.Lir.lr lta, us in t sterl in defiance of cultural norms that would have them ovlr.scruulilr'. is it lrot rrrotir.atrtl lx. orrc ba"ic support themselves gay male vendors wear frilly aprons and r.()t t(.(.r.tr : lo eil5ru.(, r01 rely on men for suPPort, and 1 [rlat i0rr. lr I lt,;rrorltrce laltol ('al)a(.rt\.. discuss their sexual selves openly. The zone simultaneously t() p(.l.lx,luat{. tlu, lirr.rn of srx.ial rclatiorrs: earringsand social order: women who sell sex there are stig- irr slxrr.l. l() (.oltstilut(, t sexrrulilr. llrail is et:orrortri_ defends the entrenched privileges that allow them to con- r.lllv rrsr'lirl alrrl p,,lilit.allr. t.orrser.r.atiu,l matized, while men enact the cultural stune commercial sex. Gay men and informal and undocumented work- \liclrel l.irut.uulr ers considered suspect are confined there. whereas the men and the women who worked the streets became symbols of disorder, the Galäctica, with its regulations, medical service, and location far from the city center, became a source of pride and a symbol of modem progress to govemment officials. Like prisons and schools-other institutions designed to contain, control, and even redeem-the brothel is a placQ where individuals'bodies, behaviors, and beliefs are disciplined.r / The surveillance and confinement of sex workers in the Galäctica dis- Governor conzä.ez Garrido's dream was progressing nicery. The state ciplines and individualizes the women, making collective action or revolt was investing in regulating and modernizing the sex industry. Other sec- challenging. such disciplinary practices, when combined with the unbri- tors of the economy were also being changed; state support, hud b""r, dled free market that reigns in the zone, produce a heightened sense of pulled from small-scare farmers, endangering rural populations. Many economic competition that further increases isolation and individualiza- people left for cities ersewhere in Mexico or made the difficult decision to tion among workers. Municipal police man the entry, providing constant migrate to the united states. some, like the Zapatistas, stayed behind, surveillance in the zone. The front gate is the only entrance to and exit struggled, and engaged in political protest. During Mexico,s prolonged from the zone, allowing the movement of both workers and clients to be economic crisis, cities grew as did the gap between the rich and the poor. scrutinized and regulated. The high fence that surrounds the zone serves Known as places for the expression a and experience of different forms of as a subtle form of coercion: unable to exit without the notice of police sexualities, cities also teemed with new immigrants and the underem- officer, individuals are less likely to misbehave within the confines of the ployed' But Mexico's gender and sexual hierarchy permeated urban zone. ,,Discipline,,, writes Michel Foucault, "increases the forces of the areas, shaping both prostitution and responses to it. while prostitution body (in terms of economic utility) and diminishes these same forces (in existed before Mexico's turn toward neoliberalism, recent..rüu. popula- political terms of obedience)."2 The body of the regulated prostitute is fi tNsrDE THE GALAcrrc zoNE INSIDE THE CALACTIC ZONE 79

therU in ptut (and only in part), ,,docile Michel Foucault,s body,,;3like ttre soldier, the sex worker is made useful as she sells her services within a nodem economy of service and pleasure. The official document titled "Regulations for the Control and vigilarrce of Prostitution in the Municipality of Tuxtla Guti.rrez, Chiapas,,, which dates to tg93, rays nut the basic rules of the Galäctica. unlike in the stneets, bars, massage parlors, and hotels of the city that welcome all prospective workers, city regulations list the murtipie prohibitions and myriad requirements for sex workers in the tolerance zone, many of which are arbitrarily enforced. workers may not practice if they lack the health certificate supplibd by the city, if they are pregnant, or if they suf_ fer from contagious diseases. Each worker must be a Mexican citizen over eighteen years of age, "demonstrate that she is able to discem the risks of the activity," be in "fuil use of mental facurties and not addicted to drugs,,, and "carry out her activity I in the tolerance zone called Zona Galäctica.,, .A! in the regulations is there \ lNo*nore any reference to the clients of sex whose sexual consumption Fignre rc. Galactic moming: Gloria, favier, and Carlos PrePare for a day of work. ' lworkers, is unimpeded by municipal rules. Photo by Patty Kelly.

THE RHYTHM OF WORK work schedules are flexible: workers make their own hours, choose which days to work, and come and go as they please. sick children, den- Each moming before the zone opens to the public, workers come trick- tal appointments, vacations, and illness can all be accommodated. Some ling in' Pepe is often there quite early, pants ro'ed up, throwing buckets women, Iike Gabriela, work days so they canbe at home with their chil- of soapy water across the cement flot, of his food stand. Gloria, the dren during the evening. women who live in the zone may work spo- eighty-eight-year-old woman ,,bad who selrs basil to ward off vibra- radically throughout the day and evening. Some workers stay home dur- tions," sits on a planter waiting for clients, long gray braids flowing ing their menstrual periods, while others do not.a women often take down the back of her pink dress. Carlos, the youni canay vendoq, extended leaves, going to visit family in other parts of Mexico or Central nemoves his stand from storage and begins to set up outside the main America. During HoIy Week (the week preceding Easter sunday, semana gate, süopping only to wrestle with the teenage Javier,who is readying to santa), many give up their rooms, put their belongings into storage and open his flavored-ice cart. The workers arrive in smal groups, exiting the leave Tuxtla for vacation, like other Tuxtlecos. bus or one of the pirate taxis. some arrive empfy-handed; others arrive While landlords may occasionally pressure women to work more so with theü work clothing, food, or comic books. one woman carries a they can collect the rent, independent zone workers experience a great large basket that holds a head of lettuce and a white rabbit with pink deal of freedom and exercise control over their work. Aside from making eyes' some workers will not arrive until rong after the zone has opened, their own hours, women decide what prices they will charge (though this and others work only evening hours. is determined by their "valrre," competition, and the services they pro- t',

,i 80 i::" INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE vide)' what ]; services they wilr offer, and what clients they will serve. As tortas, arrd quesadillas. One vendor serves only fruit. Coca-Cola is the Gabriela says, "lhave the opportunity to say no. Nobody forces me to go beverage of choice. Women emerge from their rooms on hot days and with a client if I don,t want to.,, According ,,There to Lorena, is freedom Pepe, who is rather deaf and rarely wears his hearing aid, here. You behave you scream to freely. don,t have a lrok around your neck, a boss "Pepel Coca!" He'll go running down to the rooms, toilet paper in hand, t"llirg you, 'Get up, get to work, do this, do that., It,s up to you if you "No, to return laughing when work or don't as we shout, Pepe, she wants Coca!" only work and how you are going to pay your debts. We aren,t he realizes he misunderstood. working now and look at me, I'm tLo* "ut*. that for an hour or two Women eat both at the food stalls and in their rooms, and often eat my batteries, and that then I have #X*:"tg ro make an effort to pay because of boredom or stress. Many workers are overweight, and for was gained in the zone. Being flexibility of some, like Flor and Bonita, this weight work ultimately depends on one factor: During clients. overweight is not simply an aesthetic issue but also an economic one, slow periods, workers *uy l"arre ,hu ,o.,", and. when there are and many clients pre- clients they retum. now that cultural notions of beauty have changed As the women ruy or", and over, ,,Hay taja""'one que sacar ven_ fer thinner women to the fleshier ones. Flor is extremely unhappy about must take advantage" oith" oppo.funity to earn money. Few her weight gain, which is substantial. Sitting at Pepe's food stand with workers take time off during the quincena (payday) and the ing days follow_ M6nica, she lifts her shirt to show us her ample belly and complains that it' when crients are more likely to arrive with money to spend. Flor soon joined by Bärbara, who asks Pepe what schedules her she is "a little fatty." We are day off on Wednesdays, a slow day, making sure to be pre. he broughi. Steak, he tells her. She eats three steak tacos and asks for two sent on busier weekend days. Political demonstrations and bring marches more. As she goes to the counter to pick up her food, Flor and M6nica rnore clients and workers to the zone. exchange a look. Neither of them is fond of Bärbara. Slow periods are often marked by boredom, anxiety, and. increased tersions just as prostitution in the zone often cleanses sex of a certain kind of between workers as competition for clients t, r,äilÄ".. and exposure of are days when *"ru intimacy, so too are conversations cleansed of intimacy a worker will see two or three clients at most. The women one's self. Workers pass time socializing and gossiping while waiting for must wait' They fill this time in a number of ways: eating, socializing, Despite the fact that watching television, clients, and conversation is often related to work. sleeping, and reading comics. their work can generate intense emotions, rarely is conversation inti- Because they have no access to cooking fac'ities, workers depend on mate and personal. Few women care to aPPear vulnerable in front of co- the vendors who se'food from one of thJfooa stalls. Many workers me loyal to particular are workers, and often the women stopped private conversations with vendors and run long tabs with them. Unpaid tabs about family or other personal matters when another worker appeared. may lead to the end of a worker_vendorielationship, as happened business: Pepe pepe with At Pepe's, FIor and Mönica complain about the lack of and Desirde. says she has owed him or," hr_är"d pesos today, Their conversation, peppered (us$rr'75; for "Yesterday, nothing, and nothing." more than a month, that she is sneaky, and that he wilr not with words like aerga (dick) and puta, at times becomes so animated that serve her' Jealousy and rivalry is common among food vendors, who rery to on the two women are nearly screaming at the same time in an effort zone staff and workers more than on clients, who generally buy inex_ make themselves heard. Th"y are anxious about the lack of work. FIor p.ensive soft drinks and rarely purchase meals. I normally ate at pepe,s, in other places: in Campeche, in Tabasco, and olthe day speaks of having worked I bought a sfuimp cocktail from Dofla paula, pepe 1d told me in a bar outside of San Cristöbal called Siberia. She says she would like I would surely become ill (I didn'O. workers have rittle control over what billete (good money), since it is slow in the ttfy eat in the zone, to go back and earn buen as vendors serve only one meal, along with tacos, Galäctica, but that her boyfriend, facobo, will not let her. Mönica says

&i;u"ä'a;..- i Eg INSIDE T}IE CALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE 83

ehe would like to go for a week and make some money, bringing the cundons she receives at the zone with hef, since they don,t give them out at Siberia. Over in Verönica,s room, Lorena lies on the bed wearing a tight yellow minidress, beneath a poster of Leonardo di Caprio xä winslet embracing' Days before, "',ä Verdnica took down the two larger-than-life portraits of her daughters back in El salvador. Lorena mou.Jur,d slowly pours a bottle of water into her open mouth. she is suffering from a hang- over, having spent a good deal of money at the Gitano ,,four ,righ;trrU and hav_ ing drunk, she says, hundred beers.,, Marco, thelonytailed food vendoq' enters the room.in a huff. Feigning anger, he complain s thatgrin- gos are frios (frigid), casting me a look. He sayshe or,"u hä a gringo lover and was not satisfied with him. He then abruptly leaves. ioÄu pro- claims she adores me, and I groan and ten her sheis as bad as the men, maybe worse. She raughs. Conversations in the zone are like this: lots of complaining, some gossip, and lighthearted banter; a bit of camaraderie but often a certain distance. workers spend a great deal of time alone in their sma', d.ark rooms, waiting for clients, watching TV, reading, primping, or in Desir.e,s case, playing Tetrus on her Gameboy. Frim time to time, a man will poke his head into a room or enter, since the d.oors are lefi ope., while workers are waiting. Negotiations may begin, or the client may simply look and decide to move on. sometim"r, ,iy, Mönica, a client win tell first her she is too fat or too old, and then n workers a great deal of anxiery, pur'.rrurl]J.,äffJ,1fit;:::; when fewer clients arrive. One worker says she needs to talk to a psy_ Figure n. A room in the Zone. Photo by Patty Kelly. chologist, as she is very upset, sits in her room, and worries. Mönica says that she was doing fine unt'she started spending the night in her room at the zone. She has been unable ,,It,s to sleep and says, this place, And so the rhythm of work in the zone is marked less by flow than by this room, that makes me sick.,, Lorena suggests that the workers ,,are discord. The zone promises little in the way of a stable income, as slow going crazy in their rooms, and the television is no good.,, Shecom- periods of little activity are conunon and produce anxiety. There is a plains of the city's unkept promise to provide the women with a bas- decided lack of privacy, and boredom sometimes gives way to gossip and ketball hoop. The women, she says, ,r"ä ,o get out, to jump, to scream; fighting. Though work hours are flexible, hours spent in the zone are not the rains, the lack of clients, and being trapped in their rooms is making always productive. Furthermore, though they are regulated by the state, them crazv. sex workers are considered entrepreneurs and receive none of the bene- IN5tDf, & TIIE GALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE 85 with being a state employee, such jff;X"-d as health benefits and isolates them, driving them to work in underground locations where they may be more susceptible to abuses and less likely to seek medical care when needed.s Legalizing some forms of sex work while criminaliz- LA VISITA ing others creates a stratified system of prostitution, a hierarchy of despair in which all workers lose. some nations prohibit.all forms In Tuxtla, the regulations of payment for sex. of the Galactic Zone are shaped by cultural ce-ftarn aspects others criminalize of prostifutio.r, u, ."cruiting beliefs that designate sex workers as dangerous social elements who or sex workers' ",r.h or living off the income wh'e legarizing must be overseen by the state. The the act of prostitution itself. sanitary Control Card that workers titution is legal and where pros_ regulated, women who work must purchase upon entering the Galäctica not only declares a woman's ally subject as prostitutes are usu_ to mandatory srD testingl.,ä health status but also is one of the tools used to o,rr". medical controls. strip the woman of the care tbr prostitutes often Hearth anonymity narrowry ä",* on the associated with clandestine prostitution. The card declares , tion of treatmerrt and preven- sexually transmitted the woman a prostitute illness. The m system as a matter of public record. Every three months, prostitute body ,,whole,,: rarely views the as a health rtlot"u, workers must purchase a new card for fifty pesos (us$5.9o). on the back beyond the reprod "uru uc ti ve sys tem. *. ; of the card is a calendar in which a zone health inspector marks the date ; rurar Nevada (the Jä;äJi:::::H:ääl; only r"gion in of the worker's periodic gynecological inspections, *," J'ited states with legalized known as aisitas, or tution) must underg, prosti_ visits' -andatfrJr _""Uf i11, for The worker's photograph, name, room and building number, and rhea and mont.ry chlamydia and gonor_ tests for sypnitis utra mv prostitution landlord's name appear on the front of the card. Attached to the lower regulated in Greece rrJ* ilg", *o and Turiey, _nur" * left comer of the card is an Hrv-negative certificate, which also bears the tutes and undergo rrequenr ;;;; il:l]",:H?:rä,äff'*- worker's name and photograph. This certificate too must be purchased. .ä:T;|;T,l;nf The worker's weekly visit to the Anti-Venereal Medical service Tffi f ü:*;l1hevhave""t#";;mit,ing (SMAV) is the linchpin of medical control. Each morning, with the excep- -lr fo.cibl;;;e,s; tion S? rr;;;;;ii:^*:'J:##::: of sundays and holidays, a group of workers enters the sMAV. They Netherlands' a place " ;T: long known for its tolerant arrive in various states of dress: some ready to work, fully made-up and attitude äward prosti_ the ways o,,t.n dressed, others in street clothes or long nightshirts ;:ä.r; ff:".*T5l i.J"tirutes experi",,"ulJ* *-r. and flip-flops. Those ere enacted' brothels wer" who wear complicated high-heeled shoes that must be buckled or tied prostitutes themselve banr,ed there, while regarizationJ;;-""J,:":""J1ää,:ä:i"T:"#:,1:ffiH often stroll in with them undone, so they may more easily slip them off when their tum comes. They stand with control cards in hand or sit in the now benefit from certain white occupationar'""Äry and plastic chairs that line the hall leading to the exam room. on the other freedoms labor laws, but lose when licensed Or"""i wall, a handwritten note reminds workers to bring their cards. u.dergo medical t"rtir,g. "*"" rn addition, the ne;;:liTffi;H:.ä";:: The weekly vaginal examination includes a swabbing for any abnor- from employing :,*lutr immigrants withor malities such as vaginosis, yeast and other types of infections, and. gon- ä"J"T:",Ty:*1trä**-*jiläfr 1ff ilti"",il:;:.::; orrhea. During the exam, other tests may occur too: a worker is tested for syphilis every three months and HrV every four months, and she receives Arrican women predomina te ), ma kin g th; jl;fli,iä"t;:j::ii,äj a Pap smear (named after its inventor, George N. papanicolaou) twice a year. Every two weeks she receives a free box of one hundred condoms. 80 INSIDE TITE GALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE 81

public health. Regulating prostitution and subjecting female sex workers to mandatory testing scapegoats prostitutes, implying that they are a maior source of disease and that testing them will prevent transmission.5 Yet the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases in Mexican states and other countries that regulate prostitution is no less than in places that do not.7 That regulation does not stop sexually transmitted illness should be an old lesson: in revolutionary Mexico City, where prostitution was regulated, it was found in the late r93os that men who had contracted gonorrhea reportedly did so from both sex workers and from women who were not prostitutes.s The regulationist system was abandoned there shortly after. Furthermore, mandatory HIV testing for prostitutes is not a particularly effective way to prevent the spread of the illness, given that workers in the Galactic Zonemay serve up to two hundred clients each month and there is a three- to sü-month window between initial infection and seroconversion (the formation of antibodies to the virus that would indicate a positive diagnosis). Also, a narrowly focused prevention effort that targets a small sector of society (like female prostitutes) is unlikely to have a great impact on the transmission of HIV in Mexico or anlrwhere else.e br addition, the incidence of HIV infection in female Mexican prostitutes is relatively low (various studies put the percentage at between o.5 percent and z.z percent).1o The lack of intravenous drug use among female Mexican sex workers (such drug use is far more common in Europe and the United States) contributes to this relatively low rate of HIV infection.ll Another factor is that many prostitutes are informed Figure tz. Inside the Anti-Venereal Medical Service. photo by fact, Patty Kellv. about HIV risk and adopt preventative measures when they can. In sex workers may be more likely to know how to protect themselves than other sexually active populations such as teenage girls engaging in noncommercial sex.tt Sex workers have a vested interest in staying disease- Workers themselves a workertestspositiv"ä,':'il::ff free that is both personal and professional; as Lorena told me, "It's like a ,fi i1tT,1:::##:i:ä"T:lJ secretary with her typewriter. I've got to keep my machine clean." pended until cured' If she is found to be HIV positive, she is Rates of HIV infection have remained somewhat stable in Mexico permanently' suspended A worke'r who tests positive for inness is said to b. pon- over the last few years; the overall infection rate among adults ages fif- duda, or "punctured," a word normally used to refer to flat tires. teen to forty-nine is o.3 percent, with higher rates for men engaging in ' The stated goal of the regulationist system of prostitution is to secure same-sex sexual relations and for intravenous drug users.l3 In zoo4, the ,{8 INSIDE TIIE GALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE 8q

Adexican ;'' Sovernment reported gi,gTgcases of HrV in Mexico, but the UN zone staff, and sex workers alike felt they would benefit most by keeping ' estimates that the number or and unreported, is closer to news of the presence of HIV in the zone quiet, as public knowledge r60'ooo'ra while heterosexuar"u""r,'r"ported t u**irio. was initiany low in Mexico, would result in slowed business and undermine the reputation of both infection rates are growing among heterosexual women and chiapas' youth. In the workers and the municipal government. This incident reveals not the presence of HIV has some unique qualities. There, trans- space rates only the ineffectiveness of the regulated zone but also the social through heterosexual sex are Trlo" higher than the nation,s as a necessary to a functioning whole; in Chiapas, occupied by sex workers, who, while deemed for every two men who are HIV positive, there is one society, are, sadly, also expendable. woman inf'ected; nationwide the ratio is about three men to one woman.,s activities of the Inaddition, given The focus on testing the bodies and controlling the the state's border status, it experiences flows of people female sex workers while their male clients remain free from such regula- to and from countries like Guatemala and Belize, places with greater rates of poverty tions serves to reinforce and pelpetuate already existing and broader pat- and HIV infection; some health ,es"ur.hers suggest that tems of gender inequality in Mexico, where women's sexuality is rela- Chiapas may be the gateway for furthering or srowing the spread in Mexico.ro of Hrv tively circumscribed and heterosexual men's is not. The privacy of clients I was is protected in the zone, while the private lives of "public women" are not. told there had never been a case of HIV infection in the Galactic the zone discuss Zone' and though Though some health workers and administrators in do I found it surprising, I naively believed during this craim. But the medical exams as a way to prevent disease in sex workers for the pur- a visit to the zone after my in-itiar year of fieldwork was over, I pose of protecting the workers themselves, the health of clients and soci- flund out the danger of such naivet6. 1.rst as I had begun to wonder the concern. Speaking of the visita, one zone about HIV infection in.the ety at large is primary zo1e, so too had panista municipal who authorities, administrator described its purpose as a way to "care for the clients." stopped using the medicar laboratory that had been testing the was the well-being of the women blood of zone workers Glaringly absent from his discussion for many years and switched to doing another. Upon who serve the clients. Clients themselves receive no medical tests or infor- so' three women immediaiely tumed up HlV-positive. I don,t staff regarding the sexual transmission of illness.r8 know who these wom mation from SMAV havebeenwomen,;l,i;:"":J*X.",T,iä::#$ä;ttLT:J"::I The SMAV also offers lectures and workshops, often sponsored by a pharmaceutical company or laboratory, on various topics such as self- dorrt know if they received support, counseling, and drug treatment. family planning, while treahnent for HIV esteem, sexually transmitted diseases, chronic gastritis, incluiing antiretroviral drugs, is Medco, ava'able in miscarriage, domestic violence, and once, human rights.te In mid-March, access is uneven: the poor and those without access to social following a lecture attended by only two workers, the SMAV staff and state programs often have difficurty 'iruurance receiving treatment.lT informed the women that lectures were now mandatory: if they did not It appears as though the laboratory , , was either testing the women,s blood and show up, they would be suspended from work for three days. Women not reporting the results or, _or" likely, not testing the blood for the time they spent listening to the lectures, a Et all, though it took were not compensated their blood and the fees they paid. panislta cials were city offi_ policy that reflected the paternalism and disregard for workers that per- dismayed but chalked the matte meates mtrny zone policies. fook no acrion ü;;the raborato,, o_.".1 pisgust, f^*:ä3,?1,.tft*ü{ The marginalization of zone workers is evident in their treatment by was a prüsta with politicai aspirations. In the zone, neither SMAV staff in other ways too. Sex workers (much like welfare recipients FtvtAV qtaff nor sex workers, who may.,o, hurru known about in laboratories, the change in the United States and other grouPs in unequal relationships with state p.rsued the issue. It is rikely that govemment officials, agencies) are subject to the controls and arbitrary bureaucratic whims of i I INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE 9r

the sMAV' Though workers generally do not resist the required visita, workers meet and sometimes clash with those of the SMAV staff. The viewing it as their responsibility, they do privately many com_ SMAV building is a site of power and protest; the visita is the occasion on plaints about the functioning ",,pr"r, of the sMAV. workers object to the fees they which the constructions of the "moral" and "immoral" city collide, must pay for laboratory tests. Lorena complained to me that, were she to despite municipal efforts to keep the two separate. while the staff views have her Pap smear done in the city center at a public hospital, it would the SMAV as a place of employment that has attached to it certain mid- certainly be cheaper than the sixty pesos (US$7.o5) she is charged in the dle-class behavioral norms, many zone workers, though they eam more Galäctica, but, she says, the SMAV will not accept the results of outside than some SMAV staff, have their own standards of acceptable behavior tests. other workers complain that their bimonthly allotment of condoms within the brothel that are often quite unlike their standards of behavior is insufficient. Furthermore, the meclical and administrative staff often outside the zone. These frequently include yelling, laughing, and curs- arrives late, leaving sex workers waiting for their medical examinations ing. Raucous behavior is one way some workers, who are sometimes told when they could be elsewhere, in their rooms, working, relaxing, or eat- to "shut up" by SMAV staff, express their displeasure with the controls of ing breakfast. And though there is supposed to be a medical docär avail- the regulationist system. Many workers speak angrily about the rudeness able for consultations until the aftemoon, Dr. Ramos and her assistants of the SMAV staff. Dr. Ramos, who performs the examinations during the often leave the zone hours earlier. should a worker have a question or week, they say, is brusque. She yells at them to relax, and according to problem, there is no medical staff available to see her. Bonita, she is rough during the exam and does not lubricate the specu- The decided lack of concem about the well-being of zone workers arid lum. My own experience as a patient of Dr. Ramos confirmed the reports the impunity and lack of accountability among zone doctors and rab of workers. As I lay on the examining table, she looked me over coldly. technicians is reflected in a story told to me by Edith, an sMAV secretary. Had she a scythe in her hand, I might have mistaken her for Death him- My relationships with the sex workers caused nearly all the sMAV staff self. Many workers prefer to go for their visit on Saturdays, when the to question both my moral character and good sense. Edith herself had soft-spoken and respectful Dr. Felipe Otero, a man, performs the exams. wamed me about socializing with sex workers, saying that among their Dr. Otero and Edith, in a rare and even socially dangerous show of sup- ranks were "criminars antr lesbians." But one day Edith came to me at port for the well-being of zone women, were unusual among their col- Pepe's food stand, looking worried and angry. she confided that during leagues in their attitudes toward sex workers' the visita that morning, as the workers were lining up waiting, it became clear that there was no soap with which to wash the speculums. Though they should be sterilized after each use, the speculums are washed each REDEMPTION AND RESOCIALIZATION day with soap in a large tub of water by olivia, a nurse whose husband is a pirate taxi driver. According to Edith, upon telling the Accountant Leaving the Anti-Venereal Medical Service, I am about to head down to that there was no soap, and that olivia would not be *Isr,ing the specu- the rooms to see who is around. O^ -y way I see Laura, a doctor doing lums, he replied, "So, don,t wash them.,, Ana Maria, another secretary some research in the Galäctica. She stops me and asks, wide-eyed with claimed it was not part of her job to run errands and refused to go to the amazement, "Do you go down there?" It is rare for any of the female staff city center to buy the soap. Finally Dr. Ramos exclaimed in front of a of the Galäctica to bajar, or go down to see, the women in their rooms or group of women waiting for their ,,I gynecological exams, don,t care if pass through the modules. The SMAV is located next to the entrance to they are washed or not.,,2o the zone-its staff can come and go without ever having to pass by the It is during the daily visits that the world and values of the Galäctica workers' rooms. On the rare occasion that they must go down, they IN5IDE TIIE v GALACTTC ZONE INSIDE THE CALACTIC ZONE 93

always travel in large groups, as if engaged in some harrowing alpine Zone women understand the realities of the Mexican economy. Viviana expedition in which they ought to be roped together. on this aJy, t tate took part in cooking courses not because she wished to leave prostitution a curious Laura with me. We stroll along, running into people: Verdnica to work longer hours for lower pay in a bakery but because, in baking, has just retumed from El salvador. we kiss and I welcome her back. she found a hobby she enjoyed and could share with her family. Bonita, dressed casually irijeans, a green T-shirt, white sneakers, and eye- Vocational training prepares zone women for jobs that pay less than what glasses, is on her way to the center of town. we chat briefly, and when she they eam as sex workers, but which are considered suitable for poor leaves, Laura "Is asks, she a profession ar (profesionista, a respectable pro- women, and thus it reinforces pattems of gender and class inequality. fessional working person)?,, ancl without thinking, t say y"s. I soon real_ Courses sponsored by the Instituto Nacional de Educaciön para ize what she means by profcssional-she means not a prostitute. so I say, Adultos (National Institute for Adult Education) held in the Galäctica are "Well, she is a professional, but she works here.,, in some surprising ways a more appropriate resPonse to the marginality Rarely are prostitutes viewed as workers (despite increasing use of the of sex workers. Primary and secondary school classes do not give women term trabajadora sexuar),, much less as professionals. Rather they are the means to find well-paid employment elsewhere. Though it is fre- viewed as a deviant population that inspires curiosity, feaq, disrespect, quently poverty and a lack of education that bring women to the zone, and sometimes sympathy. The behavior of prostitute women lies beyond educating sex workers does not necessarily cause women to leave pros- cultural norms, "scandalous" a affront to public morals, as the com- titution; sex work offers educated women more money than they can plaints of Tuxtlecos about clandestine prostitution reveal. eam using their training because of the nature of the Mexican economy, But municipal authorities do not consider sex workers to be beyond depressed wages, and their gender. What education does give zone redemption. As in revolutionary Mexico city, when the redemption of workers is a sense of both community and self-worth. "Profe" (short for "fallen women" through vocational training and limited eJucation professor), a retiree well into his seventies, teaches the classes. Profe is a became the chosen cause of social reformers and the well-to-do, the frail man with rheumy eyes and a soothing voice that sounds like bare women of the Galactic Zone are not considered beyond hope or help. But feet walking across a gravel path. His skin hangs down from his thin face some sex workers are considered better choices for rehabilitation than like a hound dog's jowls. When he writes on the blackboard in the others. when was it decided that I would be giving English crasses to makeshift classroom, his hand gently shakes, leaving behind a scrawl zone workers, I strolled about the modules with Hector, a municipal that looks more like an echocardiogram than like words' Profe said he worker stationed in the zone. we knocked on women's doors to let them was bored staying home and felt there was a need to educate the women know about the classes- Hector carried with him a list detailing who of the zone, so that they would not be "marginalized from society." Of his occupied each room and at times led me past a worker's room, claiming eight full-time and eight drop-in students, he says they are notmalcrindas slre would not be interested because she was too old. Age was considered (poorly raised). His class runs smoothly, he says, because "I respect them a major factor in a woman's ability to rehabilitate herself. women who and they respect me." had been working as prostitutes for years and even decades were Though located within the zone, the makeshift classroom sometimes believed to ,,normal,, have fallen too far to come back to society. became a space apart, where sex workers who otherwise engaged in an There ' is much discussion by zoneofficials of rehabilitating the *omen economic and sometimes moral competition against one another became of the Galäctica and preparing them to enter "normal,, society. Efforts at fellow students learning together. During the time set aside for English n*rabilitation include not only the lectures on physical and mental health classes, we often strayed from our lessons, talking about our love lives, but also occasional job training workshops in dressmaking and baking. our families, and Bill Clinton. (It was the height of the Monica Lewinsky 9+ tNsIDE THI' CALACTIC ZONE 95 randaf and many Mexicans found the situation and the American during the English classes rhe classroom I gave, a few police officers would linger , provided u ,uf" ,Ti.#;:i:T1il."" rpu." for workers silently at the back of the room, listening intently and sometimes taking one_third"r,,;' j:llää1":i.""::lcethei*t'",,sth"asstudents. notes. Prior to my arrival, Profe had been doing his best to teach English, to the number or Chiapa,.,""o, o*,u.-,iJäJ;iffiJTH:T:TfiHl but since he neither spoke nor read the language, the lessons were often $o percent) but far riddled with errorö. One day after class, Emfüo, a tall and very thin police of f if teen-n.*"f:;"fi j':lffi:f :*i.il,."',Ti1i:ä:i,*"":ä officer in his late twenties approached me, saying politely that he too women's would like to leam English. But the classes were for the sex workers precarious position in Mexican society-illiterate women number illiterate m out_ (though Dr. Ramos and Olivia sometimes attended class, causing some reamed to read'" discomJort for both teacher and students). It was feared that the animos- could not read i:iäff::ä?:fr:jnT;"ä:.Tj;::"H: ity that exists at times between the workers and the police would cause at all. Now she *'j:.tJTsat lr, .tuo ing ";;= struggling but proudly read- aloud: "r . . . live . conflict in the classroom. Something about Emilio's desire to leam was . tuoJi''s ä,o carion, Esperanza i;.u"ättl";; T].::'J""a'" multipti- heartbreaking. Municipal police officers in Tuxtla earn about thirteen "There hundred pesos (U.S. every two weeks, while a sex worker can eam u* fo.r, sweet ro's in each o""u"L $r53) The *::ii:: l# two women counted together, ,,One, i:rfi*:: twice that amount by serving three to eight clients a day, depending on two, three, four.,, dents, like Esperanza, Some sfu_ her price. Emilio's life situation seemed bleaker than that of many zone have;""";"0 ;;pass through and have advanced primary school women. IÄ[hen I returned to the classroom days later, I found that some- into secondaryichool. one aftem;;nT".äo*"0 a group of students heading body with poor perunanship, likely Emilio, had crookedly scrawled on to the offices of the Adult National Institute for the a Education to pick up the blackboard in English single word: love. results of their last examinations. Roberto was extremely ne"uo,,"; n" aia pass the previous exams and had not been "rt round of able to move on to secondary usual' school. Evita, as was very quiet' This time we rorr,i Roberto had passed SEIZING THE GALACTIC ZONE ematics exami.ation with his math_ a high score of eight ur,d to secondary -o,rrd b" *o.r*g o. They shut our uroutls with a box of contlorns. school. He was incredulous and exuberant, mouth and xil,J^it,1y,t; j;*[H:j:*11?'f:: jll**J*i*::ä:; f)esir6e 'tn dejected. I told her, ,,Ne*i On the fifth day of August 1996, two years before I arrived, sex work- ;;;"ra put an arm a surprising fme,,, ", around her ers of the Galactic Zone stopped working. They blocked the access road and rare show of physicat :::i,J.rT affection between to the brothel with rocks, a fallen tree, and their bodies, secured the The programs entrance with padlocked chains, locked Auber Dominguez, the zone's offered to sex workers shed light inequalities on the complex administrator, in his office, and raised a red flag as a symbol that exist inside the Galäctica. of their while prostitute women sociar stigma because suffer struggle. They were on strike. of their profession, as welr they as gender inequalities, eam more than many other As noted in the previous chapter, sex workers across the globe have zone workers. The zone an open space classroom was been organizing since the r97os. Yet there has been little social protest in the administrative building that also held a small office for the police, two smalr ja' among the female street workers of Tuxtla, many of whom work sporad- cells, of the Accountant. ""d;;ä.e often ically and do not identify as sex workers, and still less among regulated 90 rNstDE THE CALACTTC zoNE ]ALACTIC ZONE O? workers of the Galactic Zone, until that warm summer day. what pre- acterized the Bolivian economy, shifted with the growth of the informal cipitated this collective action was the administration,s decision to raise sector. Now, instead of workplace trade unionism, there was a struggle at the price of the entry ticket that crients must purchase, from two to three the level of neighborhood and household, a shift from "the search for pesos (US$o.24 to us$o.35). Clients had previously paid two pesos to structural change to single-issue enter strategies."2s As among the street ven- the zone and another peso if they wished to use the public toilet. dors of Bolivia, the service sector and the entrepreneurial (though state- some workers fearecr that the price increase wourd preveniclients from regulated) nature of work in the zone shapes prostitutes' views of their coming to the zone or make it more difficult to negotiate higher pay_ fellow workers, who are seen as competitors ments for rather than as allies. The their services. As Gabriela remembe.r, "Thi, is wh/ they got sexual nature of the work furthers this divide, as the economic competi- angry. They said that the men weren't going to come, or that there tion is often accompanied by a weren't moral competition in which workers who going to be any people, because the entry fee was expensive and will "do anything" out-compete their neighbors and provoke.their gossip they weren't going to want to pay." striking workers demanded that the and anger. In addition, administration the international character of the zone, where half lower the entry ticket price back to two pesos. Furthe. of the workers are central American, breeds divisive xenophobia and rmore, they wanted the city to pave and install streetlights arong the nationalism that further separates workers. poorly maintained dirt road leading to the zone; decrease ihe price of the some workers felt they were forced to participate in the strike. sanitary control card; relocate the female clandestine prostitutes work- Gabriela, one of the zone's more politically ing the ,,unfair active workers, recalls that city center to the zone in order to decrease competition,,; she did not want to participate but wanted to go home and take care and ensure that the of workers and their human rights _"ru."rp""ted, par_ her two daughters. she bargained with strike leaders, saying that she ticularly by municipal police officers in the zone. would stay for a while if they would let her go The strike home to her d.aughters of ry96 shows that organized dissent is st'l possible even later. Lorena had been at home sick and was surprised to arrive at the in the face of the fierce economic competition and individualization that zone to find "everything closed and the women piled up there out front." characterize the entrepreneurial service work done in the zone, and once she entered the despite zone, the other workers wouldn't let her leave. the spatial, behaviorar, and medical regulation of zone workers. Lorena supported the strike but was distr,rrbed to find that many of her Though criticized for the lack of human actors in his work and his colleagues were drinking alcohol. she went to the vendor and demanded denial of agency, Michel Foucault himself writes, "No matter how terri- that he fying stop selling alcohol, waming him that under such circumstances a given system may be, there always remain the possibilities of the women could take a bottle or a knife and go after the police. The ven- resistance, disobedience, and oppositio'al groupings.l,23 The strike dor complied with her wishes. Bärbara,known for her individualism and sho'r's that the prostitute body had not been made fully docile and lack of political engagement, remembers: politically obedient. But a deeper examination of the strike also reveals the fragmentation I didn't think it [the taking of the zone] was good. They had no among zone workers, even as they engaged in collective political action, reason to go meddling in that, and besides, the majority that were a testimony to the politically demobilizing effects of neoliberalism. In her involved in that were foreigners, . . . and the number one person work in LaPaz, Bolivia, Linda Farthing found that the character of com- that was there, making this kind of scandal, was Desir6e. She was merce:unong supposedly the leader of all informal street vendors bred an atmosphere of competi- of them and even demanded that we tion, didn't sleep in our roorns, but that we had to sleep outside the individuation, and distrust.2r The solidarity that had existed among [near entrance], on strike. They made us stay out there and stay tlp late. . . . workprs when mining, public administration, and factory work had char- Everyone had to do it. 98 TNSIDE THE CALACTIC ZONE INSIDE THE CALACTIC ZONE

Though her account does not ignore the dissent within the rantcs of the we don't have these kinds of problems because of the condom, provide workers, Desir6e, from Guatemala, remembers the event somewhat dif- ns with the boxes of condoms every fifteen days. .. . Give them to us so ferently. of the administrator locked in his office, she laughingly recaür, tlrat we can protect ourselves and so that fhere isn't the problem of the "He asked me to let him out and "No. I said, Ask valentina' and she salf, diat throwing out the condom, because I already have it in my hand "No. Ask so-and-so" and it went on tike that. And we didn,t let itis put on him."' leave, and we put a lock on the door.,, Of the night spent ite some of the gains of the strike, p articularly the empowe ring of told me: through condom distribution, many workers viewed the

Xp a failure. As Desirde recalls, "I went out, and they made a deal And we were here all night, with the mattresses out in the center wasn't there. They shut our mouths a box condoms." everything. . . . Some police sat down to eat with us. Thev I with of us, put things in the street so that cars couldn,t pass. Theolüärs also felt that "we sold ourselves for a box of condoms." brought food, coffee, and didn,t charge rent. It was really nice this time, there has been little collective activity among zone everybody supported us. . . . The poblanas, since they hive pimps, many of whom were disillusioned with the outcome of the didn't want to support us. . . . I hit one of them.26 Artr.r, *in ü*.nt or continued. to resent what they fe\t was their forced participation. from this. We were all united. We ate dinner together as a group, But some workers, like Gabriela, Lorena, and FIor, continued to decry the talked through the night, and stayed up late. lack of unity and shared worker consciousness in the zone. Gabriela says she used to be outspoken about workers' rights. She attended health Following two hours talks of with samuel Hemändez solis, Tuxtla,s workshops and organizing meetings, and became interested in making director of public health at the time, a partial agreement was reached on the zone a better place to work. She supported many of the activities that August 6, 1996. The entry fee would remain at three pesos, though there the Comitiin Center for Health Research undertook there. \Alhen a repre- would no longer be a charge for clients to use the malodorous public toi. sentative arrived and spoke to the women about forming a cooperative in let, which was often in a state of disrepair. Furthermore, the funds would order to purchase necessities such as soap and toilet paper, Gabriela was be used to improve the road and install streetlights. Municipal authorities eager to take action. But nothing came of the plan, because, as Gabriela promised they would look for a way to decrease the cost of the sanitary puts it, "there is no union." Gabriela's outspokenness transformed her Control Card and agreed that the women pap could now have their not into a leader but into a pariah; during a workshop on sexually trans- smears done at the public Regional Health Center, free of charge (though mitted diseases, she actively participated and asked questions. After- tl$s new policy conceming Pap smears was never enacted). ward, other women in attendance spread a rumor that she had an STD. one of the most important achievements of the strike was the fulfill- Gabriela has come to believe that activism in the zone would be futile. "It nent of the workers' demand that they receive condoms directly from is better I don't go out and get myself involved in problems. I work for ttpSMAV rather than having them distributed to clients at the main gare. me, and the world keeps turning, right? I can't get involved anymore. This method of condom distribution both empowers workers to better What I would like more than anything is that this [work] were something nggotiate condom use and saves them from having to spend their own different, but it cannot be done. There are many problems here precisely noney on condoms and charge clients extra for this expenditure. Clients because nobody wants to be ordered around. Nobody wants to have a would often tfuow the condoms out, play with them, or arrive at a boss." worker's room claiming they had not received one. As Gabriela remem- Lorena is often one of the first workers to be involved in discussions of bers: "I personally talked with Dr. ,Look, Samuel, and I told him, so that work issues with landlords or administrators, who sometimes describe h""- i llto rNstDE THri GALACTTC ZONE INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE lol

her as "difticult." she is angry about the high rents land.lords charge. to eam money, and many are simply unwilling to spend costly time price "The of gas goes up and our rent goes up five pesos.,, Landlords, ,,running engaging in organizing activities. Furthermore, those who work for strc says, try to quell dissent by out,, women who protest, par_ pimps are less likely to participate in any form of collective action, since ticularly Central American women. she is concerned about the elements doing so could mean punishment. Other, undocumented workers often of control and exploitation present in the zone: domineering police, fear engaging in,political activity because of their precarious immigration exploitative landlords, and an administration and medical staff that status. And rivalries, gossip, and jealousies that arise while laboring judge and discipline workers. "They call this place a tolerance zone? under conditions of intense competition keep other workers from orga- what do you think tolerance means? For me, tolerance'means to put up workers, like Sonia, seek to avoid conflict. Finally, the stig- with a lot and to permit a lot. But here they permit ^iti.g.These nothing.,, Despite her matized nature of the job also inhibits collective action, as women are outspoken nature, Lorena, like Gabriela, is disillusioned by the lack of unlikely to public identify themselves as prostitutes and take their labor unity in the zone. disputes beyond the walls of the Galactic Zone. Yet despite this lack o{ I would like political engagement, the Galäctica remains in other ways a site of to orgar-rize, but that is to complicate matters for no reason. A group protest, came here to speak to us, to talk to us about the union of, one could say, c,icas elegantes throughout the republic in the Federal District. They already have a union and everything. They are better organized. So they tried to organize us too, but it was like I wanted to cross the river swimming wiihout a life jacket or anything. Just me alone' Nobody got involveä to support it. Those that are Mex- icirn are the Poblanas, poblanas and the aäpimped. So for them, cash, cash, cash. It's the only thing that inteästs them. Their own well-being doesn't interest them_that in the future they are going to be old ladies. And if you want to finrl out more or get organized, the.landlord will squash you, the city will squash you-, half"the world will squash you in order to put out tire blaze you want to ignite. That is why I say it is like complicating matters for no reason.

The individualism among workers in the zone, and their decided lack of shared consciousness as workers, is a conunon characteristic of the neoliberal era throughout Latin America.2T unemployment, ployment, increasing fragmentation 'nd.erem- of the rabor market, growth in the informal economy, decreases in social spend,ing, and the diminished of unions, an consequences Power of recent economic restructuring, trave Ied to the erosion of class identity among many Latin American workers.?, Yet along with the potentia\ politica\ demobi\izing effects d neoliberali:sm, there are other reasons why few zone women activery s'e better working conditions in the Garäctica. women come tgh CONVERGENCE

landlords and prostitutes of the Zona Galäctica propelled prostitution to the forefront of public discussion and govemment activity. It was precisely during this period of conflict that the municipal government /-1 increased its assault on clandestine prostitution in the city center and FOUR LOltvergence stepped up its control in the zone, while also holding press briefings to P.{NISl'.\S. PROS,I,II'TITES. -{ND I'EASANTS advertise the "successes" of the Galäctica. The unfolding land conflict revealed the face of a Mexico that existed before the advent of neoliberal capitalist expansion and pursuit of what is, in some circles, defined as modemity. Even within Tuxtla Gutidrrez, the showcase for modemity in Chiapas, older pattems of thinking and being, embodied by the ejidatarios of Francisco I. Madero, continue to exist and resist. In his book Möxico Profundo, anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla claims there exist two Mexicos, an "imaginary Mexico" and what he refers to as M6xico profundo (deep Mexico).lThe small minority of the powerfuI who have pursued Westem models of development in Mexico for the past five centuries constitute the "imaginary Mexico," while Mdxico profundo, rooted in Mesoamerican culture, resists the "civ- iliz31i6n3l programs" of "imaginary Mexico." Formed by the majority of the population, Mdxico profundo is diverse and includes both indigenous rural populations of subsistence agriculturalists and urban populations who have retained various traits of Mesoamerican civilization. I4/hat unifies the people of Mdxico profundo is "that they are the bearers The newspaper headlines screamed, "4oo Ejidatarios Courd rake over of ways of understanding the world and organizing human life that the Zona Galäctica," "They want to Throw sex workers out of the have their origins in Mesoamerican civilization and that have been Galäctica," and "Eviction Feared in the Zona Galäctica.,, It was early forged here in Mexico through a long and complicated historical spring in 1999, and the people of the ejido Francisco L Madero were look_ process."2 ing to reclaim their land-four hectares located at the end of a lonery dirt Bonfil Batalla's conceptualization of Mexico, as a dichotomous pair of road eight kilometers east of the city center of rüxtla Gutidrrez. The land, coexisting civilizations (Wester-n and Mesoamerican) that have not unfortunately, was not vacant. Ratheq, since r99r, the communal ejido blended to create what calls a "new civilizational plan," may cry out for land had been known as the Zona Galäctica. The ejidatarios (communal a more nuanced approach. But his argument nonetheless has particular 'landholders) wamed that if the city did not retum their land by April z, resonance in Chiapas, where one finds both subsistence and neoliberal ,ttrey would "arrive well armed" and evict the inhabitants of the zone, economies and, in the case of the Galäctica, both the "modem" brothel of using force if necessary. the "imaginary Mexico" and those representatives of Bonfil Batalla's , This local land struggle invorving the communal landholders of the M6xico profundo, the ejidatarios of Francisco I. Madero. I. Madero ejido, the municipal government, 'Francisco and the private I had come to Tuxtla to work in the "other Chiapas," removed from the a lno CoNVERCENCE CONVERGENCE 1oj-r

land and ethnic contlicts so central to the work of many others in the Tuxtla. My mention of clandestine prostitution-that is, unregulated region, until the ejido conflict, a convergence of local, national, and global prostitution-makes him laugh incredulously. "How can it be called politics, exploded in the Galäctica, threatening its very existence. Despite dandestine? It's public!" He is right. It is regulated prostitution that is my stubborn intention while in Chiapas to research something, any- clandestine, its practitioners and clients secreted away and made invisi- thing, other than agrarian disputes, I found myself studying exactly ble, while what is called clandestine prostitution is often visible to the those as Mexico profundo emerged in the middle of the Zona Galäctica. public. But for the state, the prostitute who is unregistered, unknown, Co.flicts over land, labor, and ethnicity are central to Mexican history. unconfined, and therefore uncontrollable is clandestine. From the initial arrival of the spanish to the Zapatista uprising and Santiago Romero smokes cigarettes at an alarming rate, opens the beyond, subordinated groups within Mexico have long struggled to newspaper to the classified section and begins to read aloud from the retair their vision and of their place in the world. In Chiapas, this strug- many advertisements that offer sexual services. He reads, "Bored? Forget gle has been especially pronounced; by the r99os, various well-estab- stress! How about a relaxing massage? Oriental massages." I try not to lished and newer peasant organizations throughout the state, particu- pggl" at his performance and blink at the smoke searing my eyes. He larly i'r the east and the north, were actively working to reclaim land.3 pauses, looks up from the papet takes a drag on his cigarette, dnd, exhal- The Zapatista uprising and the actions of the ejidatarios of Francisco I. ing, says to me, 'And I will tell you right now, there is not one |apanese Madero are part of a broader movement in which oppressed peoples or Chinese girl in there." A group of men enter the office, and I introduce actively respond increasing to local, national, and global political eco- myself as an anthropologist. One man asks if I am studying ruins, but nomic trends that would separate them from their lands and lifewavs. before I can answer, Santiago Romero answers for me, "Yes, the ruins of Mexican society." The communal landholders of Francisco I. Madero are not morally LAND DEALS AND PARTY POLITICS opposed to prostitution. When I asked their opinion of the women of the zone, the reply was, "They are beautiful." What is at issue is the use of It is a warm May afternoon in the downtown office of the ejittatarios of the once communally held lands for what the ejidatarios view as a revenue- Francisco I. Madero. The communal landholders are the original owners generating business for the city and the private landlords who rent the of the land now occupied by the Zona Galäctica. I am sitting at a table rooms to zone workers. Santiago Romero tells me the ejidatarios have leafing through ejido archives when a talr, imposing, mustachioed man donated other parcels of land throughout the city for various "good" enters the office smoking a cigarette and complaining loudly of a hang- (and nonprofit) causes, including the land beneath the Patricia Ecological over. "It is ,,It,s not a headache," he groans. that everything is spinning.,, Park in southeastem Tuxtla. He puts his large hands around my waist and says, "Buenos dias, chap- According to documents from both the municipal and the ejido arrita" (Good morning, shorty). He is Emilio santiago Romero, the ejido,s archives, in September 7gg7 (during the term of priista Governor brash and charismatic spokesperson. He launches into a tirade about Gonzälez Garrido), four months before the Zona Galäctica was officially prostitution in Tuxtla, questioning what the city calls "control.,, A secre- inaugurated, a land deal was negotiated between the two parties. Ejidal tary with startling ice-blue eyes brings him coffee, and he gruffly calls to documents describe the deal as an exchange of services from the priista his nephew to potler, bring him the Cunrto one of the city,s most widely government for four hectares "that are no longer lands of any use to the read daily newspapers. He speaks about how only about 15o women Ejidatarios of this place and that will serve for the settlement of marginal work in the zone, and how there are many more in the streets and bars of groups lacking public services." The ejidatarios of Francisco I. Madero CONVERGENCE CONVERGENCE are an urban population who have been partially integrated into the urban economy rejected all claims of "public utility." The ejidatarios gave the city until and no longer wholly depend o.. agrictllt rral produc_ tion.{ M*nicipal April z to give up the Galäctica. By this time Mayor Araujo's term had archives explain the dear as an exchange of land for pub. lic works ended. The new mayor, the panista obstetrician-gynecologist Paco Rojas, projects. In a letter addressed to the priista municipar president, Dr. Enrique Esquinca inherited the problem when he took office. M6ndez, dated September 19, 7gg1,,-astate repre. sentative the A month later the conflict was made public, and it received a great of secretary of agrarian reform approved the exchange, stating that there was "no deal of press coverage. Images of machete-wietding campesinos ready to legal impediment to the donation made by the Ejidal Assembly to the "shed blood" for their cause/ and of "women of dubious reputation" who [priista] Municipar Council of this ciry . . . as long as the ejido receives would converge upon Tüxtla's downtown were the Galäctica to close, in exchange multiple collective sociai benefits in their community, beg* to circulate in the press and among the public. Both populations compensating the ejido in a fair and equitable manner.,, He ends the letter were considered a source of fear and danger; both sex workers and peas- by advising the priista city government to legitimize the land ant activists presented a problem for the state and society. The new exchange by requesting from the federal secretary of igrarian municipal administration was in a difficult situation. Tuxtla's new direc- reform the legal expropriation of the four hectares. The paperwork tor of public health, also an obstetrician-gynecologist, could be heard was never completed. As the city archives state, ,,In seven years the lamenting the previous mayor's decision to lie about the zone, shaking land was never formally transferred.,, The zone operated for seven his head and sighing, "He told them it was going to be a park." years, and no efforts were made to reclaim the land until April t998, when the ejido This was when the well-publicized raids on street prostitutes began. '.8, community registered a claim against the city govemment (now pAN), Yet, as previously described, the raids served more as a display of state led by the opposition demanding restitution for ejido lands, payment power than anything else, since clandestine prostitution did not become for damages to the community, and the payment of all legal expenses. It is more regulated or more sanitary but simply moved to the shadows. The perhaps significant that the original rand deal was made with city's new efforts were likely in part a response to the ejidatarios and any priista city and state govemments, and that the challenge arose when Tüxtla was sympathizers who would question the city's control of street prostitution run by the opposition pAN, in a weakened position with respect and the necessity of the Zona Galäctica. to the priista state and federal govemments. A week later, panista municipal In the Galäctica, the conJlict between the city and the ejidatarios had a president Enoch Araujo siinchez moved. to request that the ripple effect that laid bare the competing interests and multiple levels of secretary of agrarian reform expropriate the lancl in accordance with Article exploitation present in the zone. Sex workers worried first about slowed 93 of the Agrarian Law, which states that communal lands may be ,,public business and the threatened loss of livelfüood and, second, about poten- expropriated for the cause of utility.,, The tial violence. Some believed the state would resolve the problem by lands would be used, he claimed, for a public park. The ejidatarios soon cracking down on the ejidatarios, but others disagreed. Dofla Paula, a for- found out about the mayor's efforts, and they too wrofe to the mer sex worker who now runs a food stand in the zone, asserted that, in secretary of agrarian reform, stating that the land in question was not going to be used the wake of the EZLN uprising, the campesinos would no longer be as for a park as the city claimed, but thai it was "already being used for easily.subdued as they once were. "Once their eyes have been opened," prostitution and strip clubs.,,s Along with the ret- ter, the eiidatarios she said, "it is not so easy to shut them again." Dofra Paula's assessment sent a videotape showing the clients .orr,i-rg and going at tle Galactic was an astute one; the EZLN uprising generated new and lasting politi- Zone's main gate. On February 2, aggg,the city,s request for ocpropriation cal activism and awareness throughout Mexico. was canceled by the secretary of agrarian reform, who While the motivations of the Ejidal Assembly (the governing body of !

;: rog t,. CON VERGEN CE CONVERGENCE ro9

the larger cornmunity of landholders) and the timing of their " protest arc landlords banded together and wrote collective letters to the prüsta open to question, many observers believed their actions were linked to state governor. Drawing on the standard rhetoric, they begged for his Tuxtla's uneasy place within the Mexican poritical system. sex worker "valuable help" in protecting them from the "carnpesinos" who would Lorena viewed the conflict as "purely political" and. asserted that the "spill blood" in the Galäctica. They claimed they were the "legitimate panista mayor would not receive any support from the priista state gov- owners," and that their work in the zone was "the only source of support emment in resolving the conflict. As she and I discussed the situation, for our families." Lorena gave me a pop quiz on Mexican politics in order to prove her Workers in the AntiVenereal Medical Service were also concemed. point. "who is the president of Mexico?" ,,Zedrilo.,, ,,And she asked. The extra police protection promised by the city had not yet arrived, and what party does he belong to?" "The pRI,- I answered. she continued April z, the deadline the ejidatarios had given the city to vacate the "And who is the govemor of Chiapas?,, ,Albores.- ,,And what party does premises, was fast approaching. Edith, a secretary in the SMAV was he belong to?" "The pRI.- -And who is the mayor of Tüxtla?,, she asked. angry about what she perceived as the city's lack of concern for zone I was catching ,,paco on. Rojas and he,s a panista,,, I answered. -There staff. "It said in the paper they [the ejidatarios] would use violence. . . . you have it," said Lorena, ,,That,s why I said it,s purely political.,, There could even be rape!" She looked out the window into the zone's Hostilities also arose between the sex workers and their landlords, alr entryway and said bitterly, "They said they were going to send twenty of whom, except one, had removed the televisions, one of the few means police officers today. And where are they? I don't see them. Yes,look at all for passing time, from the workers' rooms in order to safeguard their the police out there protecting us." property in case the ejidatarios came. without television, i-," -o*". April z, which was also Good Friday, came and went without incident. became bored and angry and irritable, like a group of newly sober As it was a holiday, there was little transportation serving the zone. addicts' Gossip became a primary and destructive way to kill time while Clients who had come seeking pleasure were forced to walk the kilome- waiting for clients. workers resented the removal of the televisions, espe- ter from the zone to the highway in ro4-degree heat. I secured a ride there cially because their exorbitant room rates had not been lowered to reflect onlyby chasing downlesris, the leader of the pirate taxi drivers, who just this change' Many women were also angered by the fact that some own- happened to be passing by in downtown Tuxtla. Turning onto the ers had stopped making mortgage payments to the city and paying the Highway of Death from the Pan-American Highway, I saw what looked water and electricity bills, while still collecting rents from the *o*ur. like a group of seven or eight refugees walking slowly down the dirt some sex workers, like M6nica, threatened to use the media coverage of road. Some were bare-chested, their shirts wrapped around their heads the ejidatario challenge to publicize the landlords, exploitJor, or ,n" like turbans. Others had pulled up their shirts to reveal large, sweaty bel- women through exorbitant rents.6 Landlord Don Alejanäro believed that Iies covered with the orange-brown dust kicked up by the rare passing Mönica would not dare to publicly proclaim herself a sex workeq, but she car. Of course, they were not refugees, only clients who, having given up told hirn, "oh yes, r will. Besides, Channel Five doesn,t reach veracruz waiting for a pirate taxi, were forced to walk to the main road to wait for [her home state]." Business was slow as clients, fearing violence or a bus to take them back to the city center. As we sped past the men, our believing the zone was closed, stayed away. Inside the zone-, tensions ran loud, rusty, red VW Beetle kicked up dust, again coating the men, who high. were powerless to protect themselves. landlords who had bought the buildings from the city were angry Inside the zone, it was quiet. The medical service and administration that the city had failed to protect their inteÄts. They e*pressed disbelief buildings appeared empty. Most of the zone staff was off for the day, and that they had been paying all these years for rand that was not saleable. others had refused to come because of the land conJlict. Extra police had tlo CONvIRCENCE

finally arrived and were scattered about, leaning against the walls of the iety about prostitution, giving undue coverage of a sensationalized buildings, seeking shade. These men appeared not to be actual police nature to the event.T Press reports detailed the calamities that would fol- officers but rather day laborers hired to protect the Galäctica. In contrast low if the zone were to be closed: most important, Galäctica prostitutes to the uniform-clad officers, these young men wore street clothes, a blue would come to the city center to work. One of the state's most widely cir- police-officer style cap, and carried black batons. The "police" leered and culated papers published a large photo of a woman seated on a bench in hallheartedly called out to passing women; the heat was diminishing Tüxtla's Central Park and surrounded by three municipal police officers. their ability to effectively catcall. By noon many of the food vendors and The caption read: "Fleeing the Galäctica, sex workers in the center of sex workers who had dared to come to work decided to call it a day. Tuxtla." Once again, visibility and space had become key issues in the Pepe, busy stacking up the white plastic chairs at his food stand, sighed, discussion of prostitution in the city. Yet the threat of the sex workers of "There is nothing." I left with Lydia, going back to the small dirt-floor üre Galäctica converging on the city center was hardly real. house where she and her sons lived in the city's southern hills. she killed Few regulated workers would leave the relative safety and legality of a turkey for me, and we watched on live television the reenactmentof the the Galäctica to work the streets; they fear the police, as well as abusive crucifixion of Christ ]esus that takes places annually in Itzapalapa. As the and sometimes murderous clients. In addition, in the zone, undocu- young man playing Jesus was actually nailed to the cross, the voiceover mented immigrant women work fairly freely. On the streets they might arurounced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the blood you see is real.,, Whether be arrested or harassed and face greater risk of deportation. Zone sex because of the holiday or the ejidatarios, there was no business in the workers do not view themselves as lawbreakers but as women who zone. rcspect the law. One worker even suggested that to work in public view The zone conflict continued to play itself out in the press during the was morally wrong, and that citizens who complained to the city about weeks following April z. The city and the ejidatarios negotiated inter- dandestine prostitution were right. "That's why we have the zone, but mittently, but most communication was carried out via press conferences, they don't want to come here," she said. press releases, and letters. By mid-May, news coverage of the conJlict had Zone women express a great deal of ambivalence about street workers died down, fears had subsided, and the owners had retumed the televi- and feel little camaraderie'with them as co-workers. When a Galäctica sions. The ejidatarios had begun to make fewer threats, and there was police officer, hoping to get in her good graces, told Sonia that, when his more discussion payment of and of surveying the land to assess its beat was in the city centeq, he did not like to arrest the prostitutes there, worth. Meanwhile, the city was taking a different approach, hoping that she simply asked, "Why not?" Zone women see the street prostitutes as if it could prove "public the utility" of the Zona Galäctica it would be able "unfair competition." Legalworkers sometimes envy the independence to legally expropriate the land. and economic power of street workers-they are free from "all the rules" and generally charge more and spend less than their legal counterparts. As Flor said, "Why would they want to come here? In the street they PBOSTITUTION AND THE PUBLIC GOOD charge two hundred pesos (US$zl.So). Here twenty (US$z.lS), and you have expenses to pay." The land dispute and discussions about it by the public, press, ejidatar- Yet despite the ambivalence and occasional overt hostility toward ios, and city officials converted an agrarian dispute between the state and unregulated workers, some zone women do feel for the street workers. communal landholders into a broader public debate about prostitution Both Dofla Paula and Flor spoke of the abuses that the street women suf- During this time, the media played a crucial role in fomenting public arx- fer during the raids, and how they are sometimes grabbed by the hair by il2 CONVERGDNCE CONVERGENCE u3

those co'ducting the raids. Flor has warned her partner, Jacobo, the city and disease, became Stanley Cohen's "folk devil," the embodiment of employee who participates in the raids, that he had better not be mis- deviance and wrongdoing.to In order to safeguard the city, her inevitable treating the women. she identifies with the street workers not as a fellow presence had to be contained and controlled, and the only way to do this prostitute but as a woman, saying of the abuse ,,I of these women, am a was to settle the land dispute. Prostitutes, regulated and clandestine, whore, but am I also a wom;rn, and as a woman, I say it is wrong.,, Identifying became pawns used by both sides in the struggle over the four hectares herself as a whore silences Flor. she speaks out on behalf of beneath the Zona Galäctica. other sex workers not as one herself but as a woman. ,,whore,,, As a she As the current administrator of the zone, the municipal govemment does not speak or demand to be heard. As a ,,woman,,, she does. had the upper hand and cast itself in the role of protector of the city.ll Though press reports suggested a disaster of unimaginable propor_ Once the dispute went public, city officials launched a to prove tions would result campaign t if the Garäctica were to be crosed (as ! one ieporter the public utility of the Zona Galärctica. City propaganda detailing the wrote, the city would be "totally unable" to control prostitution in the zone's social benefits appeared in the press, and television news crews streets), it is unlikely legar d sex workers would have found their way to the were invited on-site to film, much to the dismay of sex workers. city center to work. Many would probably have done what they do These stories highlighted the "safety" of the zone and the "dangers" of i when business slows down in the zone: they wourd have headed for uncontrolled prostitution. The municipal secretary suggested that, if the other legal zones ri and bars throughout southern Mexico. The photograph of the woman zone were taken back by the campesinos, this would "increase the possi- working the city center was not l a woman from the bility of diseases, above all of venereal types, since there could be no strict Galäctica but one of the many unregulaterl workers already present . there. control of prostifutes." During a press conference, the mayor spoke of the i return of prostitution to the city center and the serious social and health l other press reports highlighted not only the piesence of prostitutes in repeat- 1 the city consequences of loss of city control over the zone. City officials center but also the potential threat to public health. one reporter edly emphasized the importance of having a "controlled population," as suggested that "the prostitutes will surely be launched to the streets of in the Galäctica. Tuxtla Guti6rrez in search of earning a living, and without medicar con- Sex with regulated workers, the city implied, would be safer. In the trol, the venereal diseases will truly begin to wreak havoc among them ,service.,,, Galäctica, they said, the Anti-Venereal Medical Service distributed thirty and those who purchase this type of In short, the heaiUr and thousand condoms a month to workers, who also received medical ser- social consequences would be disastrous and the city out of control. vices and exams. In fact, the actual number of condoms distributed was women, and in particular women who sell sex, are often a source of several thousand fewer. Thirty thousand was the average number of moral anxiety for the public ancr a political riability for the state.B From Latin America dients who visited the Galäctica each month. The inflated figure of thirty to the united states to southeast Asia, the ,,dangerous,, sexuality thousand condoms wrongly gave the impression that each sexual act per- of unregulated prostitutes challenges not onry cultural moral formed in the zone was potentially a "safe" act, thanks to the city's Anti- codes but also the spatial ordering of society.e In Tuxtla, it was believed Venereal that Medical Service. Furthermore, as noted earlier, while for some the closing of the Galäctica and the supposed increase in pubric pros- women the biweekly allotment of condoms was sufficient, for others it titutio'r would be a health and moral nightmare. City officials and eji- was not, and they had to either purchase more with their own eamings datarios alike agreed with the conclusions above and promoted them in (in the pharmacy, where condoms were rather costly, or from other work- the press as much as possible in order to influence poprrlu, opinion and ers who had not used their allotment) or have unprotected sex. advance their own respective causes. The prostitute, a symbol of disorder Municipal functionaries claimed there had not been one case of HIV in ll+ CONVERCENCE CONVERGEN CE n5

the Galäctica, and while they themselves likely believed this craim, as struggles over class and expressions of economic power and powerless- seen in the previous-chapter it was probably untrue. City propaganda ness. These discourses about rape and prostitution justify controlling and also emphasized the health-related lectures that sex workers received. on endosing the sexuality of poor men acting out "natural" desires and poor topics such as HIV prevention and miscarriage. Before the land dispute "loose" women in a tolerance zone. became public knowledge, these rectures were voruntarily attended; only Of course, the entire notion that consensual intercourse with a prosti- aftenvard, as the city increased control of prostitution both on the streeb tute is a substitute for rape is simply wrong-one does not replace the and in the zone, did the lectures become mandatory. other. Rape is less about sex than it is an expression of power and gender Appealing to the citizenry, who could be expected to (and often did) inequality. Susan Brownmiller wrote in her groundbreaking b ook Against complain about public prostitution, city officials claimed that the exis- Our Wü, "Rape is not a crime of irrational, impulsive, uncontrollable ,! tence of a regulated torerance zone decreased not only prostitution but lust, but is a deliberate, hostile, violent act of degradation and posses- also crime and rape in the city center. Some sex workers themselves felt sion."r3 Access to a consenting partner does not stop rape, and men who they were providing a public I service by assisting with rape prevention, rape come from all economic classes. Furthermore, miuly of the clients do thus finding I a larger purpose and value in their work. This notion of have access to sexual partlers: their wives. I prostitution as a "social service" is not unique. 1 Both Liz Bondi and Alexa Prostitution in Mexico and elsewhere has long been associated with l Albert, in their studies of scotland and thl United states, respectivery, criminal activity and other "deviant" behavior. Implicit in the city's mes- I found a similar discourse among the pubric and sex workers.r2 In the sages about the public utility of the-zone was the fear of both sexually Galäctica, one sex worker spoke of clients who wanted to enact their transmitted diseases and the moral and social decay associated with the rape fantasies with the workers, asking the women to leave their under_ possible presence of prostitutes in the city center (even though sex work- garments on during intercourse. It is often believed that, if such crienb ers had been present there since long before the land dispute). What was had no opportunity to act out their fantasies with a prostitute, they might bom as a land dispute between municipal authorities and communal actually rape respectable nonprostitute women. This discourse sru- landholders was transformed into a moral panic fomented by the media rounding rape illustrates a widespread. cultural belief that men need sex, and a dispute about public prostitution. and that some men may be prone ,,needs,, to rape if their go unmet. During this time, the figure of the prostitute was, ironically, also con- Furthermore, the discourse divid.es women into two camps: Lose *ho structed as a source of wealth and order. In their dealings with the media, strould be protected from rape (,,respectable,, middle_ anä .,pper_class city officials stressed the fact that the prostitution of zone workers had women), and those who work to protect them-prostitutesäd poor become entrenched in the local economy, generating a flow of material women, who by virtue of their class are sexually suspect and not resources on which families throughout the city relied for economic sur- beholden to or capable of the same moral norms as middle_ and upper_ vival. Though Tuxtla is a large city with a booming service sectot munic- dass women. ipal authorities stressed that up to six hundred Tuxtlecos could remain Anxiety about rape also has a strong class component. Most, but not without employment were the Galäctica to close. But only the legal and all, zone clients tend to come from the laboring classes. In the regulated state-organized nature of zone prostitution made this so; the clandestine zone, it is not the sexuarity of Tüxtla's upper classes that is being con- prostitution of Tuxtla's streets did not necessitate the same formal exten- holled but rather the sexuality of the working poor, which is deemed sive infrastructure or give rise to the same exchange of material more dangerous and perhaps even violent. struggres over sexuality are resources. Pervading the legal sex trade were "networks of dependen- frequently not simply struggles over sexuality but are also, as in Tüxtra, cies,"l4 the very existence of which made legal prostitution in Tuxtla llo cONvERGENcE CONVERGENCE II7

something of a family affair. Aside from sex workers, the Galäctica ernment gave speeches to boost sex workers'morale and to remind them directly employs medical, administrative, security, and janitoriar staff. of their duties as women. One local male official compared them to Mary luso earning their living in the zone are taxi and microbus owners, d.ri- Magdalene. Another representative, employing essentialist notions of vers, and fare collectors; the private owners of the mödulos; stationary what a woman is, spoke to them of their roles and obligations as both and ambulatory vendors; laundresses; seamstresses; and privately hired women and mothers: 'As women/ we have much to give, and as the janitors. city ofticials highlighted the possible economic devastation of mothers of families that we are, we must not forget our function. This pri- families dependent on the continued existence of the Galäctica. mordial function is to educate our children, to instill in them a love of life. . . . You must take for always the responsibility that is not simply to give life but also to watch over our children, to give them what MorHEIt's oay they need, which is not just food but also love, guidance, and a good example.,, Carefully avoiding any direct reference to their current employment, Perhaps the most fascinating effort to prove the public utility of the the speaker added that perhaps in time, with training provided by the Galäctica was the Mother's Day fiesta the local govemment held for sex city, the women would be able to find other (class and gender appropri- workers in the zone on May 26, 1999, some two weeks after Mother's ate) work, as beauticians or dressmakers. The majority of zone women Day. The festivities, to which the press was invited, were a showcase in were mothers, and generally mothers who did not receive male economic which the municipal govemment could display its power to control pros- support. My own random sampling of workers found that 7o percent titution and promote the public good. The Mother's Day fiesta gave the were mothers. A random survey conducted by the Comitän Center for city the opportunity to instill middle-class values of femininity, domes- Health Research four years earlier, in :.gg4, found the number to be roo ticity, and matemity in zone women and provided another chance to percent.ls It is sex work that allows the women to provide economically prove the social benefits of the Galäctica. As luck (or good plaruring) for their children, and although Lydia admits to having a child who died would have it, the event also distracted zone workers from the cam- from neglect, most zone workers take this responsibility fairly seriously. pesinos of Francisco I. Madero, who arrived on that very day with their The discrepancy between my statistics and those of the comitän Center own surveyor in order to take measurements of the land. for Health Research may be explained by the possibility that workers lied And so, as a small group of ejidatarios walked about the zone d.rop- about having children in order to avoid the greater stigma attached to ping plumb lines and drawing tape measures, the citlr's official marimba women who work in the zone only to support themselves. Such women band played beneath a tent put up for the occasion. workers from are considered less "needy" and therefore more "indecent" than mothers Desarollo lntegral de la Familia, the city's social service organization, who work in prostitution to support their children. In using the rhetoric were busy warming tamales in Pepe's food stand. pepe himseU had 1 of motherhood to distance themselves from women who would engage dressed up in dark pants and a fine lacy white shirt for the occasion. f in prostitution for reasons other than the support of their children, sexl Inside the Anti-Venereal Medical service, dark-skinned, sullen looking workers reinforce patriarchal beliefs about "good" and "bad" womeni cosmetology students of indigenous descent, wearing red-and-white that so stigmatize them. In a study of urban oaxaca, one prostitute ini- striped uniforms, cut and permed and colored sex workers' hair in an tially lied to researchers Michael Higgins and ränya Coen about her sta- effort to "feminize" them. Psychologists were on hand for counseling. A tus as ä mother. I4/hen she later revealed the truth, she told them she reggae-rap band from Honduras, replete with female dancers and a male thought they would be "upset with her" if they knew she had no chil- dancing dwarf, took the stage. Functionaries from the panista city gov- dren.r6 The words of Lorena, speaking of her own children, bear a strik- lr8 CONVERCENCE CONVERGENCE r19

ing resemblance to those of the city representative: "what a rich life I give energies. Clearly, ejidatarios are not considered viable economic actors in them! They live'ntroubled, yes, untroubled and happy. And before any- a "modern" economy/ but regulated sex workers are. thing else, before I give them luxuries, I give them affection, I give them The land dispute between municipal authorities and the ejidatarios, education. And the tiny bit of wisdom that I have, I instill in them." and the social anxiety about prostitution that grew out of the dispute, A final effort to domesticate the prostitutes during the Mother,s Day were the impetus not simply for the Mother's Day fiesta but also for fiesta came in the form of a gift whose symbolism was clear: the end of increased control of prostitution both in Tuxtla's streets and within the the festivities was marked by the distribution of a few condoms and by Zona Galäctica. writing about heroin use among the working class of aprons inscribed: "For Mama, Compassion, Affection, Support. DIF Costa Rica in t9zg, Steven Palmer suggests that moral panics about par- [Desarollo Integral de la Familia] Municipal. Tuxtla Gutiörrez, t99g- ticular social issues often "hide more than they reveal; rarely are they 2ool ." unfortunately, rooms in the zone, where some women live as weil about what they seem to be about, and inevitably, they end increasing the as work, lack cooking facilities of any kind. power of moral and repressive authorities to intervene in the lives of the sex workers' responses to the day's events were varied.. Some were less powerful, with the pretext of the urgent necessity to resolve a social angry they had not been forewarned that clients would not be permitted crisis."l7 Triggered by the potential closing of the Galäctica, fears about to enter during the fiesta, and that they, as a result, would be unable to public prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases, and about the work. As prospective clients clung to the chain-link fence bordering the social and moral decay of the city, increased municipal control of com- zone, peering in like uninvited guests, these women fretted about earn- mercial sex throughout Tüxtla. Yet the ostensible aims of this increased ing the money to pay their daily room fees. Others, like Magda, were control-the regulation of clandestine prostitutes; the prevention of excited about both the aprons and the beauticians; by day,s end, her ctime, deviance, and rape in the city center; and the protection of public frizzy aubum hair was transformed into tight dark curls. still others health-are not achieved through raids on street prostitutes and the cor- viewed the city's efforts with cynicism, commenting on the ,,cheapness,, ralling of a small group of sex workers into a regulated zone. of the cloth from which the aprons were made. Lorena held hers up and Contrary to the discourses that emerged about the public utility of the asked sarcastically, 'And what are these for? so I can be a great house. Galäctica, the presence of a tolerance zone does not guarantee the wife?" Many of the workers who viewed the city's efforts with contempt "safety" of the city. The zone.is not a particularly safe place for sex- attended the fiesta only in the hope of gaining an audience with the many workers do not always use condoms, clients often refuse them, and mayor's wife, who was rumored to be among the city representatives an HIV test administered only three times a year is not a very useful pre- present. These workers were hoping to air their grievances about a d.is- ventative, particularly when a worker may service more than two hun- pute that occurred between a sex worker and a municipal police officer in dred clients a month. Furthermore, despite the raids against them, clan- the zone, which ended with the worker's temporary confinement in th€ destine sex workers, both male and female, outnumber regulated city iail. The mayor's wife did not show up. workers. Arresting and fining clandestine workers will not prevent them All told, the fiesta (to which the press was invited) drew attention to from practicing prostitution, though it will make them more careful the zone women as a controllable population, one that was being cleaned about where they practice it. ln addition, of the hundreds of women up, groomed, and taught solid family values, and in doing so it rendered arrested during raids, not one clandestine worker that I am aware of the place a training ground for transforming deviant sexualized creatures went to work in the regulated zone. Finally, sex crimes are not prevented into good mothers. Recalling that the fiesta coincided with Mexico's leap by providing access to a consenting partner. into neoliberalism, it is interesting to reflect on where the state puts its The discourses that emerged out of the land dispute are not just about CONVERGENCE public prostitution and sexually hansmitted diseases, or only about class oppression, but also speak to and reinforce deeply held beliefs about gender and sexuality: that sex for men is not a luxury but a need. without access to women, they may be prone to rape, especially the working_class men who frequent the inexpensive Galactic Zone. The women available FrvE "It Began Innocently" to these men are linked to delinquency, though their only crime is their transgression of moral (and sometimes geographic) borders in order to WOITIEN OT' THE AMIJIENTE satisfy their economic need. Though characterized by austerity measures that reduce state supports for small-scale agriculture and social welfare programs, the economic shifts of neoliberalism do not signal a withdrawal of the state from public life, but rather a shift in arenas of state intervention. The ejido conflict, the Mother's Day fiesta, and the relationship between the entrepreneurial prostitute and the communal ejidatario expose the current priorities of the state: order and modernity. The events of the sprin g of rygg also signify a broader global economic shift, in which the service economy is privileged over subsistence agriculture, in which sex workers are considered economically viable while campesinos are not, in which communal lands are taken away in order to make room for greater, more modern forms of exploitation.

Both in the academy and among sex work activists, many have discussed the necessity and relevance of writing about why women become prostitutes. Some suggest avoiding the question altogether, that we "take sex work as a given and start from there." This remark was made in a New York City ferninist bookstore-cafe by the male editor of a collection of nonfiction essays by sex workers. The audience in attendance was a mostly white, young, and literary crowd, as were the book's contributors. In the United States, sex work is sometimes viewed by this same population as a decidedly fashionable way to eam money. It is an altemative to the nine-to-five grind, a declaration of rebellion against confining American middle-class cultural values and sexual norms. For the largely poor, nonwhite, uneducated women laboring in the Galäctica, sex work is none of these things. Rather it is a highly stigmatized form of employ- 122 "TT BEGAN INNOCENTLY" "tt geceN II.ttgocsNtLv" r23

ment and otien one of the last options among few undesirable job choices strongly their recollections that there was a time in their lives when they for pooq, uneducated workers. As such, sex work and the conditions did not work as prostitutes, that they became prostitutes. Furthermore, under which women (and men) enter the ambiente must be interrogated. their stories reveal that, while all workers live within a larger framework rather than "taken as a given.,, of dependency and inequality, each woman enters sex work somewhere others wam that inquiry should focus not on families of origin but on along a continuum ranging from choice (often among limited options) to recent economic histories, and that "data about a woman,s home rife force. The radical feminist perspective, which asserts that prostitution is reveal only the quality of her home life; how a woman spends her earn- not work and that women who sell sex do so as a result of male force ings explains something about why she became a prostitute."r The ques- rather than by choice, not only undermines the rights due to prostitute tion of how a sex worker spends her money does reveal a great deal women as workers but also essentializes female experience, failing to about her entry into prostitution: a woman forced into prostitution gen- grasp the differences of class and culture that shape women's lives. erally gives her earnings to a pimp, while a woman working indepen- Researchers and activists who do view prostitution as work argue for the ' dently to suppoft her children may spend the bulk of her o., recognition of difference and assert that one must "see how the social rent, food, and "ur.,ir,g, school supplies. But there are multiple intertwined and context shapes it to make it distinct."3 For sex workers like Gabriela, the overlapping social, poritical, and cultural factors, along with economic circumstances under which a woman enters sex work determine much factors, that contribute to a woman's entry into sex work. Class, ethnic, about how that woman experiences and practices prostitution. and cultural histories are crucial to understanding sex work, or any work I arrive at Gabriela's house one evening as the sun is beginning to set for that matter. and the warm streets of downtown Tuxtla are growing still. It is cooler The practice of prostitution is continuously being shaped and reshaped inside the house, a gentle and welcome breeze blowing the lacy white by culture, politics, and society, as are the circumstances under which curtains every now and then. The room that serves as Gabriela's dining women enter prostitution. The radical feminist belief that claims all pros_ room and living room is painted the same antacid pink as many of the titution is sexual slavery and a form of gendered violence against women rooms back in the zone. Ln the center of the room is a long table covered homogenizes and dehistoricizes sex work.2 Historicizing women,s li,oes with a plastic tablecloth and surrounded by a few plastic chairs. In con- and examining the totality of their lived experiences generates a deeper trast to the frivolity of the bright pink walls, the room is sparsely fur- understanding of how the prostitute, as a dehistoricized stereotypical fig- nished, and includes, besides these items, a bookshelf holding a VCR and ure, is constructed, and of how commercial sexuality is actually experi- color television, and a large refrigerator that hums quietly. Ximena, enced in diverse ways by diverse women through space and time. upon Gabriela's eldest daughter, sits nearby, giggling from time to time while entering the zone, women craft, embrace, and contest their new identities cutting out pictures of famed Mexican military leaders for a school as prostitutes in a variety of ways. assignment. Without my asking, Gabriela begins to tell me her story. Thirty-four years old, Gabriela is from the state of Puebla. Speaking of her childhood there, she recalls, "I grew up like a little animal, with noth- HOW I CAME TO LIKE THE AMBIENTE ing more than luck and God." When her mother died, nine-year-old Gabriela stopped attending school in order to work. Her father, sunk in when I asked how she came to work as a prostitute, fifty-year-old depression, took tittle responsibility for the care of Gabriela and her four Magda, who has done sex work for more than two decades, iold me, siblings. "He would leave the house around five in the afternoon, and "well . . . it began innocently." Many of the workers, stories reflect come back around this time, drunk," she remembers, glancing at her ,,TT BEGAN INNOCENTLY" "tt trcelv INNocrNtlv" r2l) watch, which reads sometimes 7:3o. her father would come home with a bag of bread that someone And, as Gabriela points out, the employment options for women with had given him for the child.ren, but more often he returned empty-handed' few skills or little education (servant, cook, factory worker) are poorly Gabriela and her siblings would beg, ,,prease Papi, paid. In her study of maquiladoras in Ciudad luärez, Maria Patricia go to work. Bring us food. We want to eat.,, By age twelve, Gabriela, Femiindez-Kelly writes "Factory work offers wages and benefits that like many other youngr poor girls in Latin America, left home to keep women only a step removed from the circumstances that can lead to work as a servant. Along ,"iÄ fa"Äry workers, domestic servants comprise prostitution."6 Working as a servant or cook is often even less lucrative. one of the rargest categories of the economically active femare The issue of male financial support figures prominently in women's workforce in Latin America.. They also constitute one structural of the most exploited and unprotected entry into prostitution. Unemployment, low wages, and other sectors of the working class,s with a work experience socioeconomic circumstances imposed by neoliberalism make it increas- markecr heavily by female-to-female subordination. "They mistreated ingly difficult for men to fulfill their culturally prescribed responsibilities me as well," Gabriela tells me, recaring the frequent verbal ,,And within the household. Women must take on increasing economic resPon- abuse by her female employer. the stove,,, suy", gestur_ them for ing with her hand to just above "h! sibility, despite cultural attitudes that continue to stigmatize her breasts, "was up to here! I was just a girl." She grew up like ,,orphan,,, working outside the home.7 an without guidance or advice from anyone. when her first Like Gabriela, many of the women of the Galäctica c.une to sex work i4 period came, she didn,t know what it was: ,,There was nobody to tell me, ,,you order to support themselves and often their children while simultane-, are a seflorita now. you need to be more careful; take care of yourself.,, ously freeing themselves from abusive, unreliable, or unhappy relation- An early marriage ships. Twenty-one-year-old ]uanita moved to Tuxtla from the southem to an older man provided Gabriela with an - escape her four-year-old son, from her life as a servant and city of Tapachula in order to escape the father of gave her two things she longed for: a house and a family' But marriage who was "abusive and horrible. . . . Every now and then he would insult also brought a host of new probl"*r; her husband had a violent me, hit me, and I felt desperate. Finally, there came a moment when I temper. After enduring nearly a äecade of physical and verbal abuse, Gabriela woke up and said, 'Why am I putting up with this man?"' Leaving her decided to leave him. she saw sex work as a path to freedom from tiomestic son in the care of her financially secure mother, |uanita asked the manager abuse. without educatiory a new partner to support her, or resources, of the pharmacy where she was employed to transfer her to their branch and with children to support, it seemed the only way she could in Tuxtla in order to escape the man "who would not leave me in peace." escape a decadelong, financially sound but unhappy a man approached her. marriage to a man who beat One day while sitting in Tuxtla's Parque Central, and humiliated her: "rrvho is going to accept you into his "I didn't know he was apadrote (pimp)." She agreed that he could bring house with children? Nobody is going to sayio yJu, ,Come, I accept you with the kids her to the zone and introduce her to one of the landlords. Following this and everything.'So, I knew about this, that this work existed' It exists meeting, they agreed to meet again, and that she would go to the SMAV everyplace. If I was going to go, I would put myself to for her initial medical exam and begin to work. Feeling both fear and work, even if it was in this, in being a prostitute.,, Gabriela left her husband, shame, fuanita did not meet with the pimp the next day. She said to her- moved to Tüxtla, where she had an acquain- "Ay, am to work in this?" tance, and became a sex worker. self, no. How could it be possible that I going she courd have worked as a servant, she said' Juanita retumed to her job at the pharmacy, but only for a few weeks. but the earnings from such work would not have enabled her to pay juanita the rent, send her children Then, she retumed to the zone, but alone, of her own volition. had to school, and feed them properly. As noted earlier, the majority decided to enter the ambiente. The prospect of eaming more money in the of zone women are the heads of their households. zone was appealing to Juanita, who describes herself as a "liberal woman" ,,tr 12() nrcaN INNocENrry,, "It srcel{ Itttgocrwrlv" t21

who prefers the relative cosmopolitanism of Tuxtla to what she identifies Thirty-one years old and gay, Lorena was bom and raised in Chiapas. as the more conservative ethics of her native Täpachula. She is different from most zone workers; Lorena has completed high Women who work as-sex workers generally do so in three years university, where from family a location far school, along with secretarial studies and of and friends, which päia", them anonymity with a degree of she studied psychology. She says her studies were not about earning that most workers feel is necessary in order to perform such money but rather a way for her to understand both herself and others, to highly stigmatized labor. fuanita,s choice "give respect to others and see your own value too." But for work, cipitated üy ne, move rrom her home Lorena, a large, imposing woman, has always used her body. knew few people and courd work ",J'.til'.T,Tt:;T"TnlT"lil in the Galäctica without the fear of For many lesbian women with female partners, relying on a male encountering a relative or acquaintance. During my time in lover for economic support is neither a desire nor a possibility. Lesbian met not the zone, r one woman who was a native of Tuxtla. sex workers in the Galäctica, while not dependent on or seeking a male As in Juanita's story, many women enter the ambiente after a second partner for economic support, enter into another kind of dependence on party introduces them to it. This individual is sometime, men in the form of a worker relationship. (Of course, this state- rtadrote (female u fudrot" o, client-sex pimp, or madam), a person who gains financially from a ment is true for all sex workers, both gay and straight.) There are a hand- woman's entry into sex work. other iirr,"r, th" p";o; i; lesbian the zone. Though the or acquaintance r*frfl.r"r"n"" ful of women currently working in work associated with the ambiente who provid", Äary ir,,o demands sexual intercourse with men, for most workers this act is linked world of commercial sex that initialry seems, for most outsiders," neither to sexual desire nor sexual orientation, though some straight unknown, frightening, and dangerous. workers did speak to me of their preference for clients they considered when writing about sex work. choice isa pivotal and sometimes con- handsome. Lorena became a sex worker in t994, following the compli- tentious word' while radicar feminist theorists who oppose sex cated left weakened, and during a any form work in birth of her son, which her difficult argue that there is always some degree of force or coercion pre- period with her girlfriend, who had been working in the sex industry for isent, others have argued that many women 'rational, enter sex work through a more than a decade. and often economic, decision, and that it is indeed a choice.s For Lorena, entering sex work was an attempt to resolve problems in Women arrive at the z some,thechoice,,";Tä;;:ä:3":1T,ilT.1ffi"3".,,ää::: her personal life. She had been working in the home, caring for her own child and the two children of her partner. But relying on her lover for sex work. Speaking of her previous jobs, Lorena says: financial support was difficult for the independent Lorena, and it made Oh, I have had a thousand her feel, she says, luke apadrotifo (little pimp).Furthermore, rumors had uses. I worked in fishing, I worked melon in the countryside, sowing I worked hu*urtir,g, cutting reached Lorena that her partner was romantically involved with another mango. I melon, lime, worked packing, carrying, shipping, bel- picking, and [was a] zone woman; her girlfriend would often arrive home drunk and personnel manager. My strength näs at*ävs been brute force. ligerent. Lorena decided to take control of her crumbling home life and I had a good job pbMEX Before, in a ip"o.f"o, lrfä,,i.ur,or, industryl the national oil feelings of dependency by becoming a sex worker herself: "So, I said to store in D.F. [Distrito r"ae.ai r"ä"rur Cityl. I was a security her, 'Know what? From here on in, I'm no longer going to be the fool. You quard. I was a bodfg,rara. "ilil;;eii;My value carrying heavy was in things,.?"t:.* I my ror,] stay home and I'll go to work. I'll show you what it is to work.'And so, me laf n" *;""iÄ;;;;" the caesarean, I lost half my life. she returned to the house, and I began to work in this." I couldn,t lift the same way, keep up the same rhythm that I hajprerrio.rrty.i L --r' ' was practically left, as When describing their entry into the ambiente, sex workers often they say here, an invalid. speak of their immediate and individual circumstances of emotional des- l2ti I1'8ECAN INNOCENTLY" I ,, IT BEGAN INNOCENITY" peration and,/or, structurar..",.,u:;:,"r:äffi .lff J_ll.,lllüff Not all persons who recruit or introduce women to the ambiente have their own place :l:ilälT*"j within ,n* pffi"i"". such noble intents. women pretty ,"rrr_*o_year_old M*y speak of deception and trickery when woman, tall, with M.nica is a -""i" ,i" slfle (thanks they recall their entry into prostitution. The degree of deception r.nges Galäctica,sfo._".io,n;^-:j,,:":.s1ar" in part to the .iark,eggings;;;i:,1i.:?.ff from misleading a wom.n about the nature of the work o, h". potential l:illlä1,'ä:*:HHi?:fi eamings, to the use of physical force. Twent/-year-ord Bonita was enterei :;J brought to the Galäctica * a rew from El salvador by an aunt, who also worked ;ffä:l *'.lillt:,she "1-.0,",,,e years arter her hus_ there. During her first months, her aunt practically pimped out Bonita, :i'il:fr:H,U*f; taking much of her money and spending it rourteen.I:11,1"'?'";;i:ilti';f x*lffi on herself, until Bonita was Her inJaws hied . :i*:: able to to find M6r work hide some of it and move out of her aunt's house. It is not unusual where her husband in law enforcement, nr,r-il]^."-*l:,.r:.r"u for women to enter the ambiente following a relative's on y a,".."o entry. women in I *;;i"?:rötö,i; the Galäctica are not social isolates without family, says,-"Nobody *L:::*1f",:ff[ as prostitutes are ofte.r, f put a knife a U"i"iri :# portrayed; many have a cousin, aunt, ^", or sister who also works irt trru i il:ilofi'"Xi-fl"."'"ips-sheat;il;;":T"X::"iffi::[T:ff ambiente. : Magda says her entry too, into the ambiente ,iesc.ibes *"r, involved a degree of as her;_X,',,Tä":,T j:,::l ,.*,". ir," deception. Magda used to work in a restaurant near the bus sta.tion in the While some ;:'.*"ffi.g sex v orkers, like port city of Coatzacoalcos, M6nica, describe those veracruz (the same city where Mönica entered them to the ambientte in who introduced negative terms' others the ambiente). separated from the father of her son, she sent the child to gratitude. Born in rik are;analu "*or"r, live with his paternal grandmother while Magda worked long shifts r.rnabre to attend ""nooi;;;';;;"* waiting tables. ",",::TäX? *,;:ffif;rt "r", Each parent contributed to the maintenance of the child: the father ;fi ::T j":l*::probabry",u,_"",Jiilä*";"JI[::#'*":],T11 gave money for food (which is fairly inexpensive), while Magda provided funds for more costly items such as clothing. ',:i*y:;: Though the father of her son had reft her, while waiting taltes Magda ***m::i#!I:ii::#:,'":i:;.:";"ffi found a intoprostitun."o"i.lT"'.nIT:ff new man to support her. He was the captain of a ship based in jäT Isla Mujeres; he treated her respectfully and reft became ä:r":Ti:.;:,::T,kfi* generous tips. The two gravely iil and was hospita;;;;;"." fell in love, and though the captain was married and had two children, were no funds to pay he one aayareyu.,i.u for also gave economic support simpry sat down to Magda, whom he convinced to leave her ::.::ifä"T:;T* i,, tnu,t job. "He took me out of work. Bought me everything: a ve ""t fan, a bed, every_ sa her ."" n," i." Jf thing. llff äiffi;:;jt ;:1,:T:ii" He gave me my quincena [the formal pay given an employee every buy herself some food. run, Stunned Oy'in"oJo_u.," :li fifteen days, and a term also used to refer to the payment that a man neglected to generosity, Alejandra ask the woman her gives to his partrerl and *r":.rn.0"r"" name or ad opened a bank account for me in my own name. ,o:t: .look for her. She ,"r1Trr"^t".ffi::ff:r;11ä when I would go to visit my little son, he would buy me things for him. Very responsible." ffJ.J;::': A,ejandra rrom o,a".i.,g :?:ä::'H*'*:*pt Suddenly, without waming, ff 8ot me into this the love letters, telegrams, and money says Alejandra, "she had ambiente," a noble heart.,, wires stopped arriving. some twenty years later, the ! pain is still fresh. I sitting in her room in the I Galäctica, Magda begins to cry softly and says, l j l I I I I;JO "IT BEGAN INNOCENTI.Y" "lt utceN TNNocENTLY" r:Jl "By the way, here I still have the telegrams and letters, hidden away as a beautiful memory.,, the word prostittrtion. When.she speaks about her work, she emphasizes of her choice. The owner of the bar provided her After six months of desperate the economic rationality waiting and hoping, a depressed returned Magda with a bed and birth control pills, and the clients paid fifty pesos to work at the restaurant, a job she riked and felt she was weu_ Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and suited for because of what ,,affectionate (US$S.qo) for sex.e She worked she refers to as her disposition.,, one would return to Coatzacoalcos during the week. Through sex work, day she met a female customer who wourd -so, change her life: this restaurant in a lady came to eat. 'what Magda eamed in three days what she had earned at the is there to eat?' she asked. I told her, ,Mi antor, month of fourteen-hour shifts. Though Magda did not ever intend to there's some of this and that.' I offered ,Look,'I her the best we had. said, 'this is still warm. enter the ambiente, she says, "That's how I came to like the money, and I It just came out of the kitchen, mi reina[my queen].,I is I came to like the ambiente." liked to treat people this said to myself,'Well, I'll stay.'That how way, because I knew that, even if ii were twenty onry While the majority of the approximately 14o women who work in the or fifty cents, they would leave me a tip.,, Like many Galäctica do so independently, nearly a dozen women ate obligadas, service workers, Magcra knew that by fulry and pleasantly two pimps active in the zone. fulfilling her role as serve{, women coerced into prostitution by one of she coulcr earn greater income. The woman asked Magda Women generally become obligadas through deception or physical and how much she eamed and told her, ,,Look, where I work, their boyfriends, or by women you can eam a lot. And with verbal abuse by men they Presume to be that friendliness you have, you,ll make money'" good who promise them employment. The padrote or madrote often takes the The woman tord her she would be working in a restaurant in a place where Huimanguillo, Täbasco. ,,I woman away from her home and familiar surroundings to was ignorant and innocent,,, recalls Magda. Magda arrived she has no social relationships or other support, thereby increasing her in Täbasco surprised to find that the restaurant actually was vuLrerability and their control. a cantina, a men,s bar.,,I said to the woman, ,Seflora, where is Chiapaneca who has worked in the the kitchen?'and I looked around Ramona is a twenty-five-year-old for it because she told me the place was a restaurant. ,Ay, ambiente for two years. She is a shy and modest woman, petite, with I said, ay, Dios. It,s a cerueceria (beer joint)!, was' Äa Urere t straight brown hair that grazes her shoulders. Ramona grew uP in rural carrying my little box of clothing, innocent with my little long- the third sleeved dress and little Chiapas, where her family had a small farm. she left school in collar up to here [she gestures to the middle of her and sisters tend the plots of com and beans they neck]' My clothes, well, they were grade to help her father the clothes of a decent woman, no?,, Magda worked that grew both for sale and for subsistence. Reflecting on her childhood, she very day as a fichera (a woman paid to serve and She attributes her dark skin to the drink with clients, who may feels little nostalgia: "I worked hard." also have sex with them for money), serving many years spent working under the hot sun: "This is why I am so dark, beer to clients who would comment on her her' "t because I spent so much time in the fields." It is more likely that Ramona's woutd sav to them, 'Listen mister, f*;ff".11r:ji:.?fJ:i indigenous descent than from a childhood spent didn't know. I didn't know that skin coloring comes from I was working in the ambiente, and that this was how it was.,, toiling under the sun. But in a society and a sexual marketplace that priv- those with lighter skin, her attitude is not surprising.l0 Though Magda says that she initially ileges - thought the cantina was a horri_ ble place, the At fifteen, Ramona left home for Tuxtla. This decision was precipitated promises of financial gain were too good to reave behind; life in rural Chiapas. She got a she began waitressing and socializing in part by a desire to escaPe her difficult with the crients, receiving one peso for each beer job as an employee at a small lunch counter, where she worked for eight the clients bought tor her. Magda never describes how fell in love with Damian. she made the transition from years eaming "good money," until she met and waitressing to prostituting and never uses Soon afterward, the two moved to Puebla, where Ramona says they r;.12 ,,I'T BECAN TNNOCENTLY" ,,IT BEGAN INNOCTNITY,, r:13

li'ed "like man ancr wife," unt' the day they came to live as who might harm prostitute' pimp and them, covering her child's mouth so his cries would not while she expected to work puebra, in she could never have reveal their location-is not unique. Writing of his fieldwork experience guessed that the man she loved wourd demand that she work in prosti_ in Sonia's home country of El Salvador during the violence of the early tution' Yet soon after their puebla, arrival in Damian r98os, Philippe Bourgois tells Ramona insisted that a similar story. While traveling with Salva- engage in sex work to s support them. "I began to understand doran refugees from Honduras back to El Salvador, the U.S.-supported then that what he wanted _Äy; before, -u, I didn,t know what his Salvadoran military began a "search and destroy" operation in the region { intentions were.,, Ramona refused, :l thinking of her family_,,What against civilians and suspected they would guerillas alike. Amid the explosion of say?"-and of the physical dangers: "That cannot be, that kind of grenades and machine-gun fire, he remembers "at one point being work is horrible; a person runs the risk of infection.,, Damian crouched near accept did not a womtrn under cover of some bushes when her baby her refusal: 'And he told me I couldn't say no, and that was when began to cry. She waved at me with her hand and whispered to me to run he came at me and ,you started to hit me. have to work, it,'he you have to do away as fast as possible before the government soldiers heard the noise. said. And that's how he did it, hitting me until I said yes.,, I obeyed, and sprinting forward I heard machine gun bullets and shrieks Pimpi.g is not a purely mare phenomenon- As sonia,s story illus- all around me. Mothers and in-fants made up the bulk of the casualties trates' women too are invorved in the recruitment and exploitation of tlmt night."tr While the organized and widespread state-sponsored polit- other women in prostitution. Sonia first came to Chiapas with in the late rggos ical violence in Central America of the r98os has ended, for poor migrants her infant son at the invitation of a woman she had met in her home like Sonia life can be something like war. country of El salvador. The woman tord sonia that she had Sonia settled southeastem nesses many busi_ in Chiapas, where she found work as a ser- in Mexico: stores, clothfurg boutiques, a restaurant. Then eighteen vant. During this time she encountered the woman who had arranged years old' sonia was eager to leave urban El Sarvadoq, where her joumey from El a she lived in Salvador. The woman claimed that Sonia still owed single room with her son and the father of her child, with whom her for the transportation, and forced her to work in a club in Tapachula sometimes had violent she arguments concerning his suspected when infidelity. by separating her from her son. Of this time, Sonia said, "I had only had the woman offered her well-paicl work in Mexico, sonia packed a one man in my entire life. How was I going to go with others? But that bit of clothi.g, some m'k and r.rgur, and soon found herself crossing bor- seflora said to me, 'If you don't want to come out of your room, girl, ders with five other girls, some"as young as fourteen. she lose because left not only you'll your son. I'll give him away to who knows who, because you of the father of her child but ubJ,,b".u.rse of the poverty I was don't want to work for him.'And so I went to work. They put makeup on living in' I wanted to have my own things, so that 'This I would te able ro say, me. Never before had I wom makeup." is mine., But when I left my f,o,rrä, I thought tf,ur" *"r" that While in the bar, Sonia met a man who saw she was upset. She told paid well here [in Mexico].,, fbs him her story and the man, an official with the National Migration Arrivi.g at Mexico,s southern border, the group was sulprised to Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migracidn, INM), demanded that the cone upon a mannedmigration checkpoint. Those transportinj woman told the girrs let Sonia and her son go, threatening to report her to the police them to get out of the vehicle and'run. unable to move quickly with for involvement in human trafficking. Sonia left the bar with her son and her baby in her arms, Sonia hid herself in the bushes, *," ch'd,s retumed to work as a servant, until one day, while in the market, she hap- m.uth with her hand so his cries would "orr".ir,f not give them away. when she pened upon a girl with whom she had made the joumey from El felt it was safe, she began to walk, crossing the border Salvador, and who also had sonia's *o Chiapas. escaped from the sefrora. The girl said to her, story-riving in poverty, fleeing with her child, hiding from those "Listen Sonia, why are you working here as a servant? What you eam ,,tt r35 IJi+ ,.IT tsEcAN rNNocENTLY,, sSCAN tNNocENTLY"

a foreign First' though not paramount' here in a month you can earn in a day." And so, sonia took for a number of reasons' her son and is relevant to keep from being went to Tuxtla to work in in order El Cocal and later in the Galäctica. woman must take t"to* f'"tautions popu- precarious migrant status' this workers' stories of becoming prostitutes reveal not only the diversity Second, because of their deported' INM officials' landlords' of this experience but also general abuses by police' underlying structures involved in the lation is more vulne'Ji can 'o as a Mexican or foreigner process. women who enter prostitution staff' Third' one's identity rarely have the financial support clients, and zone citizen- consumption' Finally' one's of a male partner. More frequently they have been in unhappy relation- work patterns, habits' and influence quasi-moral com- ships issue in the economic and and also bear the economic burden of caring for children who ale ship becomes an important workers find themselves embroiled' the products of those relationships. For some women, such as Gabriela, petition in which *; ;; it is impossible to cite fixed sex work provided a path ur" a floating popuration, to freedom from a physically and verbally abu- As zone worL"r, of the anywhere from 3o to 6o Percent sive husband. Gabriela acknowledges that the work is difficult, and but at any given time' statistics, Central American' foreign bom-sPecifically because of its stigmatized nature she struggles to maintain her self- worker poputatlon niay be (Regulations of the Tolerance esteem, but she also says, "You should have de lu'Zonude iolerancia seen me when I first arrived The Reglamento working in regu- here that registered prostitutes [in the zone]." Free of her husband, she was transformed from a Zone) and Mexican Iaw state the law is only sporadi- quiet, deeply depressed person to a sometimes be Mexican citizens' Howevet outspoken, confident, and lated zones must and cur- on location' practices of corruption' much happier woman. For other women, like Ramona, it was physical cally enforced, depending migrants' and verbal abuse by a partner that forced them into prostitution under public opinion regarding undocumented rent -o"" states' many Central circumstances very different from Gabriera's. \A/hile Gabriela found some White Chiapas i' ol M"*ico's Poorest where they can settle and degree of liberation in sex work, Ramona, while working find that its urban centers are places for a pimp, Americans or are places to of relative economic stability, experienced only degradation and exploitation. Through an ethno- sometimes achieve a degree the United States' Immigrant graphic exploration of prostitution, it becomes o-tn nolhto clear that highly polarized stop and *o""f'ätn"o and Hon- "u* from Guatemala' El Salvador' sex-work debates, which pit women's exploitation against women,s lib- zone worke* tt*J;;;arily extreme exacerbated eration, simply cannot capture any fundamental *itft tti"o'i"' of civil war' Poverty truth about the nature of duras, countries natural disas- prostitution. and in the case of Honduras' by neoliberat country and '"'t*ttotirrg' which devastated much of the ters such as Hurricane tUiün' the hardest' hit the Poor have a lengthy ,,LoVELy,, and Guatemalans in particular' MEXICANS ANo,,FILTHY,, FoREIGNERs Immigrant *o'k""'-tn"y in large been employed as workers Chiapas' ttu"" long history in laborers) on and as braceros (rural day A small group was gathered in Lorena's room when I arrived. Lorena projects state-funded rg4z'when many large leaned over, kissed my "o*t""Uotplantations' Between.rg3 6 and cheek and asked, "Did you hear there is a united ranches and coffee Guate- feel the effects of agrarian reform' Nations meeting happening today?" Confused, I told her I had not. she ranches in Chiapas began to began to laugh and said, "Yeah, right here: El Salvadot Mexico, the malanlaborersbecameattractivetoemployerssince'asimmigrants'they t*ot'tt F"'th"t*ore' it was believed that' united states, Guatemala," referring to the national origins of those of us could make ,to tr"ilo't" ttuut in her room. Happily impressed with her own wit, she continued laugh- asundocumentedandthereforemorevulnerableworkers'theywouldbe Like their Mexican counter- ing, disappearing behind less likely to unionize'l3 the curtain that led to her bathroom. easier to control and subiect immigrant laborers are often Irr the zone, a worker's identity as a Mexican or anextranjera (foreigner) parts in the United States' Mexico's ,,IT l:17 T;J(J bEGAN INNOCENTLY" "rr arceN INNocENTLY"

incidents were described to exploitatio. at the hands of employers-they are paid even less than newspaper articles. For example, two unrelated "The PGF Intercepts the poorly paid Chiapanecos and often live in miserable conditions. ln in a sit gte article in two seParate newsPapers: Grams of Cocaine in any given year, there may be up to one hundred thousand undocu_ Illegals lr, Cinaua Hidalgo-Also Secured 97o me'ted migrants working in agriculture in Mexico.r In Tuxtla, much of Tonalä.and,,InTWoSeparatePoliceRaids:TheySeizeDrugsandDetain while masking the harsh the labor required by the state-sponsored urban growth that occurred in rz lllegals." Such discourse demonizes migrants home communities' the early r98os was performed by Guatemalan workers, many of whom economic realities that drive them from their were fleeing not only poverty but also the terror and abuses by a military ThissamepopulationisalsosubjecttoabusesbylNMauthorities,the prey on vulnerable immi- government that routinely murdered and tortured thousands of its own polleros who transport them, and.those who National Human Rights Com- citizens. irants. In December 2oo5' the nation's are the victims of per- Today, Chiapas continues to be a main crossing point into Mexico for mission declared that Central American migrants and the military'l7 While many a immigrants from Central America and south America, and from as far secution and abuse by both the police their stay in Mexico' away as India and China.rs Today, throughout Mexico, and in particular immigrants suffer rape, robbery, and abuse during crossing in Chiapas, undocumented migrants, both those other aspiring migrants never comPlete the ioumey' They drown i who have settled in I Mexico and transmigrants who aspire to reach the united states, are theriverthatseparatesGuatemalaandChiapas.Theyfalloffthecargo two small boats I detained and deported. The united states Immigration and Naturaliza- trains they hope will take them north.l8 In one instance,

near the Chiapas- rj tion service works in conjunction with Mexican authorities to halt carrying undocumented migrants crashed off the coast The Salvadoran Central prospective migrants to the united States while they are still in Mexico, Oaxaca bordet killing more than thirty people' 1998 (following i long before they have reached the northem border.16 In Chiapas, author- American Resource Center estimates that between i 'l ities have initiated plans such as the program and zooz, twenty-five thousand Central Americans seal the southem Border in Hurricane Mitch) i order to quell this their migration to the united states.le Though I migration. Furthermore, they have increased the have disappeared during ! gov- presence of INM officials along the southern border. there is strong anti-immigrant sentiment in some parts of Chiapas, undocumented : migrants are targeted by both the migration authorities and the state emmentauthoritiessuchastheBetaSurGroupfortheProtectionof I justice organizations' l criminal system, which often intercepts migrants as part of its new Immigrants, along with faith-based nongovemmental in l Zero Tolerance against Delinquency program. have organized to offer support to undocumented central Americans Migrating Central Americans are seen as both a source of crime and Mexico. Zone is knownby victims of delinquency in Chiapas, particularly in the southeastern bor- That Central American women work in the Galactic minimal inter- der regions. Newspapers are replete with stories of Central Americans the municipal govemment, and these workers experience carrying drugs; robbing citizens; and contributing to vice, in particular ventionbythelNM'Accordingtoworkers,thelandlordspaymordidas prostitution; the foreign women to work and even contributing to the spread of AIDS. According to (bribes) to immigration officials who allow during the spring of ne\^rspaper accounts, citizens have asked for increased controls on immi_ there. This arrangement was briefly in ieopardy gra.ts, who "h.rve come to take up prostitution and gang activity,,, rggg,whenmigrationagentssoughttoincreasethemordida'Duringthis "begin ,table a possible visit by migration to commit crime," "perform dances known as dances,,,, and time there was fearful talk in the zone of "prostitute are searching for someone in in order to save money and then continue their journey to the agents, who ordinarily come only if they owners united states." so synonymous have derinquency and illegal migration particular or have been ordered there by supervisors' Eventually' year in the field' I never bec.me in public discourse that the two are sometimes paired together in and agents reached a compromise' During my l;Jli IT tsEGAN INNOCENTLY" "rt nncAN INNocENTLY" r:19

sarv an INM official in the zone. As Antonio, part of the zone staff, said the zone who may use their pre- the of by Mexican co-workers and others in fbreign workers, "Migration lets them work with without any problems.,, as undocumented migrants against them' Angry Yet bribery offers only partial carious status protection to foreign *ort"r* during argument that almost came to the first Roberto, the janitor, following a vicious months of was q ry99,it not unusual to see a ä cn"rry Suburban INM' Some clients' police' Mdnica threatened to report him to the g belonging to the INM parked at blows, the crossroads of the pan-American i Highway and the major road landlords,andco-workersseethe"foreigners"'astheyarecalled'asindi- south. Authorities often stopped vehicles entering Tuxtla, intercepting ,,illegals.,, vidualseasytoexploitor,attheveryleast'easiertocontrol'Butforeign i Before ,999, assertive and polit- ,ru" checkpoint are also, as evident in the strike of :Ig96,more would have been of little consequence workers to zone workels, as it was located about icallyinformedthanmanyMexicanzoneworkers.Despitethedifficulties one-quarter mile east of, anrl past, the zone entrance, in the oppo. workers, Central American women will continue to site direction from the city gut faced by foreign center. the state government constructed a highway divider r:ll"r: with crossbothphysicalandmoralbordersinordertoworkinthezone'as struggling palm ire"s arrd wilting flowers that made it impossibre for anyon" longasglobaleconomicinequalitiesmeanthereislessopportunityin i" the zone, turn left, i a n""a west, directly back "*it their home countries. to the city center. The divider not only ,,beautitied,, women are are various reasons why, besides bribery immigrant the gateway to Tuxtla but also effectively There controlled zone traffic, divert_ relatively undisturbed by migration author- ing departing traffic toward allowed to work in the zone the busy intersection where the INM,s Suburban was yet ities.First,asTüxtlaisinthewestemhalfofthestate'farfromthesouth- parked. zone *ori"r, found a way first arrive' to outwit the border and coastal regions where many immigrants migration agents: during the height eastem of immigration worries in the zone, they simpty exited pan-Ame.icär,I{igh*t;u*Jo thereislessofthehostilediscourseregardingCentralAmericansthatone the car at the u"ro* the road and over findsinbordercitieslikeTapachula.Furthermore,becauseofthework. the divider, and waited on the other and side for the driver outside the city and in a regulated zone, municipal to return after he had_passed the ers' location migration checkpoint with an empty city residents' as is colrunon taxi. migration agents receive no complaints from I participated in this subterfuge several times.20 towns. The Central American prostitute population Encounters with the red in border cities and suburban illustrate both the as prostitution unevenness of remains for the most part invisible. In addition, law enforcement in Mexico and in Tuxtla the sense of nationar pride found among viewed by many' including sex many zone workers. ,,caught,, is a culturally embedded phenomenon *n"-" Flor was by migration, invis- for example, as a necessary social service' women working she refused to lie about her origins workers themselves, o, h."e, employment; she expresses or not' are subject to less harassment scorn for those ,,I ibly in the regulate dzone,Mexican who do. She told the agents, am Honduran and I work authorities than visible street workers' in the Zona Galäctica.- She did lie by govemment though when the officer, hoping to exact a payment, asked her how Pepe,whorunsthefoodstandiustinsidethezoneentrance'hasadif- much she eamed. She told him, -Oh, I make maybe a hundred pesos ferentviewonthematter:CentralAmericanzoneworkersusedtosuffer a day, enough to pay the rent and food.,, The officer let her go. Lydia, a Guatemalari moreharassmentfrommigrationofficials'butnow'with"freetrade"'as worke, of Belizean descent, io work undisturbed. To illustrate his point, he has not had any encounters he put it, they are allowed with migration in Tuxtla but laments into the country' and is that she said, "Before, you couldn't even bring an orange unable to make a trip home to visit her family as other women do; can!" because she is black, she now, with free trade, You is extremely visible. of the INM she for their homes and "They'd says, Some Central American women exPress longing grab me. And with this skin, they,d know immediately.,, Holy Week and during the rainy season in Foreign-born workers return regularly, often during are also vulnerable to exploitation or worries aloud about betrayal August, when business in the zone is slow' Sonia l+() If 8EC;AN TNNOCENTI-Y ,,IT BEGAN IWTTIOCPNTLY" qr

dying in Me'xico, far from her family and her native El Sarvador. Cahuar6, a local balneario (swimming pool with an outdoor restaurant have become others accustometl to Mexico and the economic benefits it offers. and music) situated alongside the Grijalva River. Looking at the glasses Both Esperanza and Sonia, when traveling to Central America, of water the waiter suchiate cross the brought, Elena found a chip in one. "That, thatto me River on small rafts at the border in order to avoid *igruuor, is an insult." Of the waiter, she exclaimed, "He should be standing right agents manning the bridge, who sometimes charge as much dred as eighthun- here, ready to serve us. At Quinta Los Robles [a similar establishment just pesos (us$s+) to let peopre pass through. while many zone work- up the road], the service is much better and the food too!" When conver- ers are stable, having settled in Tuxtla and having ,",,'uir,ä sation turned to for many in the zone the subject of the United States, Mönica said she would years, others view it as a temporary workprace where they can consider going if she could speak English. Elena, on the other hand, eam money to fund their trip to the united States. Sonia dreams claimed she had no interest ing to of mov_ in going and spat bitterly, "The American thc' united states. she has a cousin in Los Angeles and a brother in dream. Ha!" punctuating her sentence by contemptuously raising her Virgi.ia' though she.calls-the ratter a hypocrite. she says her brotheq, middle finger toward the blue sky. recently became who a Jehovah's witness, has become self-righteous and self- A worker's status as Mexican or immigrant influences how she may ish' she complains that he continues to neglect their mother work and, more important, the ways others salvador and in El perceive her. The presence of has abandoned a woman pregnant with ; peru, his child. olga, Central American workers and what they represent is sometimes hotly from Lima, is a recent arrivar in the zone and intends to contested in the zone. Among the united make it to many Mexican workers, there is a decid- states, where she has a brother in NewJersey. Juanita has only edly anti-immigrant sentiment, fueled in part by a competitive work recently returned to the zone from york New city, ,rr".u rt was visifing environment. As workers compete against each a sister' She other for clients, both returned to Mexico, she says, " because of the extreme cold and Mexican and Central American workers use the banner of national iden- her inability to speak English. tity in a variety of ways. Gabriela sums up the situation rather well: Much of the discr travels states to the united is positive. *::i'il H':,äl'J:possible And they [the foreigners] say to us Mexicans,'Ay, those Mexicans. srriptease (without sexuar contact) They are foolish, stupid, because they don't know how to get ahead." selves ""0 ;'ilil["r ri:f Because they do services that sometimes we Mexicans eam in a week' Another worker,"",Ir"JffJf under don't do. the spell of movies and So, they will do it, and for a television programs from low price-and that's the worst thing, the united states that are ubiquitous suggests in Mexico, because, for example, I as a Mexican could do it, but say, for instance, that everyone in the united States is thin and pretty. Despite my that they charge the minimum. I could charge more, but if all were in insisrence that there rea'y are many overweight and agreement on the price, well, there wouldn't be a problem. But if she in the united ;";rr';;; peopre states, she w'l not be dissuaded. charges less, it's logical that she is going to win out, even if she just The united states repre_ sents a promised land to many earns the smallest amount, but she does it so that the client doesn't zone workers, though few acfually the have leave. And this is what they do, and that is initiative or ability to make the journey. why there is a great difference between us and them. other workers have no aspirations to leave Mexico. Elena, a friend M6nica's' is an argumentative of and caustic woman who vate works in a pri- Such attitudes toward migrant workers are, of course, not unique to brothel in a neighboring town. The mother of two tu"r,ugu girtr, Mexico. As global capitalism causes widespread is a chubby woman with ,h" social and economic dis- large almond_shaped eyes, fuU nose' h;;,'; round location in poor populations, immigrants are increasingly forced to leave pale skin' and a headful of orange curls. Her incessant complaining their home countries in eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin is somehow endearing. America On my birthÄy a small group of us gathered at to find work. The pattem of ethnic or racial hatred-engendered by the I+.] ,, IT BECAN INNOCENTLY" "tt BsceN INNocENTLY" l,t:]

structural of native workers ancr 'ulnerability competition (real or per- vices are performed by some Mexican and foreign workers alike, many ceived) betn'een them and new immigrants-found in the zone repeats Mexican workers, particular older women, denounce what they per- itself again and again the world over. Mexicans against Central Ameri- ceive as the changing nature of sex work and attribute these changes to cans in Mexico, Puerto Ricans against newry arrived Mexicans in spanish the presence of foreign workers. According to fifty-year-old Magda, Harlem, native Parisians against polish workers in France-new stories "It's the foreigners that are very, very depraved' They make a disaster of of an old pattern of ethnic resentment and economic competition are things and are too flamboyant. Like the Paquita La del Barrio [Paquita, being enacted throughout the globe.2r the one from the barrio] song says, they do it all, the foreigners. They use son're immigrant workers in the zone work longer hours, charge less pomography. Things that a Mexican woman wouldn't dare do, much money (like many immilrant workers worldwide), and sometimes per- less speak of. And they won't just tell you about it. They'll do it with form "special services." Few workers speak in detail of the services they you, and that's the problem of the filthy foreigners and the lovely prrlvide to clients, particularly if those services include anal or oral sex, Mexicanas."2a Here the Central American prostitute is the "other," not acts that are highly stigmatized. Sometimes, however, workers are able to simply a foreigner, but a foreigner who constitutes an immoral, disrep- discern what services are sold by co-workers. If a client arrives at one,s utable being who has created a new division of sexual labor in prostitu- dror requesting oral sex, is refused, ancr then enters into negotiations tion and whose "immorality" is viewed as unfairly incleasing economic with a neighboring worker and enters her room, it is likely that that competition in the zone. worker has agreed to perform special services. Other .1.r", to how a Nationalist discourse describes Central American workers as both for- woman works include the sounds of pornography emanating from her eign and deviant. One worker even suggests that it is not Central room and the nature of her clientele-some regular clients areLown for American women who are responsible for demands for special services their sexual proclivities, and it is obvious to most zone workers which by clients, but rather gringas, NorthAmerican and other Westem women women they frequent. yet it is not onry the immigrant workers who per- who come to Mexico and engage in noncommercial sexual relations with form special services. Furthermore, many immigrant workers wil not Mexican men. Though sex workers may rebuke and refuse clients who perform special services. sonia, from El Salvador, groans with disgust at ask for special services, these clients generally are not blamed by sex the thought of engaging in sexual acts other than vaginal intercourse. workers for their desire for anal and oral sex. As men, their sexual desires such a perspective on sexuality is not uncommon in Central America. Ln are less circumscribed by cultural beliefs, which stigmatize women for Nicaragua, Roger Lancaster found that many of his informants arso engaging in the very sex acts that men (and women too) may desire. expressed revulsion at, and at times ignorance of, certain sexual activi- A few women, like Lorena, a Chiapaneca, reject this constructed divi- ties, oral sex in particular. He attributes this revulsion to cultural beliefs sion between Mexicans and Central Americans. She asserts it is "foolish- regarding the mouth as "a primary route of contamination,, and sex as ness" to refer to the latter as "foreigners." "Before anything else," she srrcro (dirty).22 says, "they are human beings." Likening the situation of the Central The intersection of nationalism, sexuality, and morality within the American women in the zone to that of Mexican immigrants in the realm of prostitution is not a new phenomenon. In her study of prost! United States, she says, "It's like a Mexican that leaves for the United tution in Mexico City, Katherine Briss describes .tn a letter writien ry27 States. She automatically knows that, if she screws around, she won't get by Mexican prostitutes to president plutarco Elias Calles, in which they anywhere. If she goes to the United States, it's because she has the drive decry, among other things, the foreign ,,inde- prostitutes who provide to eam money. It's the same with those from Guatemala that come here. cent" services to their clients.23 Despite the likelihood that special ser_ They come, but they don't just come to spend the day or whatever. No, l++ "lT BECAN INNOCENTLy,, IT BEcAN INNocENttv" l+,1->

they come for the money. Because if they venture to come here, with the strong work ethic and as more willing to tolerate abuse from others, risks and the danger and everything, it,s for money.,, including romantic partners whom they may maintain financially. In a comment that echoes Benedict Anderson's notion of imagined Flor has been living for more than a year with jacobo, the municipal communities,t' Lorunu rejects the notion of the nation itself, acknowl- as a health inspector rounding up street prosti- edging employee who works the socially constructed nature of borders and "I national identities: tutes. One day, Flor sat at Dofla Paula's food stand, sipping soda and am Guatemalan. Do you know why I am Guatemalan? Because if looking very sad; she had heard some gossip that facobo had been many of us were familiar with our real history, they would know why I bajando, literally "going down," visiting another zone woman in her say I am Guatemalan. I am Guatemalan because of the simple fact that, room and engaging in romantic or sexual relations with her. Some weeks before, the state of Chiapas was part of Guatemara. And not that long later, she appeared much more animated, saying she had yelled at and hit ago' A hurrdred years ago. I don't know. It belonged to Guatemara. so, I facobo, and their relationship was now much better. "He is being very carry Guatemalan blood. All Chiapanecos, we are all of Guatemalan affectionate," she said, and he had even raised her quincena from six blood. So why do we act so irnocent?,, hundred to nine hundred pesos (US$7o to US$ro6). Her unwillingness to Lorena's informed perspective on Central American zone workers is tolerate jacobo's infidelity and mistreatment, according to Flor, stems not the norm' More often, they are looked upon as depraved women, from her national origins: "He can't treat me like that; I'm Hondurefla." unfair competition, and troublemakers. some Mexican women in the For Desirde, the main difference between foreign and Mexican women is zone view central American workers as complainers who create unde. that the former receive money from their romantic parhrers, while the lat- sirable turmoil with both the staff and clients. Indeed, Centrar American ter give money. In the zone, a woman is identified and judged by the rela- sex workers in the zone are often more politically engaged, likely a prod_ tionship between her money and her lover. uct of the recent tgmultuous political histories of their home countries. when a representative from a prostitutes' organization in Mexico City came to speak to zone workers about organizing and rater invited them AND to participate in a conterence OBLIGADAS, MANTENIDOS, INDEPENDIENTES in Mexico City, the only workers who expressed interest, with the exception of Lorena, were immigrant work- Puebla, Ramona's with her partner-tumed-pimp had grown ers' These ln life workers were unable to participate because of their trndocu- increasingly difficult. She was working the streets steadily, seeing clients mented status. in hotels. She gave her to Damian, who threatened and For all eamings hit their part, many tbreign workers view themselves as diligent and her but occasionally used the money she earned for him to buy her cloth- goal-oriented, believing their Mexican counterparts to be not only lazy ing and new shoes. In those days, Ramona worked without a condom but also weak women unabre to assert themselves. Various conversations and received no medical care. Following a local social services organiza- with workers highlight these beliefs. Flor, from Honduras, says she some- tion's outreach to sex workers, Ramona told Damian she wanted to see a times thinks of going to the United States; she believes that, as a doctor. His response was, "Ay, what for? Here's your doctor right here. I Honduran, she would be welcomed, because it is well known that can examine you whenever you want." On one occasion, when she Central Americans work hard, while Mexicans, in contrast, do not. became infected with a sore on her genitals, Damian applied a liquid to salvadorans also take pride in their work ethic; as cecilia Menjivar notes, ,,the it that bumed terribly, and "like that he sent me out to work." Since that they are sometimes referred to as Germans,, ,,the or Japanese,, of time, Ramona says, she has tried to always use a condom. "I said to Central America.2b Mexican women are perceived both as lacting a l+() "lT BEGAN INn-OCENTLy" "rr nnceN tltNoctttttv"

'lt's myself, my lif'e.' It's not his life. He does nothing more than ask for family. Located between these two types of workers are women who the cash, but it is my life that is at risk.,, have entered the ambiente on their own or by the persuasion of a partner, Frequent physical abuse by Damian spurred Ramona to demand that who is then totally or partially financially maintained by his girlfriend he take her back to Chiapas, where she could be closer to her family, who and does not givdiher a quincena. Such a man is called a mantenido, a did not know that she had become a sex worker. Reluctant to lose a somewhat dispara$ing term that refers to a man who, in defiance of cul- source of income, Damian brought Ramona to Tüxtla to work in the tural expectations, is supported by his female partner. Galäctica. Durürg this period the pair did not live together, and Ramona These categories though, are blurred, subject to change and contesta- began to suspect that he was seeing another woman. what she soon tion, and not mutually exclusive. As Ramona's case illustrates, an oblig- found out was that Damian had four other women working as obligadas ada may become an independent agent. Furthermore, the distinction for him in the zone. between a man who is a pimp and a man who simply accepts money Ramona recalls the "very painful day,, that her relationship with from his partner is sometimes unclear. Alicia lives in small home made of Damian ended. He arrived at Ramona's apartment and accused. her of concrete blocks located iust off the main highway on the road that leads infidelity, an act that would threaten his physical, emotional, and finan- to the zone. Sometimes while riding to the zone in a pirata, we would see cial control over Ramona. He beat her and tried to strangle her. ,,He her or her boyfriend sitting outside the house. Some workers gossip that would have preferred I were dead before I left him, he told me. 'oh God.,, her spouse is a mantenido, implying both that he is not fulfilling his I was saying. 'oh God, protect me,'because before I had believed in God. duties as a man and that she is foolish. One worker says he is a pimp. Bueno,I still do, but one quickly forgets when one begins to do this kind Alicia herself would likely deny both accusations. A woman who does of work." have a pimp nearly always refers to him as her boyfriend or spouse Ramona escaped with her life. Damian retained control of her apart- (esposo).In addition, mostworkers, whether they are free agents, working ment and took her belongings. Following this event, she moved. to the to maintain a lover, or more rarely, pimped, experience some aspect of southeastern city of Comitän, where she worked the zone there for a few exploitation in work; it is often simply a question of degree and nature. months, waiting for the air to clear, serving mostly soldiers brought from Awoman's status as an obligada affects the way she works and social- northem Mexico to participate in the ongoing Zapatistaconflict. Ramona izes in the zone. Generally, these women must eam a certain amount each eventually retumed to the Galäctica, but to work for herself. she says she day that they will they give to their padrote. Unmet quotas may provoke has little contact with Damian and has told him she will go to the police physical or verbal abuse. In order to avoid these repercussions, an oblig- if he bothers her. For the moment, the four other women who continue to ada may employ a number of strategies: she may work cheaply to attract work for him leave her alone, but their anger is clear: "you can see it in many clients or, conversely, negotiate the highest price possible with a their faces. Before, I would come and they would greet me, 'Hi. How are client; she may work without a condom, which may attract both those you? How good that you have come.'Very happy. Butnow they just tum clients who refuse to use them and those clients willing to pay more for their faces away and that's it. They see that I'm no longer giving [money this service; she may work long hours; and finally, she may perform spe- to Damianl, and that's what really gets to them-that I am working and cial services. earning my own money, my own money that is mine. That,s what both_ Though it is foreign women who are often suspected of performing ers them." special services, women who work obligada are generally of Mexican ori- In contrast to obligadas , the independiente (tndependent worker) works gin and may at times perform these same acts, thus challenging the divi- for herself and may use her eamings to support her children or extended sion between the "filthy" foreigners and "lovely" Mexicans. Again, we l-1ti "tr tsEcAN rNNocENTLy,, "rr nrcAN INNocENTLY" l+!)

see that this discourse is less about facts and more about an ethnocentric domination morality fuelecl and the street continue to operate freely, reflecting the male by di'isive economic competition among working-class women. embedded in both the execution of the law and the practice of culture. both inside obligadas tend Discourses about the dangers of the padrote are common to engage less in social interaction with independent zone and outside the zone. Before moving to Tüxtla from the small town of workers and may_go to great lengths to protect their padrote and his prey to a pimp; economic well-being.r7 soyalä, Ana Maria was warned by her mother not to fall They are often seen in one another,s company, explained to her daughter how they might look and the ways in rvhich allows the women to effectively police she one another for the benefit laughs at the of their padrote- which they take advantage of young women' Ana Maria When the indepenclent workers Gabriela and Flor coun- works in a brothel, but as a seleci one obligada to irony of her mother's warnings-she now reave her pimp, they were threatened by the other 'And I have yet to see a pimp!" On a number of occa- women working for him, who said they would secretary, and says, inform the padrote that obligada from El they had been "advising" sions, Bärbara repeated a cautionary tale about an her. Gabriela's boyfriend, Miguel, a rnunicipar tall, and pretty with "an incredible body." police officer who used to work Cocal. The woman was older, at the zone's f.or,t gate, iecalled with dismay According to Bärbara, the woman earned a good deal of money for her how, after he had arrested a padrote for beating one of his workers, the uterus, I think' And do you the same r.t,orker had shown pimp, but "she got sick with cancer, of up to bail him out of jail, proclaiming her there to help her? When she died, she was left in her room love for her padrote and her anger at Miguel. think he was The situation, he said, dogs wanted made him feel helpless: ,,I for three days and there wasn't even money for a coffin' The felt about as small as an ant.,, Women who leave their to eat herlThe women [in El Cocal] had to chip in and buy the casket." padrote are often met with scorn by other obligadas, as in like oranges, and when there Ramona's cäse. These workers The obligadas, Bärbara says, "are squeezed may have to earn more in order to cover juice left, they are thrown out"' the lost earnings or bear the brunt of the padrote's is no foul mood and that men are to suPPort increasingly violent efforts to Dominant cultural values continue to assert maintain control following the loss of a worker. women economically, rather than exploiting them for profit' Often the of men who fail to adhere to these norms, even within an In Mexico, the pimp is generally considered moral character a nefarious character. This is questioned. The characterization is reflected economic crisis that makes achieving this difficult, in the Mexican legal system. There is no fed- who not only rejects societal norms but also turns them eral law against prostitution and, in Chiapas, pimp is someone no state law prohibiting that such activity when on their head. Yet the pimp also embodies cultural values that assert it is regulated, but the state legal code devotes an must be controlled and male sexual "needs" must be entire chapter to the crime of pimping (lenoncinio). female sexuality According to the state female sexuality while penal code, a pimp (padrote ,,exploits met. By facilitating and controlling the sale of or lenon) is one who the body of an.ther ensuring that other men receive the sexual activity due them as men, the in sexuar commerce and is maintained or obtains some profit though maligned for the role he plays, from this commerce, who manages padrote (much like the prostitute), or sustains places destined to exercise prostitution." also reinforces certain gendered and sexual norlns' Also considered a pimp by state law is someone who facil_ for women who work as itates another's entry into prostitution Some independent workers exPress empathy or who opens or manages a others who brothel or any obligadas, but many workers disdain the padrotes and other place where prostitution occurs. The punishment for work. Bärbara says that, if she were pimping is four to eight years unfairly benefit from the women's in prison and a fine; this punishment is increased able to leave the ambiente, she would never retum to work as a madam by four years if the pimp is working in collaboration with law workers express similar sentiments. one enforcement' yet despite this or as a zone landlady. other perception of pimping, padrotes in the zone aftemoon in Gabriela's kitchen, she, Miguel, and I were eating mixiotes, a l;() II'BTCAN INNOCENTLY"

dish of chicken and ch'es wrapped in little foil packages. we sat under the watchful eye of Alfonso, a green parrot with giurir,g-oru.rge eyes, who r'vas perched outside the window in the trecaying courtyard where resi_ dents wash clothes, bathe, and use the common toilet. Gabriela and Miguel speak of the padrotes, how they show up with nice, new cars, srx Sellers and BuYers "Topaz, Jetta, all the.latest models.,, They both disgust as they describe how the padrotes abuse "*pr"r, their wÄrkers and threaten to tell their families that they are working as prostitutes. Former obligadas such as E'ita and Ramona express contempt for the men who forced them into prostitution. when sonia left the Galäctica to work in an a'ey in an unregurated part of the state of Morelos, she found she was the only worker there without a padrote. She said to one co_worker. about the woman,s pimp, "You pay a lot to sleep with him!,, to which her colleague responded, laughing, "shut up, damn China!"28 Sonia's astute comment reveals the comprexity of the obligada's relationship with her pimp: she is both a prostitute and an employee but also in a sense a client, giving money to a malt in return for intimacy, or the illusion of it. The obligadas otlen find themselves in the unusual situation of having intercourse with strangers for money in order to have intercourse with their partners, again for money. of former obligada Evita, viviana says, "She is pretty but not very bright,,, ,,nobody adding, forced me to do what I am doing.,, Mönica refers ,;poo. come and' go as we sit looking out the window to the obligada" u, things,,, and Edith and I watch clients says that she entered the arnbiente ,,nobody Service, where she distributes condoms to on her own, that puia knife of the Anti-Venereal Medical to my throat." The obligadas to Edith (a single woman with a child) and represent an extreme rorm of prostitution in workers. Sex work, according which women are forced to se, sexuar easy easy way to make money'" I tell services; their presence in the zone many Tuxtlecos, is "the lifg"-"Sl allows independent workers hard work' We sit for a moment in silence to mask the sociar and economic circum- her ithink it seems like pretty stances that brought them into the ambiente, repracing them with a dis_ andwatchasashabbilydressed,disheveledlookingmanwithonearm/ course of free heads up the stairs to will. the other an oddly shaped stub with a pointed end' theexit.Edithfinallyspeaks,sayingitisawfultoridethebusbacktothe She city center with clienL, especially when they are "disrespectful'" says' "You're making me pauses for a moment, looking pensive, and then -thir,k, I said before Patty. The women have to put up with a lot' What They have to about this being the easy life, well, maybe it's not so easy' put uP with a lot."

r51 SELLERS AND BLYII{S SELLERS AND BUYERS 1l-r3

A cornmon perception (US$o'3S) entry ticket' is briefly among many Tuxtlecos is that prostitute front gate, purchases his three-peso women are looki^g for "the easy rife," the entry' and heads down the a quick and simple way to make searched by municipal police tttuttttittg rnoney. Inside the zrne, workers Pepe and Dofla Paula' past the tell another story. Riding in the pirate pathway b"t*"".t tfr" iooa stands of taxi one morning, Gabriela courtyard to courtyard' room to tells me of clients who claim the work is easy: SMAV to the rooms. He moves from "l tell them, 'You think this work you the workers' who are lying on their is easy? think this is easy? This is room, peering through doorways at ,ot easy!' The work is hard, going or talking with co-workers' with man after man. some think it,s beds, watching television, reading comics' easy. otl'rers think that "How much?" and might also we are women without hearts; that we don,t when he finds a womanhe likes, he asks, feel-" Bonita too despairs about ,,goes like' If the pair come to an the ways in which society around inquire about any special services he would criticizing," saying, "They he will continue his search' call it the easy life, but it,s not.,, agreement, the client will enter' If not' Performing sexual particular workers can labor is far from simple. Complex dynamics of fi"grrtu, clients who come to the zone to see negotiation, refusal, and submission occur in the sex worker_client foregothisselectionandnegotiationprocess,insteadheadingdirectlyto encounter. workers must leam in advance what services to exact the highest price possible for their the rooms of their favored workers, knowing services and develop'the skills pay' As a client chooses a prosti- to "read" clients for their potential for they can have and how much they will danger and adjust their own behaviors reiect a client' It is not unusual for a accordingly. tute, so may the prostitute choose or be yelled at, be ignored, or in client to have a door slammed in his face, of water thrown at him' one memorable incident, have a bucket SEX AS SERVICE Astheservice-sectoreconomy/prostitutionincluded,expandsglob- labor that.meets both are increasingly expected to perform 'l ally, workers lrtr rrr',.,1 rr. irrrrl s r. rrtr,,l llrcrrr. thematerialdesiresandemotionalwantsoftheconsumer.Thisgrowthin changes that have led to llirrrr,,rrir the service sector stems from recent economic as a result of neolib- decreasing options for other forms of employment The thousand men who walk and technological advances that through the gates of the zone each day eral privatization, foreign comPetition' come in search of a woman who the feminization of the will provide them with the services they leave human workers behind' Furthermore' are looking for at a price MacDonald and Carmen they are willing to pay. The r4o women who workforce has led to what Cameron Lynne wait in their rooms or doorways the entrance of more women are looking for a client who will pay Sirianni call "a self-fulfilling cycle in which their asking price for the services they are wining to provid.e. The process intheworkforcehasledtoincreaseddemandforthosedomesticservices of negotiating a sale is riddled (cooking' cleaning' child care' etc')' with multiple, overlapping, u.,ä some_ once provided gratis by housewives times surprising power that are predominantly relations: class, gende r, age, upp"uiu.r.", experi_ which in tum hu, p'oättt"d more service iobs ence, and ethnicity of both worker and client may come into play during fitled bY women."l negotiations. Negotiations can even though she is in the be difficult, since rarely are the d.esires of Yet the zone is one place where the worker' the seller and the buyer the same. pepe's of freedom from the expectations sitting in food stand one day, service industry, .etains some degree Bärbara writes dclwn the ,,The of service' as well as conflict i. -y notebook: clients prefer about service. Many workers th" notion those that charge less-give '"'i't all-tron't use a condom, and the women clients'perspectivesthata"whore"shouldandwilldoanything'ifpaid' prefer giving normal services, that we are here to serve charge what is fair, and put on a condom.,, As Bärbara said, "They lthe clients] think iust A typical encounter may go the workers often refuse to something like this: the client enters the them, but that's not how it is'" Furthermore' I.-I{ SELLERS AND BUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS l5lt

i'terpret clients'resistance to paying them what they ask as an indicator contend with weighty issues, asking, "\fhat is my work role and what is of their own self-worth, insteacr asserting that the client unwilling to pay 'me'? How do I do deep acting without'feeling phony'and losing self- a good price ,,cheap.,,2 is "miserable,, and esteem? How can I redefine the job as 'illusion making' without becom- Many workers prefer their regular clients to extrafros (strangers): they ing cynical?"'3 Many zone workers complain of a lack of self-esteem, the t'eel comfortable and safe with them, having developed a relationship difficulty of emotional detachment, and the problems of redefining sex as that has some basis trust. i. The worker knows she wiil be wel paid and work. will sometimes even receive a tip for the services she is willing to provide Some workers have few repeat customers. Sonia tells me she is unwill- in a safe, predictable situation. some workers, like Bärbara, are very ais- ing to falsify emotions or feign interest in her clients; of them she says, criminating, typicalry refusing to serve many unknown clients, prefer- "They come once or twice and then they never return." Other workers ring to wait for the arrival of their regular customers. Bärbara has five cannot afford to behave in such a way or be so discriminating and may regular clients who arrive twice a week and others who may arrive once service any client who agrees to their price, and even sorne who do not. or twice a month. Of her regular clients, Desirde ,uy"r;;i;;;; ,"*y While there are workers like Lorena who seek only a consumer who is clients that I can say are good. They come a few times a week and treat willing to pay, others may cater to a specific clientele or prefer clients of me with respect, with tendemess." But sometimes the intimacy of a reg- a certain age or appearance. Bärbara says she prefers middle-aged men to ular client can cause problems as well-as Bonita notes, they may the young boys from the high school, who she says are "demanding" and become difficult and expect more because of their status as a well_payrng, so cheap that "they won't even buy you a Coke." Indeed, many of the regular client. high school and even junior high school students who frequent the zone As with most service-sector jobs, the sex worker must often contend lack the maturity and experience to view their visits to the zone as part of with a demanding and sometimes hostile public. Clients may verballv or a socially constructed sexual and commercial experience in which clients even physically abuse a worker, they are often ,nwilling io pu.t witt are expected to fulfill particular roles. their money, and they may even steal from a worker. They Lay smell bad or be physically repulsive. some workers choose the-more desirabre clients (well paying, undemanding, and relatively good{ooking), while NEGOTIATING SERVICES: FROM THE MARRIAGE BED others do not or cannot afford to discriminate. Client upp"urJ..u, ur" TO SPECIAL SERVICES important to some workers; sitting outside her room o., u ioa day, sonia sighed, "There is I am sitting with a friend, a panista who works in Tüxtla's Depart- not one goodJooking man here today.,, Othärs, like Lorena, place no importance ment of Public Health, beneath the tall thatch roof in Los Explosivos, on appearance: "I couldn,t care less what a popular palapa [thatched-roofl bar. We order drinks, wait for his they look like." Cleanliness, however, is a quality that most workers hope girlfriend to arrive and for the show, a transvestite cabaret, to begin. for, but do not always find, in a client. When Graciela finally arrives, she is angry. Her taxicab driver mis- If she wishes to eam money, a worker often has to ignore her aversion took het a woman traveling alone to a bar, for a prostitute; she got to certain types of clients, instead feigning politeness and even interest. In out of his cab and hailed another. Francis, a tall, thin, blond male Tlrc Managed Heart, Arrie in drag, soon takes the stage. She tells one joke after another and Hochschild comments on the dangers of per- cuentos colorados (off-color stories). She excitedly launches into a sonality control and the lack of freedom of emotion rinked with service_ story about three old friends who reunite over dinner after many sector employment. Such disciplining of emotion, she suggests, may lead years apart. One woman has become a nun. Another is a housewife. to estrangement from self and problems of identity. service workers must The third confesses that she has become a prostitute. They eat and t.-)() SELLLRS AND tsuYERS SELLERS AND BUYER9 tl-r7

talk, and whe. the waiter arrives to offer dessert, each woman orders a. banana' Francis goes on to describe and imitate muchliketheverbmamat'meaningtosuck'andreferstofellatio;and each woman eating when sliced in half' the banana. The nun, she says, holds it delicately,.ur"rr", ii*iÄ finally, papaya,a fruit that has a vaginal aPPearance wonder, makes the sign of the cross, and eats it gently while looking refers to cunnilingus. up toward in their the heavens..The prostitute peels it rJughiy, u"J go;.lgf,t In addition to these services, some women who have VCRs at it, all business. And use the housewife p,rt" h". clients' The decision to I frurrä or, the bäck of her rooms may provide Pornographic movies for head and forces it down quickly and roughly a over the banana. The condemned by some workers as depraved' is less audience bursts into pomography, though laughter. among prostitutes' moral decision than a conunon economic strategy in her room' The loud Though beliefs Lydia often has pomographic videos ptaying and activities surrounding sexuality in Mexico are grunting, accomPanied by abad rgTossoundtrack' ensures diverse, some sex acts are disparaged in mouning and certain sectors of society, rele- around Lydia's open door' gated to those there is ut-uy, a smali grouP of men lingering .perating beyond sociosexual norms, as the previous exposure to When her door is excerpt from my field notes shows. For some, it is their first PomogaPhy' while clients (and men in general) are occasionally closedandthecliententers,thevisualstimulationoftenbringstheclient discussed by workers in terms of their ',p".rr"r!iorrs,,, it is to earn money more quickly' more frequently sex workers (and to orgasm faster, allowing her women) who are stigmatized for per_ formi^g sexual acts beyond the realm ,,normal.,, Whilethedecisionaboutwhethertoprovidespecialservicesisulti- of what is considered to conceptions of morality' In the zone mately an economic one, it is often linked it is an unusually hot day, nearing one hundred degrees. the sense of fair play among compet- Bärbara and I sit at pepe's, deviance, sexual norms, and even watching the few clients pass us by. An exiting client catches ingco-workers.Becausethereiscompetitionforclientsinthezone,ten- my eye: he is light skinned with grasses, his läng hair is those workers who provide' or who are pulled back in a ponytail, and sion sometimes arises between he is dressed in black chinos ur,i a tor,g_ do not' provide, special services and those who say they sleeved, black, button-down shirt. I comment believed to on his unusual choice of judgment on both special ser- wardrobe on Workers who say they work "normal" pass srrch a hot day, and Bärbara tells me that the fellow ,,wants women who provide them' Magda is extremely opinion- it all"'I press for more information, and vices and the she says, "Tocho morocho. Ask "I'm not a maniac' I'm Pepe what pepe, ated regarding what she refers to as "depravrty": it means." I look to who is standing behind the counter, I don't do things outside of what would normally dishrag in hanrl' As I repeat the words pepe not depravea. ena tocho morocho, is overcome happens with me' you by a happen in marriage. Like I say to the client' 'What tit a giggles as he repeatedly makes the sign of the cross. seeing your wife' mi'iito' You are not with a Pepe's i^ability to speak, should realize, that you are with Bärbara gives a boreJsigh and tells me, ,,It means everything, all sexual services, womanofthestreet:tu-awomanofthestreet'butwithdignity'with referring ,.Ä thu. anything to different positions." shame." related in part to her age (she is fifty) and In the Galäctica, there are ,,normally,,, Magda's viewpoint may be prostitutes who work those who will "do it all,,, and those thenumberofyearsshehasbeenworkingintheambiente.Shesaysthat in between. To work ,,o.rrrully particular i, to occur because "the women let them happen"' in engage only in vaginal intercourse, and more "depravities" often, though not always, where she once worked' men in the missionary position. "special the ioreigners' In the zone in Villahermosa' services" muy co.,si"t-of oral or anal sex, or other varieties of sexual activity. These whoevensuggestedsuchdepravitieswerenottolerated.Thoughsurely services are sometimes to perform special ser- referred there have probably always been workers willing to as "chico, mamey, and papaya .,, Clticorefers to the fruit chico in Mexican sexual culture and con- :upota and is a euphemism vices in the ambiente, recent changes for anal sex; ntanrcy, another fruit, sounds increasing sumption practices (increasing availability of pornography; AND BUYERS Ul)() l,-)ti s!tt.LERs AND tsuyERs sELLERs

tlptions fbr commercial sex; changing media presentations "That'scool,"andmovedon'AccordingtoGabriela'someofherneigh- of sex, often obscen- influenced such inquiries professionally' instead yelling by the united states; and of course, the Internet) have likely bors do not handle when clients do not know led to an increasing demand for such services. ities at the clients. The interaction is worsened oral sex should ask for oral sex' while women who work "normar" often refuse the proper terminology. A man wanting to perform other ser- to have a door even at a higher price, women man asking, "Will you suck me?" is more likely 'ices, who clo provide special services see A them at the very least' as an economic opportunity. Former obligada Evita recently slammed in his face, uncontested activity' refused a western man who wanted Sex in the zone, then, is not a straightforward to pay her for orar and anal sex. The in man, the workers the romanticized and fantasy-laden sex often portrayed said, was handsome, recently divorced, and on his way Nor is it quite to (very Cuba likely to take advantage of the flourishing sex booksandfilm'AsmuchastheGaläcticaisanothersPace/freefrom tourism and women industry there). Lydia, norms regarding gender and sexuality' where men on the other hand, speaks in deiail, and in a dominant detached manner, of the services she provides. she describes bothmayleamand"*p",i",'."alternativesexualities,itisalsoaplace services And' it is a public marketplace i^volving oral and anal sex and, in one instance, where cultural codes ure reinforced' a carrot. one recent is client gave her Mexican tradition of haggling (distinctivety premodem) four hundred pesos (USg47)_a hefty sum for the zone or ,"t the the street. "r" Both clients and workers take time into account when negoti- very much alive. ating price, and considering the large sum, one would assrxne the client was with her for an hour ,,No, if not more. When I asked, she replied, [it took] only a THE CHEAPEST BROTHEL few minutes. Let me show you why." She reached over and NEGOTIATING PRICES IN turned REPUBLIC on the television mounted on the wall over the bed and popped IN THE MEXICAN into the VCR a z'one is ttttt of hardcore lesbian pornography video, with spanish sub- Orle coultl sav thut tlrtr tolelantt titles' For Lydia, showing clients pomography has rittle to do with moral- the cheapest plactts lhertr uruld btt in thc Mexitralr itli rather it is (luti6rrez tolerance simply another strategy to maximize her income and min- Republic' Yes, Tuxtla antl its imize her effort. unlike Magda, Lydia doesn't feel the need to mitigate zone is one of llte tirealtttst placcs therc is' Not the stigma associated with her work by laying claim to a sense of shame. Oaxaca. Not Mexico (iitv' Nlirrinrurtt' tttittittrttttl' while there is a certain sexual freedom and relaxation of sexual norms tnirrirnunt, a *'ollran wlro works a trornral servit:e' in the zone, negotiating services is not completely unmarked by domi- lilty, eigtrty pcsos mitrirttttür' Artd here' twonty' nant cultural and eklcrly will moral beliefs. Clients who come seeking special ser- t'itteerr sornetirnes' A wotrtatn who is vices often have to leam how to ask for what they want. Blcurr" charge You tetr' men who respect their wives or girlfriends are ^u.y unlikely to ask them for f,olcua anal or oral sex, customers often arrive at the zone unable to articulate their desires, lacking the proper and acceptable vocabulary. Zona Galäctica are reputed to offer the least expensive u'educated sexually, and often in other ways, many crients arrive The women of the Mexico' A woman providing unprepared to negotiate services. some negotiations, sexual services in Chiapas and southern even when they do forty not result in the Galäctica may earn anywhere from ten to in an exchange, are smooth and professional. when a crient normal services arrived ,,How the average price is somewhere around at Gabriela's door and asked, much?,, and then ,,How pesos (US$r -zo to$4'7o),though 'tt the zone to work much for oral sex?" pesos (US$l'5o to $4'ro)' Sonia left she replied that she didn,t do that. He told her, irty o. thirty-five l(x) 5ELLERS AND tsUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS r(n

in Morelos, where she earned sixty to seventy pesos (USg7.o5 to $g.25) Chicken and later during the early months of the Zapatista conflict, when per client fbr normal services. In comitän, workers serving a largely mil- the zone was so saturated with military men it "was a green zone, as if itary clientele, who have pesos to spend, often earn ,",u"rrty puro, they were plants." Though the upper price range in the zone is subtly (US$8.2s) for each e^counter. Street workers generally charge more than institutionalized, price ranges are influenced by a number of overlapping zone workers and in some cases may earn as much as two hundred pesos factors briefly noted earlier: a worker's age and aPPearance; services pro- (US$23.5o) per client.{ vided; a worker's economic need, which may vary; a client's status as a Located at the inte'rsection of erite fears about working-class sexuality, regular or stranger; the number of potential clients arriving; the amount urban growth, and desires for modernity, order, and hygiene, the zone is of money clients are willing to spend; and the prices charged by other bv design and necessity a place where sexual services can be purchased workers performing similar work. cheaply- 'fhe competitive market puts a ceiling on what a worker can A woman's value is determined partly by her age and aPPearance. charge for her services. A lack of organizing among workers (due par- According to municipal statistics, zone workers are from nineteen to tially to c.mpetitior-r and the resulting individualism) helps ensure that fifty-five-years old. In reality, the range is surely somewhat greater. sex workers will not come to any agreement about charging a set price. Women may lie about their age for a number of reasons: to enter the Furthermore, if the women were to find a way to collectively charge world of regulated prostitution, to attract more clients, or to avoid the more, it is unlikely that a price increase would be tolerated by city offi- shame that accompanies being a middle-aged or older prostitute. Young cials, as ma'y of the clients wourd then be unable to pay fo. ,"r,,ri."s i, Central American women who arrive seeking employment in the zone the zone, thus undermining ,,dangerous,, the state's goal of managing ine often lack the documents to prove they are eighteen, the legal minimum sexuality of the lower classes. age for practicing prostitution' Marta, for example, arrived from The consumption of sexuar services in Tüxtla varies according crass. Guatemala, claiming to be eighteen but unable to prove it. She was sub- Katherine Bliss, describing early twentieth-century Mexico City, notes ject to a dubious dental exam by the SMAV staff and, based on the that working-class are associated with "low-rent" '.en prostitutes.r In the appearance of her molars, was deemed to be of the proper age' Desirde zone, the state provides these prostitutes. Just as a moneyed consumer altemately claims that she is eighteen or nineteen, when she is in fact will buy his clothing at Fäbricas de Francia, the upscale department store twenty-four; such misrepresentations of truth serve various PurPoses. in westem Tuxtla, and his sexual services trom a pretty colege student Younger workers may receive a greater price for their services; they may working for an elite hostess agency, so will the working-.lu"s1onsrr*e, also be perceived as more "innocent" and thus may be treated more sym- purchase his clothing at one of the small, inexpensive markets in down- pathetically by clients and staff. town Tuxtla and his sex at the Galäctica. Furthermore, state sponsorship Women in their forties and fifties who have made a career of prostitu- of the zone also detracts ,,pri- from its status. In the neoliberal era, the tion are considered by staff to be beyond "rehabilitation." Older prosti- vate" is highly valued: private clubs, schools, and even comm'nities tutes transgress a cultural boundary that defines older women as non- have an allure that attracts those who can afford to buy. That which is sexual creatures. They may also suffer greater stigmatization because public loses status: public schools, publicly run businesses, or in this case, they no longer have small children to maintain and are perceived as less a public brothel' In the neoliberal era, the increasing acceptance of exclu- economically needy than younger workers. While some researchers have sivity and privilege ,,sexiness,, lessens the attractiveness and even the of suggested that the lives of women in most cultures aPPear to improve publicly run enterprises. with the onset of middle-age-as they experience fewer restrictions on competition in the zone can be fierce. Business has slowed since the their behavior, and as their authority in decision making becomes more drrys of clie.ts and workers drinking together at the rowdy Galactic socially accepted6-there are few benefits for the mature zone worker. In I()! SELLERS AND tsUYERS sELLERs AND BUYERs tO:i fact' as a woman ages in the ambiente, she suffers increased stigmariza- concem to zone workers' and fashion tion: she is transformed Physical aPPearance is of great from a young worker there por nrrniaoa hnurrx of need) into one who is there inparticularoffersinsightsintohowworkersidentifythemselvesand por gusto (for pleasure). (cowrhryside) often while relate to their work. women arriving from the campo advanced age does not prevent a sex worker from receiving of urban women and must leam from others how to dress.T clients, it does determine a worker's lack the attire value, her clientele, and in many clothes: jeans and tank cases, Many workers come to the zone in their street her own sense of self-worth. A younger woman may set her aver- and T-shirts, skirts and blouses' The change some age price at forty-five or fifty tops, sweatpants pesos (USg5.3o or g5.9o), while a woman Gabriela in women make from street clothing to work clothing is extreme: her fifties may accept as little as eight or ten pesos (USgo.95 or $1.r5). and changes into a blue neg- Though I arrives wearing pants and a loose T-shirt never formaly met her, I repeatedry heard storie s of the seflora high heels. For others the change is less drastic nearing sixty who worked ligee with black lace and for anything from five to ten pesos (this figure *or" symbolic, marking a shift from home role to work role: Rafaela was subject to change, depending on the storyteller). *d Nearing the end of top to a multicolored miniskirt her career changes from a black miniskirt and tank and no longer considered attractive, she was said tJhave huge do not change their attire. For some, this signi- breasts' which she would and tank top. still others show by wearing very low-cut blouses (this I their complete immersion in the ambiente; for Mönica, who lives in knew to be true, as I had seen her fies and her notorious cleavage on a years, the leg- num- the zone and has worked in the ambiente for nearly fifteen ber of occasions)- Her clientele consisted mainly of teenajers from the wears serve her both in the zone and during her local high school who had little gings and T-shirts she disposable income to spend on sexual who normally services' outings to downtown Tuxtla. For the young Bärbara' she had found her niche market and, accord.ing io or," observel, her refusal to change her attire told the young men ,,she *"u,, u long, full skirt and modest blouse, will teach them, treat them like a son.,, As a a resistance to identifying herself as a prostitute or to dressing woman ages in the ambiente, concessions represents like those made by the sefiora there is a wide must according to the dictates of the ambiente (even though be made if a worker hopes to receive clients. variety of dress): "From the beginning, since I came, well, many [women] At forty-two, Mönica is extremely conscious of her age and how it dress in long skirts' very discreet' determines her value change. They come from other places, in the zone. In her youth, Mdnica was stunningry stay: thongs, miniskirts; they catch on' But not me' Even beautiful' one day as we And when they sat in her room, she puted out old photos. one though I am in the ambiente, I keep dressing the same. I arrived with a showed her and her young husbancr who had killed himself. Another me? That I looked like a crazy was a photo long skirt. And know what they would tell of Mdnica soon after she entered the ambiente. She sat on the I couldn't care less and I have never stoPPed [dressing hood of a caL dressed in shorts old woman. But and a flowing, indigo, hippie_style shirt, looking like a young this wayl." sophia Loren. on her head she ,"or" in" bright yel- othersremarkonthechangestheyhavemadeinordertoattract low hardhat of an oil worker, brown curls flowing over her tanned shoul- ever wore makeup was when she was forced ders as she stared into the clients. The first time Sonia camera confidently, smiling. Nowadays her she a bar in Tapachula. Bonita notes the difference between complains that clients calr "ordrady," to work in her and she speuks of retiring from the ambiente because, ,;I,m work and home Personae: as she puts it, getting old.,, Sitting at pepe,s on a slow, hot day, Mönica and place'" I watch Desir.e leaving ii the after- They have said to me, "You don't look like you work in this noon. M6nica tums to me and ,,And "urty And when I leave here' I says, she is yoÄg,,, meaning that Because they see me like a normal Person' e'en the younger and like I do here' I change everything' I.dress more therefore more desirabre work"rs are not finding don't makehyself up clients on this slow aftemoon. casually, sPorty, andänly put on a little makeuP'On the otherhand' I'm not the here I iuttn bl.rsh, eyel'iner, red lipstick, everything' L()l-) I()-1 sILLERS AND tsUytrRS sTLLERS AND BUYERS

serve more clients. This situation annoyed the zone administration, same. Even my behavior is diffbrent. Here, I try to walk so that my who to provide the women with con- butt stands out. when I'm in the centro,I tie back my hair. and here I which was spending rnunicipal dollars leave it klose. doms. Moreover, the rise of a condom black market directly countered (and ironically, was a product of) the city's effort to decrease such informal economic activity by regulating prostitution. It also caused resent- At the time'of this conversation, Bonita had been working in the ambiente ment among the women who were buying the condoms when they felt for only a short time. Despite her own description of the changes she made the SMAV should be providing them to ensure that every sex act was a to her appearance in the zone, Bonita looked very much like a one. On his first day as new director of the SMAV Dr' Ruiz met sporty, middle-class young woman when I first met her. \Alhen I retumed "safe" with a small group of workers who aired complaints about the situation, to the zone the followiniyear,I was shocked by the dramatic change in hoping to convince him to provide more condoms to the women, free of hc'r appearance: she had put on a great deal of weight, had begun to wear charge. The doctor refused, replying, "The truth is that only a few the specially made revealing dresses that some workers prefer, and had say, those that are younger and prettier," needed hea'ily increased her use of makeup, all signs of further embeddedness women, I'm sorry to in the ambiente. more than the allotted amount, since they received more clients' asking price is also influenced by the services she is will- workers'concern with weight reflects recent shifts in Mexican cultural A woman's ing to provide to a client whom she is willing to serve (though a woman standards of beauty. slender women, once widely considered less than may accept a client she would not ordinarily serve if business is slow). womanly in Mexico, are now popular with many clients, as are women with For example, Flor receives thirty pesos (US$3.5o) for vaginal intercourse fair skin and hair. one need only turn on the television and watch a missionary position; this fee is increased to fifty (US$5.9o) if the telettorrda (soap opera) to see who currently embodies female beauty: in the client requests de perrito (dog style). Many women do not work com- most actresses are young, fair, and of course, thin. But despite the empha- nude and charge extra when they do.e Though a worker may have sis on thinness, much of a worker's social life revolves around eating. pletely her ideal asking price and way of working, these ideals and the bargain- women may gather at one of the four food stands to share gossip, relax, or ing power of workers are subject to change because of temporal shifts in escape the confines and boredom of their small, dimly lit rooms. As the woman behind on the rent or under other acute eco- zone lacks facilities for the women to do their own cooking, and making economic need-a nomic pressures may work without a condom or perform an act not ordi- the trip to the city center to eat would be time-consuming and costly, in her repertoire in order to not lose a client. on a slow day when workers largely depend on vendors like pepe and Dofra paula for their narily a woman has not yet eamed enough to pay her daily rent and food costs, daily meals.E In the morning, many workers pass by their favored ven- "What she may be willing to expand her repertoire of services without raising dor, asking, did you bring?,,Some women, like Flor, complain of her asking price. their weight and claim the gain has come with their entry into the zone. Mexican economy and local political activity also affect a Mdnica complains of the zone's "T" diet: taco, tortilla, torta (sandwich); shifts in the t9g8, heavy rains and she is convinced these foods make a person fat. worker's asking price. During the summet of destroyed harvests in much of the state. Men who earned their Younger and more attractive women receive more clients than other storms from the land had less disposable income to spend on sexual ser- w'orkers. These women often use up the allotted amount of free condoms living (one vices. As competition for clients increased, some workers lowered their hundred every two weeks) and need more, a situation that has cre- prices. others suffered financially because they refused to do so. During ated an underground condom economy. workers who do not use all their the elidatarios of Francisco I. Madero, many clients concioms sell them, at a price lower than in the city center, to workers the conflict with I(X} SELLERS AND tsUYERS l.S AND BUYERS IO? belie'ed that the zone was closeci, or they stayed away for fear of becom- wishes to use her bathroom or shower. Sonia sells clients photocopies of ing embroiled in a violent rand dispute. Again, workers were forced to man be lower their the textbook we used together in English class. Sometimes a will prices in order to compete for the few arriving clients. Bärbara charged simply for entering a woman's room. If the door has been shut says she sometimes accepts a client "just for the damn fact that I have to pay the rent." behind him, he has begun to use a worker's time and may have even pre- Though she has her set price, which she tries to stick to (a vented her from seeing another client. If upon disrobing, a client is found strategy for maintaining dignity and a sense of self-worth), she say+ (many workers leam to look for signs of "sometimes dignity to have some kind of infection only goes so far." At other times, especially on the days sexually transmitted diseases), the worker will normally not serve him following the quincena (bimonthly payday),the zone may be busy and may even offer medical advice, but she will also charge him for the enough that workers will receive their asking price. time he has used. This can lead to an argument and even violence sexual activity has long been considered a necessity for sordiers, and militarizatio-n between client and worker. throughout the globe is often accompanied by prostitution.l. Clients, for their part, often draw on a variety of methods in order to But it is important to remember, as Cynthia Enloe reminds us, that as according to Bärbara, to use their the link between pay as little possible. Some, will try militarization and prostitution must be not naturalized. Rather, social standing as a way to receive free services, asking the worker, its existence requires a particular cultural construction ,,milita- of "Don't you know who I am?" Bärbara's typical response is, "I don't care rized, masculinized sexual desire" along with "rural poverty, male entre. preneurship, urban who you are." Of course, few men of public importance arrive at the commercialized demand, police protection, and overlapping govemment zone; they go to more discreet and costly places such as hotels and pri- interests."r Militarization of the state following vate "hostess" services. tlre EZLN uprising n ryg+ brought an increase in prostitution in Chiapas, Though women in the zone transgress hegemonic moral codes by sell- particularly in the conflict regions in the eastem half of the state. But local (and political manifestatio.s ing sex and are sometimes portrayed as indeed are) women who not of a military nature also affect activity in the zone' During live by an altemative system of gendered belief and practice, many work- a statewide teacher's strike, in which educators from throughout ers, as noted earlier, adhere to cultural norrns that claim a woman should Chiapas came to participate in a protest and work stoppage, a may some ways be financially and the zone was be supported by man. While they in overflowing with educators, who formed a long line at the emotionally independent, zor:re workers are also vulnerable to clients front gate before the Galäctica had even opened. Some who make romantic and economic promises in an attempt to get inex- workers may ignore variables such as services, age, and condom pensive or even free services. Clients may put on a romantic act, pay use, and may, because of the lack of solidarity or organiÄg in the zone, undercut compliments, and promise a continuing emotional and financial rela- their competitors by charging a low price. such was the case tionship. Such was the case with Vicente, an older man and new client of with Sandra, a new, young worker who was considered to be very beau_ Mönica's who paid for her services, flirted with her, and told her he tiful. During her early days in the Galäctica, she charged as little as fifteen would lend her one thousand pesos (US$rr8) so she could leave the pesos (us$r.75) and at times had a line of clients waiting outside her door, ambiente and set up a taco stand. He returned to the Galäctica four times much to the dismay of her co-workers. Likely becurJe of pressure afternrard, romanced Mdnica with compliments and promises of money, from co-workers, this situation did not last long. received services without paying, and even stole a music cassette from workers can also earn money for activities other than sexual services. her nightstand. He never retumed. Telling me the story, Mönica is hurt, some clients come only to talk and be heard. Esperanza fondly reca's .^e saying she had begun to fall in love with the man. [n vain, she had client who wanted only to caress her. Bärbara charges a client if he angrily gone to the city center to look for him. l()fi SELLERS AND BUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS r()9

others dis- other clients use less subtle methods. some will steal their money enjoyed the sex, and that it would be wrong to do so, but back as we have' how .n their way out the cioor if it has been left on a bedside table. agreed. As one worker told her, "With as much sex others Mustang Ranch, a will claim they paid when they did not and sometimes risk leav- could a woman not enioy it occasionally?"lz But at the ing to the it for fear of it municipar police to sort out the situation. some win haggle woman who enioyed sex with a client did not speak about down a woman who to the last peso; according to Bärbara there are clients who moan, being stigmatized by other workers. In the GalacticZone, "But as any claim it's for my chewing gum, it's for the bus fare.,, As Desir6e describes said she enjoyed sex with a client would also be stigmatized, it, a client would be invali will come and ask, "How much?" once the worker gives her to being in the zone not por gusto but por necesidad price, a gusto, but it client will say, ',How come so expensive? How about cheaper? dated. No worker ever spoke to me of being in the zone Por Twenty." a client's If the worker refuses, the client may continue his efforts, was not unusual for a worker to be pleasantly surprised by "Twe.ty. That's a lot to be giving you." These sorts of encounters rarery appearance or to find a boyfriend in a client' happen with regular ,,It,s customers; as Bärbara notes, not so easy to separate the extrafros from their money.,, Not all clients are codo, tncnäo, ruiserable (cheap, miserly, miserable), as CONDOMS sonia describes them. And while relationships between workers and clients are The Galäctica,s program of condom distribution is uncommon in Mexico detined by physical and economic exchange, they are not always tree from and provides an incentive for some sex workers from other parts of emotional exchange. on February fourteenth, Dia de Amor y Amistad (Day Mexico, like Magda, to transfer their business there. Co-workers in of Love and Friendship), some workers left the zone who had worked in the Galäctica told Magda of its condom dis- with candy, stuffed animals, and other gifts they had received from Tabasco regular clients. tribution. of her decision to leave Tabasco in order to work in the On hot days, a client may buy a soda for a worker, and in some instances Galäctica, Magda saYs: may even take a woman out for dinner or a night on the town, as did the client who brought the serenade to my hoÄe after a I came to try it out and, more than anything, for the condoms' I came night out with a group from the zone. Furthermore, botrr regular clients for my box of condoms, because there [in Täbasco] they are bought' and strangers may tip above and beyond a woman,s asking price. One has to buy them in the pharmac/; they don't give them out' It's women's thirty-five cents perceptions of a client's ability to pay well are in-fluenced by very expensive. The cheapest are 3.5o pesos [rougNy I didn't like to lose a client his appearance and ethnic identity. According to a cändoml, But I would buy them, because sonia and Rita, during that the daytime because of a [lack of a] condom. And I didn't like to tell the client hours many of the men who arrive are camp-esinos, peasants I would charge him 3o pesos plus a condom: "Oye, give me 5 Pesos who are viewed as ugly and cheap and referred to as Chamulitos 1a racist more," and there goes the client. So, it's better that I would have it' euphemism for Mayan men from the indigenous village of Chamula, and I would buy ii with my own money, and that I would already applied to all people of indigenous descent). Handsome men are believed have a set price, including the condom, whether they want one or not' to have more money to spend, and while no worker ever admitted to me that she enjoyed others do not, the sex she had with a client, some did allude to the fact while there are clients who request the use of a condom, that they "only preferred to give their services to men they considered hand- and some refuse to use one. some workers, like Alejandra, work some. In her book about the Mustang Ranch, formerly a This phrase con cond'n-has worked its way into one of Nevada,s with condom." -söIo legal brothels, by the Comitiin Alexa Albert tbund the matter of a worker enjoying sex prostitute discourse, in part because of outreach efforts with a clie't quite controversial. some workers asserted that they never Center for Health Research. A large handwritten sign on Aleiandra's I?(' SELLERS AND BUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS r7r

wall next to the bed states her terms clearlyt " j5 pesos (US$4.ro). Only Within a cultural system of male privilege and dominance, one that is rvith a condom." This frees her from the sometimes troublesome process bolstered by the expected subservience of workers found in the exploita- of trying to convince clients to use a condom. yet for each worker who tive global service economy, the male clients of prostitutes, though some- always uses a condom, there is another who will work without one in times seen as symbols of disorder, are rarely viewed as Purveyors of disorder to keep a client. other workers use condoms sporadically or, as ease. Anne Stoler writes that not all bodies are viewed as equally they say, "Ninety-nine percent of the time." Desirde says of her condom susceptible to disease;l3 furthermore, some individuals, because of their use, "I use it with all the clients, except with my partner and clients who class, gender, or ethnicity, are constructed as "victims" of disease, while only see me." sometimes clients insinuate that, if a worker wishes to use others are seen as those who transmit it. In the brothels of Belize, British a condom, it is because sle carries a sexually transmitted disease. soldiers stationed in the former colony were encouraged to provide Like workers who do special services, women who don,t use condoms authorities with the names of prostitutes whom they suspected of having are repr,rted to "work more," in that they can serve both clients who want exposed them to a sexually transmitted disease); the prostitutes were to use a condom as well as those who refuse. women who insist on con- then punished or fired.ra In Tuxtla, govemment officials and the media do doms often have to labor to get their clients to use them. According to not speak of the consumers of sexual services as men who transmit ill- Bärbara, "You have to convince them. Sometimes tell I them the impor- ness. Only sex workers and a few vocal feminist leaders speak of such a tant reasons, the risks, the benefits. I ,Look tell them, if you do it with a thing, though wives, other female sexual partners, and women who condom, you can enjoy it more. And if you do it without a condom? work as prostitutes (all of whom are socially and physically more vul- lnfections. You can be calmer a condom] and [with do it without regreb. nerable to contracting HIV than their male counterparts) continue to be with safety and confidence. For your family. you don't have to worry infected with STDs by male partners. [r a listing of the number of about your well-being."' reported cases of HIV/AIDS among Mexican women by occupation, Gabriela says that about half her clients "know what can happen, housewives, who have little power to negotiate condom use with their know the risk of not putting it on." she has her own way of telling clients husbands, ranked third, while sex workers occupied sixteenth place.lsr about her strict use of condoms: Workers use other methods besides talking about risk to encourage condom use. MEXFAM (Fundacidn Mexicana para la Planificaciön For example, they say to me, "How much do you charge?,, and I tell Familiar, Mexican Foundation for Family Planning) and other otganiza- them, "This much." "Good." And then, if I tell them before they enter tions taught the women how to put a condom on using their mouths- the room [that they must use a condom], before the door is shut, I see ,,you she used method. They also they sometimes go. So, once they are inside, I tell them, know, though I never had a worker tell me this it's with a condom." "No, it's that I don't like it like that,,, they sav. taught them to place a drop of lubricant inside the condom to help it feel And I tell them, "Look, I'm going to help you. I,ll put it on yol and more "natural." Bärbara has used this latter method, but says that, I'll take it otT you." And so in order to motivate them and convince because of a lack of trt.st between workers and clients, and a dearth of them, I put it on them. "It doesn't feel the same.,, -We,ll try to make it sexual knowledge on the part of the client, some men fear the worker has feel the same." And I will convince them. But there are some that say, put something inside the condom that will harm them. Such male anxi- "No. No, I don't want to use it." And then one must battle to convince as a of a broader pattern of gender antagonism him, and some even say, "Know what, I'm not going to stay. It,s better ety may be described Part that I go." And I tell him, "But this is lost time.,, And he says, ,,Give present wherever extreme forms of gender inequality exist. Men, fearful me back my money.'/ And I tell them, "Time is time, and you know in of losing their dominant role, may harbor fears about the changing social this place one runs the risk of an illness." "No," ,,you he says, all order and women's increased Power. The brothel, then, is not only a site protect yourselves." Bueno,I protect myself, Patty,but them? where certain pattems of male dominance are enforced but also a loca- I]:] S[LLtrRS AND UUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS r7:l tion of struggle where gender identities and mare dominance (particu- up with cultural attitudes larly in the arena of knowleag" toward gender and morality.ts some clients J;;r".ratity and health) come because ject to question, causing may be sub_ they are seeking sex specifically without an emotional some crients to view the desire and prostitute both with commitment. Having sexual relations with a girlfriend, as the director with suspicion and fear. of public health suggests, often implies a moral obligation of some kind, a commitment that many young men are not willing to make. others may come because of emotion, SEX AND COMMITMENT seeking conversation and comfort. some clients seek a variety of partners, and others a variety of activities. Though there Liste.ing to the radio.o'e are certainly couples who engage in all forms of sexual activity, some morning, I hear an ad for store' The deep-voicecr a locar hardware Mexicans believe there are sexual acts a man performs with his wife and announcer äffu* construction_related "all your building items for other sexual acts that he does not (such as the special services performed for.yourc nrn grn,ra, ":"1, und your casa chica.,,t6At in the zone). A wife may reject certain a remare the sexual desires, or she may share a u,'k, ,-llily: "rs rhe :*::ffi:::T "oi"" casa chicaror my desire but refuse the act because it is considered inappropriate for a ,,decent,, hartingry,-uhhhh.:;:,:,:,i";;,::';:::::::;;,t',_ffi woman of her stafus, as wife and mother and, therefore, as a enduring Mexican ::X woman. while a man's desire is generally circumscribed only by his institution, in which a and choice of partner (wife, loveq, or prostitute) or financiar assistance for his the role he plays (active), ,,oo"Jl;:l::lJ:.::;nl:T; certain intended to be humorous, activities and desires are taboo for all "respectable" women and demonstrates the culturar rightful embedaeaness ultimately determine, to some degree, whether a woman ,,whore.,, m;rle infidelity and presumed of is a female naivet6 or denial. It is a saturday afternoon The ability of men to provide in the Galäctica, and there are nearly a a casa chica for ln otrarrrr" is subject oa,,", woman) dozen clients seated at Pepe's food stand. Rarely does pepe see suchbusi- to changing economic conditions. sarah Levine ness, stucry of gender rores notes in her but today he has a way to attract clients: he has brought in a small in Cuernavaca that the economic o?*,u black-and-white television that sits on the counter showing a soccer to give up or rerrain rrom ".iri" "urry ]|n:j?T::m||"" buitdins their casas game, Mexico versus Japan. Though generally working cluss, the crowd is in other ways diverse: seated at a table sipping a coke is fifty-three- *ll*i:d:,",'11,"il:::i:",'i.:,i"ffiilä:,x"T*::::j year-old Fernando, a gas company employee and zone regular. At another table sits a thin, dark-skinned man wearing fancy black cowboy ffi;:TI"i:iTlT *.",* boots with intricate stitching. ;**iffi5i?ilräit""Outded At his feet is a boy of no more than twelve, thoughtfully, "I think^" that "'"",." ple, well, it is rhe fär rh""" p"o- shinhg his boots. The man stares intently at his boots. The boy,s hands thl0therr^""*;:;";,il1:ä'",HT:['":,";:5lffi"urr' move quickly and deftly, almost hypnotically, cleaning and shining. thi'rgs' Having There are a few high school boys and a handful of middle-aged men, all a girrtriend and tarkinj*trn n* probabry **xif vince her in trying to con_ sipping sprites and Cokes. some men are noticeably better dressed than order to be able to have rärruJ' ple have the others. standing at the edge of pepe's booth is an elderly campesino sirlfri";;; but one .o,,ra ruf i., " ;":tät wearing a cowboy hat and they look for an easier ##I*|ffit#; and a yellowed button-down shirt that was prob- way, without a commitment.,, Though ably once white, his crusty feet enclosed in sandals. one woulcr assume that He does not enter the crients arrive at the Galäctica food obvious reason' motivations for one stand or buy a Coke, but simply stares at the television from a for visiting a frostitute are complex, bound distance. ll{ SELLERs ANI) BUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS r75

In the days when alcohol was by global potitical-economic,trends' permitüed in the zone, clients would Galäctica, though deeply influenced sometimes spend an entire day or an evening that has developed in places like the in the Galäctica, drinking, is unlike the sex tourism industry watching sporting events, eating, Rather' it is. a,local,-regional and buying sex. some men, referred to Dominican Republic or Southeast Asia' as ntirorrcs (men who to work there by a con- look but do not buy) could spend hours in the zone in4*try whose labor force has been prompted without ever actually buying services. regional' national' and Today, clients rarely spend an fluence of personal histories and complicated entire day in the zone, because there are not enough activities beyond sex global political-economic events' to keep them there. Mirones, though, men: truckers (a group favored by still frequent the zone, incurring the The mafority of clients are working wrath of workers who gripe, "They manual laborers' security come here just to look as if this were workers for their generosity), taxi drivers' a zoo!" service workers' The teenage guards, campesinos, police officers' and The noted-earlier' Galäctica is primarily a local and regional phenomenon. Most toy, fro* the local hign schools are an exception-as clients are Tuxtlecos, or they upper-class families, but the boys come from neighboring towns such as Äy of them come froÄ middle- and Berriozabal or Chiapa de Corzo. spend on such diversions' Clients But the Galäctica is also well known may have little disposable income to throughout southern Mexico, and clients men frequent the zone' The Poor- sometimes come in from other are generally ladino-few indigenous parts of chiapas, such as san Crist6bal de las Casas, ocosingo, and Las est men cannot afford the Galäctica' Margaritas, as the deep relationship be- well as from other southern states, such as yucarän, Despite the continuing Zapatista conflict' Tabasco, and Oaxaca. and the large military Presence tween prostitution and militarization' Few foreigners and tourists a strong presence in the find their way to the Galactic Zone, and throughout Chiapas, soldiers are not particularly when they do, word spreads appearances' but since uni- quickly. within hours of his visit, most peo- Galäctica. Military men do make occasional ple inside the zone had heard about the divorced gringo who wanterl to formed'militarymenandpoliceofficersarenotallowedinthezone(orin purchase sex from Evita, to distinguish military who refused him because of the special services establishments that serve alcohol), it is difficult he requested. During my year One can guess' however' that a in the zone, I heard of three foreign clients, clients from those in law enforcement' fwo of whom I met. his crew-cut hairstyle' White- One happened to be from my hometown on Long client belongs to one of these grouPs by Island. This client was and' rarely' low-level local older, a doctor, and coincidentally, had the same collar workers such as teachers, engineers' name as my mother's husband. the zone' I sat behind him on the bus on the way government bureaucrats also frequent back to town to be over fourteen and struck up a conversation with him in spanish. He - According to regulations, a client is supposed assumed that I was Mexican clients aPPear younger' snaP- or, at the very least, not from the united years old in order to enter' But some young states, and thus felt pushing and shoving each that his anonymity as a client was protected. \Ä/hen I ping their chewing gum and boisterously suddenly and purposefully (and are men in their twenties and admittedly somewhat cruelry) switched other as they enter' Tile majority of clients to English, the fellow response to my questioning' ohe was shocked and dismayed. we went to lunch thirties, though some are far older' In together and discussed "bad ,,caught,, years old!" his luck,, of being in a brothel by client proudly boasted, "I am eighty-five someone from is to be a man' Through his hometown. I completely destroyed for him the desired In the zone, men teach one another what it sense reinforcing normative of a.ronymity that sex tourists often seek when in a foreign country. their group visits they are practicing culture' Despitb the global trends that have brought central American women beliefsaboutgenderandsexualitythatneedconstantmaintenance,esPe- to the zone, and despite Enloe writes' "sexual practice is the workers' occasional use of imported porno- cially in a rapidly changing Mexico' As graphic movies and femininity's-daily consh'tlc- magazines, the prostitution that occurs in the one of the sites of -at""tit'ity's-and I?() SELLER5 AND BUYERS SELLERS AND BUYERS ITI tion'"re Cultural beriefs are not merely static givens but are subject to con_ young they seemed, despite their manly consumption of commercial sex. testation and are shaped by human action. The zone, despite i*;;;; I listened to them joke and laugh, watched them dig into their red, blue, reputatic'rn, is arso a place where more traditional codes of gender are and orange flavored ices with a spoon, burying their heads in their practiced and reinforced. A little more than half the clients arrive alone. Dragonball comic books. These men tend to be older, that is, middle-aged, and accustomed to the ln his study of machismo in Mexico City, Matthew Gutmann refutes routine of commercial sex. Regular clients tend to arrive alone more the common belief that "Tu.y or most Latin American men have their often than the others. They too arready know their role and do not need first sexual escapades with prostitutes."2l He also writes that, with the the support or guidance of other -"r,. B.rt for many, especially youngef exception of one man, all his informants told him they had never been me^ and boys, prostitution is a diversion that is to be shared with friends, with a prostitute. He further states that, while it could be possible they and that sometimes requires the social support of a peer group. A may boss were not telling the truth, it was more likely that it was not common for arrive with his employees in an act of gender solidarit|. Hiih school men in that area of Mexico City to pay for sexual services.22 Gutmann students tend to arrive in pairs or in larger groups. sometimes packs of suggests that paying for sex may be more of a tradition among middle- uniformed students from the nearby high school can be seen wandering and upper-class young men than among his working-class informants. It the zone together. is doubtful that most Latin American men have their first sexual encounter with a sex worker, but the one thousand working-class men who enter the gates of the Galactic Zone each day are not an aberration LEARNING DESIRE AND PRIVILEGE or an isolated Iocal phenomenon. Ratheq, they are a testament to the institutional status of paid sex in Mexico.23 Young men come or are brought to the zone to leam curtural norms Though family and friends might be enthusiastic, often the boy is not regarding sexuality, their roles as men, and d.esire. Just as there is little an eager participant in his own sexual initiation, experiencing both that is "natural" about sex and gender roles, desire too is a I construct, trauma and disappointment.2{ In the Galäctica, young boys who don't shapecl by history, culture, I and power.2' The brothel is a place not only desire commercial sex can leam such desire. Dr. Otero, who works week- i where desire is regulated and expressed but also i where desire is shaped and learned. ends in the SMAV says he has seen young boys being brought to the zone on their birthdays. According to the doctor, the degree of coercion was Standing at the zone entry, see I a young boy walking toward the rooms/ visible, as elders dragged boys by their arms. He felt sorry for them, he accompanied by an older man. The boy is just that, uloy, he looks said. no older than thirteen. I ask the cashier who mans the main ,,For gate about Sometimes boys are initiated not at the behest of older men but at the the pair and he tells me, his development.,, Though I am not sug_ insistence of their friends who pressure them into a visit with a sex gesting it is the norm, it is not unusuar for a young boy to have his first worker. One day while waiting outside the gate for transport back to sexual experience with a prostitute. For middle_ and upper_class boys, female a downtown Tuxtla, I struck up a conversation with three teenage boys servant is another alternative for sexual initiation. Fathers and who were also waiting. TWo of the boys were brothers, a fourteen- and a uncles and brothers take them to the zone in order to initiate them into fifteen-year-old who had been to the Galactic Zone on previous occa- the world of sexual relations and desire. sions, brought there by a family member. The other boy, fourteen, was a The boys from the prepa occupy a riminal space between childhood friend the brothers brought to the zone for the first time. The brothers and manhood' I',d often sit among them on the bus, amazed at how told me they thought prostitution was a fine thing and seemed quite I't:i sELLtrRs AND BUyERs SELLERS AND BUYERS 179 happy about their visit, but the other boy looked somewhat huge, thatched-roof when shaken working-class Tuxtlecos is a visit to a palapa bar, a I askc'd him what he thought of his experience, he said he didn,t building where male and female patrons drink alcohol, eatbotanas (aPPe- like it, that prostitution wasn't "good.." Clearly, boys, initiation into the pickled vegetables, cheeses, and grilled meats), and watch live world of sexual tizers of relations with prostitutes is not all fun and games. It,s a performances. The lineup generally includes a salsa band, a comedian, complex matter. and a variety of singers, including the omnipresent juan Gabriel imper- sonator (a singer of love ballads). The shows are entertaining but can also be somewhat heart-wrenching and make a Westerner feel like she's stum- FIDELITY bled into the saddest, cheapest casino in all of Reno, Nevada. The palapa bar opens for business at two o'clock in the aftemoon, and patrons gen- It is rlrc s.ili,n.lro rrrirr.r.ils. erally stay for three to six hours, until they are too drunk and too full to \lr.rir.irrr _irr irrg consume any more, they have to retum to work, and/or the palapa is closing. Though the consumers of commercial sex may be single, married, The performance of "Valiente" is often the biggest crowd-pleaser' divorced, widowed, or living with a partner, many clients, when the infi- claim asked, Performed by a man and one or two women, the song details to be single. one n'rorning, I conducted a survey with crients as they delity of a man and the angry reaction of his female partner. She sings at purchased their entry tickets. Two-thirds of the 16z men interviewed him, "You'll never again touch these lips, this body" and he feigns indif- claimed they were single' Some paused before answering, rooking me ference, shrugging off her threats. She tells him, "Go with her!" and over, clearly uncertain about how much information to giä*u, a young stomps about the stage altemately weeping and bitterly laughing as she wonan of ambiguous ethnicity and nationality. one man began to say he struggles to retain some dignity. She hits him repeatedly, tuming to the was married before abruptly changing his answer to single. Certainly, "Should status my crowd before each blow and asking the women in the audience, had somethi.g to do with the men,s;rnswers_perhaps they were I do it, girls?" The women shout out encouragement. He grabs her by the reluctant to admit to a seemingly ,,decent,, woman Äut tf,"y _uru members single. ,,ot hair. The audience goes wild. It ls very exciting. Male audience yell, advising him to smack her. Female audience members jeer the man I Fidelity a.d extramarital sexual relations are contested I and complex and cheer on the woman. Sometimes "the other woman" will march onto topics of discussion in Tuxtla and throughout Mexico. A man who has fight will begin between her and the "rightful" sexual relations with the stage and a physical i rnore than one ,roÄu. (that is, with women who female partner. He croons to her, "You want me to cheat on you" and are not sex w<-lrkers) is a ntujeriago, or womanizer. This behavior is gen- "You know that I changed who I am for you!" and then places his hands erally accepted, encouraged, ancl even valorized by other men. prostitute Non- around her throat and strangles her a bit. He throws a chair across the wonen wh'engage in similar behavior must do so discreetly, stage. She grabs his crotch. He stands behind her and grabs her ass with because as one female friend noted, "we have much more to rose,, around and a rnan than both hands and then squeezes her breasts. She swings does: 'A woman who has lovers, well, people think there is no smacks him hard. We watch, entranced. difference betwe,en her and the women ir.r the Zona Galäctica.,, This performance resonates with audience members for many reasons: Prevailing cultural norms surrounding gender and fidelity are beauti- is a performance of culture, of male infideliry female sexuality, and fully illustrated by It the live musical pu.rääu."e of the ,,Variente,, (Bra'e)' song female-female competition for men. But it is more than that. The perfor- A popular afternoon ritual in Tuxtra among both äiddle- ana mance is also a group activity in which audience members are encour- t rtJo SELLERS AND 8UYER5 SELLERS AND BUYERS r8r aged to take part in reinforcing culturar beliefs, and it is a chance for more women' some of whom alcohol is no longer served, a client would be hard pressed to spend perhaps have unfaithfulhusbands themselves,b express than sixty pesos [US$7.oo] during a visit), money sPent at the zone is their discontent in a channeled and controlled manner while men plead their case. money that could be spent on the family' According For some clients, visiting a prostitute is a form of male rebellion to both workers and clients, engaging in sexuar relatioru certain arenas of the household realm. with a prostitute does not constitute against female domination within infidelity. A prostitute is not h otro A man is untaithful Aman who is dominated by his wife is called amandilön (from the noun it implies that the man has assumed a wife's role).26 A w om an b u t b y ff rundit [apron]; " ;':l'; X:",i:::::ä:ffii*:tr,:ll ä:ff; at the zone on a saturday aftemoon with a woman' As Bärbara^ told me, defiant mandildn may arrive "No, [visiting a prostitute] is not infidelity, because there is no sentimental sack full of tomatoes and garlic that his wife sent him out to buy. Having commitment. rnfidelity is when I have a is a way of enacting one's masculinity while also wife and a rover-a romantic relationship. sex with a prostitute It is different.,, one client remarked that ,,definite passively resisting the label mandilln. coming to the zone is not a relationship;jb.,,ri._ ply " a coming and going, . . . a moment of satisfaction.,, He ädua, ,My wit'e may have a fever, a cold, her period, or she may not want to. She may be busy with the children or CLIENT PERCEPTIONS OF SAFE SEX thinking of other ifrirrgr. So, I come here' but she doesn't know." Though it is a common berief that a should indurge wile Since many clients mistakenly believe that sex in the zone is risk-free as her husband when he wants to have sexual relations, may be even less clearly culture is not actualry a result of the health examinations workers receive, they practiced in this way; a wife has methods many likely to use a condom, thereby undermining one of the ostensible aims of and reasons for declining sexual activity with her spouse. public health. This perception Furthermore' women are perceived of the regulationist system-to protect as not having the same sexuar appetites as men' Finally, among clients, combined with the low prices that may induce some sex though prostitution is not considered infidelity the zone perhaps less by clients and workers, the fact workers to have sex without a condom, makes that clients do not te' their spouses reveals that "safe" than authorities would care to admit' As the researchers from the it is certainly not acceptable to wives. what kind Comitiin Center for Health Research suggest, "The Zona Galäctica of sex is this, then, that does not constitute infidelity but sexually transmitted diseases. The still must be hidden by men from implies fantasies of security against female romantic partners? Although the question zone 'guarantees' control over health. The men are unfamiliar with the of whether visiting a prostitute is an emotional or romantic types of betrayal.may be argued, exact mechanism under which the women are tested and what visiting a prostitute in a culture where men are know that there is medical attention, expected to provide for their examinations are done. They simply femare partners is an economic betrayal, well as a potentia'y as which instills in them a fantasy of control and guarantees of health."27 physical betrayal that courd endanger a spouse,s Tüxtleco who works in a bank. He says he comes to well-being if her husband does Rafael is a young not use a condom. The way men spend money on luxury the zone because the sex workers receive medical examinations and thus items instead of household needs is a source of domes_ them than from street workers. tic conJlict common to many it is safer to buy commercial sex from Mexican households, especially working- class households.s F6lix came to the zone after propositioning a teenage worker in down- Though a client would have to be very poor (or very be covered virile) in order to cause town Tuxtla whom he found, upon closer inspection, to with the economic collapse of a household by pur- and was dirty." He told himself, "Better I go chasing services at the zone (it "bumps, pimples, and stains, is the cheapest in the state, and now that to the zone." Clients generally believe that the zone is a"safe" place to li.i2 SELLERS AND BUYERS

buy commercial sex-"safe" in that it is a secure environment manned by police, where clients ,,safe,, are unlikely to be robbed or abused; from public'iew; and "safe" from exposure to sexually transmitted diseases. while it is true that clients are less likely to be robbed there or seen by a spouse as they enter, the physical examinations that workers are sEVEN The Secrets We KeeP required to undergo do not ensure that a client (or a prostitute for that v()RK, STIGNI'\ matter, though this is not sEx, the primary concem of the SMAV) is safe from contracting a sexually transmitted illness. This situation raises serious questions about the purpose Or whit,h is rnore to lrc blarllerl- of this modern brothel and the regulation of commercial sex in Tuxtla Gutidrrez. thrnrgh both havc cause firr clragrirt: the *'ornatt who sins lbr rtxlrttrv ()I lh(' lnatl who puys ttlottt'r' lo sittl

Sor Juana lu6s dc la (lruz. sevetrteetrth-r:cntury Me-rit arr lttril arttl P1)t:t

Flor and I are having lunch in the small, sparsely fumished home she shares with her health inspector boyfriend, facobo. we are eating shrimp with garlic and a salad of cabbage, radish, tomato, jalapeflo, cilantro' and lime, when a teenage girl from the neighborhood arrives carrying plastic sunJlowers that Flor will bring with her to a baptism she has to attend later in the day. Though she is young, the girl's breasts are very large and Flor her face has a haggard, aged quality about it. After the girl leaves, "young confides to me in hushed tones, "she is not a sefiorita [literally, woman," but figuratively, "virgin"f, and she is fifteen years old' She as gives hersel f away." Flor clearly finds the girl's situation unsettling, She now lives near äia tne girl's mother,who kicked her out of the house' and sometimes gives her sma]l FIor with an aunt. Flot has befriended her sums of moneY to run errands'

tli,,S rB5 Itjt TIIE SECRETS WE KEEP THE SECRETS WE KEEP

Though there exists a may to a partner' Some women' continuum between sex work and sexual rela- exposing themselves to clients as they tionships that take place after sex with a client' while they within free unions and formal marriage, there are like Lydia, say they immediately wash important distinctions between sex within marriage or a formal relation- do not with their Partners' ship (trni6n libre), (regalada), of sex in that it is labeled an sex that is "given away " and sex purchased in Prostitution is distinct from other kinds the zone. Bärbara speaks ,,give has its own norms and rites' is ide- of women who look for lovers, who it economic transaction that, though it away" without of a committed rela- receiving anything in retum. "people see women that sell ally unmarked by the intricacies and complexities it as bad, bad because modem principles of efficiency' of the simple fact that they charge.', But she recog- tionship. The Galäctica is a place where nizes that women where an effort is made to who have many lovers and do not charge are also ordet and hygiene are purportedly practiced' viewed negatively by society. where women's sexual ser- For Bärbara, and for many Tüxtlecas, implicit streamline sexual ,etution" It is a place Poor i' every sexual relationship and they themselves become is an expectation of material exchange. A client vices are transformed into commodities' pays directly; a romantic become consumers in the service partner provides financial assistance and gifts. consumers. Working-class men too Yet despite the common notions of masculinity in a con- thread of men's payment (direct or indirect) economy while also enacting traditional for sexual relations, sex workers say that relationships with clients and finedplaceinordernottopollutethecitycenter.TheZonaGaläcticapro- with partners are nothing alike (though these boundaries may sometimes videsawayofmaintaining(andsometimescontesting)traditionaland blur, as was the case with M6nica a.d vicente). Many workers have had "deviant" gender roles in a controlled environment' hundreds of clients; many of these same women have had few boyfriends. Bärbara herself estimates that she has served more than two thousand clients, but of romantic partners she says she has had five. of TIES THAT BIND her last partner, she says, "He broke my heart.,, After eight months together, she found primarily because of eco- that he had another girlfriend. He gave the other As noted earlier, women work as prostitutes woman money so she could a good day' up to ten times the support a child she had conceived with nomic need. The opportunity to eam' on another man, while is twenty-seven or he rarely gave Bärbara anything. sex with a client, daily minim.t- *ug" in Chiapas (which Pesos' says Bärbara, is "totally different" hr a country where women from sex with a partneq, as there is an US$f .rS) is the greatest benefit of sex work' emotional bond prostitution offers a and commitment between the pair. with little education or resources have few options' sex workers delineate or mark this boundary between romantic sex viable altemative to a life of material deprivation' and sex as work in a number of ways: clients will receive certain sexual Sexworkcangivewomeneconomicfreedomandself.sufficiency.It services, while other acts, such an unhappy home life' and it as kissing or even the fondling of breasts, gave Bärbara the opportunity to escape will be reserved only for partners. ln this way could suPPort herself and her two workers are able to rede- lave Gabriela, whä realized she fine sex as work, dividing sexual activity into acts that take place in the daughtersthroughprostitution'theincentivetoleaveherviolenthus- arena of work and acts that as a servant' but what I are for romance. other strategies that create band. As Gabriela *y', "I could have worked a distinct work identity include ,,uni- to the rent' to send the following: workers put on a would have eamed wouldn't have been enough Pay form" at work, which consists I wouldn't let my daughters not only of makeup, dress, and a change of my daughters to school, and to feed them' name but somefimes of attitude as well. They also often leave on some eatnothingmorethanbeansorsomesimplelittlething,or[acceptthe article of clothing, walked around without such as a bra, during sex with clients rather than dis- factl that they didn't have rnilk' or that they robing entirely; in this way they are literally and figuratively not entirely shoes or were in the street begging'"

F t' i: L tii(r TlrE sr(.RErs wE xEEp THE sEcRETs wE KEEP t8Z

A.other option tor economic survival is to rely on a male rom.urtic is not unusual; many poor, uneducated women bear the burden of eco- parhrer for money and housing. But single women with children dis- nomic responsibility for entire families. cor''er that finding a partner willing and able to support children can be The combination of cultural norms, obligation, need, guilt, and famil- difficult' For ma^y women, the work they do in thgzone, though viewed ial love that compels many women to work for their families can be a by the culture as the antithesis ,,deceni,, of the behavior of a mother, volatile mixture. Ironically, many workers, though they support entire enables them to provide their children with the necessities of daily life. families, gain little status from their role as breadwinner. Ln yet another Deeply rooted curturar beliefs that tie d.aughters to their families of ori_ manifestation of the contradiction that sex workers must live with, they, as gin motivate many women who work in prostitution to provide financial family breadwinners, receive little compensation themselves in terms of support for parents, siblings, and even cousins in some cases.t Even as social standing in their families or communities. This is, in part, because economic changes and migration strain traditional family bonds and of the stigmatized nature of their work and also because of their position .rlter the family roles of men, women, and children, the cult of family within a patriarchal gender system that expects women to unseHishly remains strong i'Latin America. Many sex workers migrate from rural serve their families as daughters, mothers, and spouses, without reward. areas or depressed cities, leaving behind dependent famrlies that they Many families of sex workers nre unaware of how the remittances they must still support. prostitute women employed in urban areas through- receive are eamed; some families are grateful and supportive, while others rut the de'eloping world send remittances to families; often these are a are not. Magda's family lives rent-free in a small home on a piece of land family's single most important source of income.2 she owns in the southem city of Tapachula. Though she has not yet con- Both immigrant and Mexican workers in the zone use their eamings to structed a well-built house made of wood on this land, which she laments, support thcir imn-rediate as weil as extended families. Esperanza, from she does have many "good things," such as a refügerator, armoires of Guatemala, worked in the ambiente for eight years to support her cedar and mahogany, and a cedar dressing table. Magda has assisted her exter-rcled family back home; she recently left the ambiente. Her family younger sisters for many years. The youngest, an unmarried mothet had fi.ally achieved some degree of economic stability, and she wanted received a great deal of "help" from Magda, who also supported her to start her ow. family with her husband, an engineer employed by the nephew. She says, "I helped her with the Iittle boy since kindergarten, buy- state. A large portio. of sonia's earnings are sent to El salvador to sup- ing uniforms, shoes, sneakers, school supplies, everything. I saw him as port her mothe,r, brother, and teenage son. Of her family, she says, though he were my own son. I took care of him and I took cals 6f ths !ills." "Ecorromically speaking, they depe'nd on me." Sonia moved to Moreros In ry97 Magda fell and badly broke her leg. To this day she walks from the zone to earn better money so she could raise funds for cancer slowly, with a noticeable limp. Unable to work or even walk well after the surgery for her mother. Her life has long been characterized by sacrifice accident, she returned to Tapachula to recover. At this time she stopped tbr family' she has wr>rked to help support them since she wis a child, giving her sister money for her nephew's care. According to Magda, her pricki^g cotton and planting coffee in El salvador. of the work, she says, fust week or two at home was wonderful. She was happy to be home, she "lt was i. order b help my mother, because we didn't have any place to had missed her family, and she felt as if she were "in heaven,. . . like I Iive, nothi'g." Dr-rring her youth, she received only one year of schooting. was Carlos Salinas de Gortari."3 Tears well up in her eyes as Magda She never met her father, or the eight sibrings who came before her and speaks of how, after a few weeks, her family began to "behave badly." It diecl .f curable illnesses, and she speaks littre of El Salvador,s long guer- is something she says she rarely speaks of to anybody; she is ashamed rilla struggle, st'rying only that there was war and poverty. Sonia:s story and does not want anyone in the zone to know ;[CRETS WE KEEP THE sEcRETS wE KEEp r8tl My sister would arrive home from toier the and give the daughters and to me, best fruit fruits....Onet she -r;T,:I:t former soldier who now works as a musician, cannot support the family. "There a tomato costs a peso. Everything wan t the ;T;l;-i*i*d'fJ-1 Iili:fi THäiff is expensive. And the price of refrigeraror""' . old, but " meat is sky-high-twenty pesos (US$2.35) for half a kilo! Everything fii is stilr edible].,, , ;,0 n"lt,1,.l.jli",o"tr in the to leave it ro, *", and_that costs so much." Though she understands her parents'need, she feels that said, ,Ay, i*;d whar a pig. She,s lik";,;;"";i,lxä;;Ttr*,:;:::,:.""o they expect and often demand too much: "They want to wring the last that eats rotten food.,, drop out of me. If I had a hundred pesos in my hand [to give them], it Magda's nieces wourd sweep but leave would be gone in an hour." They the area around her bed did not herp her make i". ;"J;;;ring dirty. things her crean sheets. Magda *ri rn-",,1r' ,,not These are """;;;et, even in my coffin under will r forget!. rhe"mistrearment CONSUMING DESIRES :il""Hj::1i:*, Masda suffered at rhough,,," bv her -.J";; .,"*lä11 il*a:f ": ;rosrtute. Aside from allowing women to provide for themselves and their families, tha t, alrter ff .,"u.if ,i."" d eca d es *,h" n::t earnings from sex work have another important consequence: they allow surmised what ; i::"ri::,;lt :H"T* it is she does fo, *o.t u., poor women entry into a modem consumer economy. As Sonia lamented haps their mistreat ,hemmonev,*.äal**::"i,;f*ääT.;"Til:nf, of her time in the zone, "Here, one becomes much more materialistic." i;:Jä:a When poor women suddenly find themselves able not only to survive Whether within romantic or paid sexual but also to purchase consrrner goods, they experience shifts in desire: with family encounteq, in relationships reciprocityp,"r,".ilää"[1i:"1r":;:H.J.T:::$*::.,1$-".rru.u new "wants" are created and transformed into "needs." In addition to work-related goods (clothing, shoes, and makeup), some workers also family's lack of reciprocity' Magda now begin to purchase items such as inexpensive clothing, electronic no says she feels arone, iewelry family. She uses the phrase ,,or,u that she has frurä _urr,", thu-o"tf,lr;ä goods, and cell phones for themselves, as well as toys, clothing, and other .eru tio,,"r,ip, ;; the "*pruin items for their children.a This transformation from poor women with lit- ;:: ::#: :r.:"_;o;*, zone. a" _u u," in "itting tle disposable income into less-poor women who are consumers is par- "seehow ror Magda. she ju",".--.nllffiJ#:*#eetroll says, ticularly drastic for rural women, bread, and who are new to the urban environ- tle coffee, ";;r?-:'":Tso-me now I give her a ar,a ,ri" rit- ment-in which they are bombarded with messages 'r." about consumption via radio, television, and billboards-and the embeddedness of spend- ;1"1",,$il:^x,ä?TTl'i;üT^'1"#1il,?ffi?*Js ing in everyday urban life. Bonita sends remittances to El Salvado Along with such shifts in spending habits come shifts in beliefs about i_"1l"dt*oyo,,,g"..:lo'ig,*.i;;;;;::"ilffi lil:?,::",1,,:;ff: identity, happiness, and self-worth. Magda's words reveal that sex work the transformed her from a poor poriticar ,iro,u,,"" or child to a "self-made" woman and proud ,ö"1fr:il:il,l1,1y*r th.;;8*.),1*u, u,, consumen "I grew up in a very humble house. We ate sitting on a mat on wou,d hide under,* ffn:::ffi1ilffi'::1f#i",f; the floo4, tortillita with salt and lime. And since I have been a woman who want to go outside !:ä for fear of a stray bullet.,, has suffered, today I am the happiest woman in the world. I have what I has ended' The conflict in El Salvador but the poverty that have from nothing. I made myself from spurred it har.rot, and nothing. Never did I think I Bonita,s father, a would have a cassette player, or an air conditioner of two horsepoweq, or t(r(., TtiE stCRtrTs wE XEEp l()r three pieces of property, thanks to Go,d' I fbur ejectric never imagined ttris, ruri".- and ü*ee, a subsequent visit, I found she had once again returned to the Galactic The situation that MagrJa describe Zone. leave the makes it difficult for u-ui".,t". u;;;#::"^'111es women to As much as the zone provides illusion for clients, it also provides a fantasy of wellness and prosperity for workers. Though the work is dif- nm[lmi;:$i;:-!'".i!i'"T;$'ä']r"ffi .',äTil ficult and stigmatized, the women work in nice clothing and makeup. : j::m The space is clean and fairly well maintained. One leaves work with cash * fä:: :d::ö ö:Tä":*nm",*hr in hand and is able to attain some of the respectability accorded persons with money to spend. This contrasts greatly with the reality of wearing m{t*,_"":..:::örum*:*litH,",# an apron covered with fish blood while sitting in a dark, hot doorway, u gend er u. . *,ur o ""0," ffii ", "t ",rJi sprayed with silvery scales scraped off a pile of dead fish, only to earn a the women ".",',1| "'.r'*:.|lTi Becoming.""JilJ:ffi:I: r"l"r,,ur, mitigate,t,u rJr"-' meager living. Leaving the associated with seltins ambierit";;;il'-::::':?1"me.ans sex. Some workers who wish to leave the ambiente find they cannot. spend as one oro ,o^,::j"^:-tte: $vmg up the abiliry to eam when emPloyed in prostitution. and Roberto, the former sex worker from Guatemala, desperately wanted to employment is 1ur o""t."i" find other uy th" Ieave, and though he did give up sex work, he continues to work in the who have a"munds of supporring u"","0'1",11:Tltl:d families ambiente as a janitor-gofer. Though no longer a sex worker, he still " t#il";:ilinued pros te r, s is ti," n.l'* ter,'. . d a ugh- speaks of wanting to leave. When I asked why he didn't look for work " ",,,l.'ililil ""ir ;ii";ä'":ff elsewhere, he said, "Because of my lack of study and knowledge. . . . I've ff:,T:i; lived with people of the ambiente since I was a teenager." Roberto has f::.;{rmru*:hrj*rffitle shop. in order to open when r ."..,;J: to lvlexicoJ"-":::lT:*"te up a rit- been involved in the ambiente in some form since he was young, so he is selting u y".u, after I had left, fish in I found her reticent to leave an atmosphere he knows well, in which he feels rela- that sJrves " ",.rj:::o *" *" ä;-;r".',11::ääfi|r;; o,."* ,u*i ,,*a tively comfortable about fully expressing his sexuality, and where he has :;'n"-:.""0e dark empty room side of a doorway inside on a wooden chair behi a friends and acquaintances. Dofla Paula, who runs a food stand across -TJill#'i;:';';[":l-"nwhiterish)"li'ö"#",:äH|;*fi'; from Pepe's, used to work as a prostitute in the Galäctica. She eased her way out of it, running the food stand while still prostituting, before she rng a ,ag *t-"*-,,loä ','". ,n"-;*i",';'fl:; [:Tj,""*"g.h]o on *u.',- finally was able to switch over to working her stand full-time and eam than a ru* ,".o.,ar. t:.m randing for o., tt u other side ,r ,#.ll:r_ more the respectable title of Dofia, reserved for women who work in the ambi ;:ffi ,:::::"_r#kedbrightye;;;;,ä;::"älJ,:,;.:il::fjf ente in capacities other than sex worker. o rd er to b eco me ; ;H#:fi^ffi ".:lJ::: n::{ru:ni:: f services, '= STIGMA nilil,lili i:1:,j1T'f ",o'o'u,i''f '"*.,ar Gabriera was one that was she did n""" ,, crose #:Tjlrj:nT,:iT "", iie uuo,,t. Some feminist theorists argue that gender- and class-based exploitation is important could join to notc- that Gabriela her. It constitutes the major reason why sex work is difficult for women. was to Ieave because of the financial the ambiente only support she receive<"ori"i1l"tnter Though women come to sex work primarily for the money, I suggest it is I from her partne4, Miguet. In the social construction of sexuality and gender-along with the resulting T{)2 THE SECRETS WE KEEP THE SECRETS WE KEEP T()3

stigma, nrarginalization, silence, invisibility, and shame attached to find that the attendees of Larissa's ing sex-that to sell- I am surprised and saddened many women find hardest to bear. a food Zone workers are stig- party are largely affiliated with the zone: taxi drivers' sex workers' matized and disciplined as both women and workers for stepping me. The only other guests are Elena's younger daughter' beyond the uendor, and boundaries of acceptable female behavior. us than for Mari, and a sole friend of Larissa's. It seems a party more for rn hrs classic sociologicar work on the subject, Erving Goffrnan drink, and watch the stage show' I am impressed that, while ,,an writes Larissa. We eatbotanas, stigma refers to attribute that water' is deeply är.rJi*g,,, r, i, by Pepe's restraint-he is drinking what aPPears to be mineral also about relationships-an attribute may not be inherently discrediting when I realize hours later that he has quietly been in itself and more impressed but is sometimes constructed to define he its possessär as discred_ getting thoroughly tanked on vodka tonics' He begins to tell Mdnica itable in relation to anotheq, who by lack of ihat attribute a women's group organized "normal."s is confirmed as lorres h"r. M6nica, who had been attending The stigma that female sex workers suffer is what Goffman Alcoholics Anonymous, is drinking wine coolers' Pepe dances with refers to as a "blemish by of individual character,,: the tranquil. stigmatized person is Larissa. The normally brash and explosive Elena is unusually perceived as possessing weak will, unnatural passions, treacherous leave the bar to head back to Elena's house for cake, she beliefs' and the Before we like. other groups who may bear her daugh- such stigma of charac- approaches me in the bathroom, lowers her voice, and says of ter include, according to Goffman, homosexuals, alcoholics, don't know what I do"' I reassure her unemployed, felons, the ters in a conspiratorial tone, "They political radicals, and the insane.6 at that I will keep her secret. I have become an accomplished liar, skilled For the women who work ,,passing,, in prostitution, as an the lies they tell to the children tized unstigma_ keeping women's secrets and maintaining member of society is fraught with difficulties, asihe following story and families whom I have come to know' illustrates' M6nica, pepe, and I leave the zone together on pesos so she can the entire bill' aftemoon, a Thursday Back at the table, I lend Elena fifty Pay heading by taxi to Los Explosivos, in the the popular palapa bar on we pile into one of the pirate taxis and head for Elena's apartment Tuxtla's south side' we are going to utt".ra u the city. The neighborhood is a poor one and for Elena's ""rr".,t"*th-uirtrräay party southem hills that overlook teenage daughter, Larissa. Elena too is a sex worker, but cur- other women from the Galäctica. The streets are not maintained, rently she works home to in a private house in another town. The I was sulprised when and some remain unpaved. Deep potholes resemble small canyons' Elena invited me. I didn't know her wen and had never ,rr", h", daugh- are mad'e of concrete and wood, unlike the poorer ters' Pepe looks houses, though, very puttogether and is particularly of a animated as we pre- shanties in the southwestern hills where Lydia lives' Elena rents part pare to leave the zone' rn his earry sixties, he appears much younger. and thin, pepe Short largehouse-shehasakitchen,bedroom,bathroomandlargerooftop is beginning to go bald, and he from that wears rur,Urir, lray frair porch. A green curtain is all that divides her section of the home swept back offhis angular face. He identifies as gay, but I have not known of the other tenants. him to have a mare partner. He is also more discreet than and continue to drink. vendors, the other food we sit on the porch on rickety wooden chairs who wear jewelry and feminine red hairdos. Today pepe has Dolores and Lulu arrive from the zone. Lulu has dyed her hair from changed from his zone work clothes (a T_shirt, pants ro,,ä ,rp ankles' and ,o ,r," todarkbrown.Mönicaadmonishesher,"Whydidyoudothat?Youhad plastic flip-flops) to a black-and-white zone are button-down shirt, it the perfect color. This doesn't suit you." Relationships in the gray slacks' and shoes' Excited by the rare evening out, he speaks quickly, and they involve a great deal of lying and moments of happily' loudly, like this, complex, explaining to nobody in particurar in a why he brought such brutal honesty. We all, Elena,s daughters included, gather our chairs fine clothes to change into, "Crritryn t'u ntaerre [Fuck your mother]. it appears, on not falling out of going I,m not circle. Pepe sits in his chair, concentrating, to waste them [by working in them], get them all dirty.,, it. He then begins to talk, as drunk people often do' His big' watery t()+ THE SECREt.s wE KtrEp THE SECRETS WE KEEP l1)l-t brown e'yes look at me lovingly as he says to me in the littre Engrish he knows, "Come here. a woman who works as a prostitute full-time, particularly a registered I done know. yes, plis.,, We toward pull his chair over t me, laughing, and he begins to zone worker, has made a greater commitment to sex work and so bears hug me, saying loudly in Spanish its stigma to a greater extent. you more than anyone. The clandestine sex worker is clandestine in r love yo,, *o* rhan any_ ilI;; #JJfi #""" that she works at night in private locations, whereas the regulated pros- rasttwoworcrs.".l;.::äff :;:ililäi:,1iff titute often works during the day in the public Galäctica, where she is It is a lo.g and sobering ,ll; registered and on display. s'ence. The woräs Zona Galäctica,"::l;*:1:,fl outside rarery uttered the zone by workers, fall heavily As Elena's story illustrates, most workers attempt to keep their onto every conversation on the porch, ending them like employment a secret, even from those closest to them. Keeping this secret a giant p"rioi. Rather, *" ,"fer zone as alli, ,Are to the requires a great deal or ',tn as in you going "f_"y,,it of effort and can generate an enormous amount of :i., there?,, o. u lrrrt .o." fi'om there.,, Finally M6nica,s,uoi"" truuä ,,pepe!,,she anxiety and alienation. Erving Goffman tells us, "Close relationships that the silence. hisseq scolding him. the individual had before he Even in his drunken state, he appears came to have something to conceal therefore something to know he has done very' very wrong' we are become compromised, automatically deficient in shared information. supposed to keep each other,s secrets. He stares down at the ground. Newly formed or'post-stigma'relationships are very likely to carry the And as silent as discreditable person past the point where he feels it has been honorable it was only moments before, conversation erupts suddenly everywhere, as we attempt to cover of him to withhold the facts. And, in some cases, even very fleeting rela- up the awkward moment. we hope that Elena's daughters ,omeho* tionships can constitute a danger, since the small talk suitable between missed the last few minutes, though surely they did not. strangers who have struck up a conversation can touch on secret fail- Mönica firmly and quietly tells pepe should have more he ings."7 Though workers employ various manners. I am sent off to the strategies to separate their work a.d bedroom with Larissa Mari' where we rie on the bed and and home identities and conceal their "secret failings," this compart- I help them transrate into spanisrr the ryrics on an mentalization can never be fully ord Rod stewart cassette. It is complete. Workers often become known getting late and I decide to leave' Larissa and Mari telr in town and may run across clients, zone staff, and co-workers in the city me that the party win go on they.have alr night, and that to wake up for school ut in ,,we center. A sex worker must lie frequently and can rarely let her guard the morning. are used to it"' they say with resignation. "e,näpepe down, even in, or especially in, her own home. There are few occupa- I force into u .uu insists he is -itr, -",ü""rn n" tions, .ot ready to go home. I get äropped aside from international spy, mobster, and police informant, that off first, frrt f"pu i" too drunk to remember where he lives,"so require so much subterfuge. I org out my address book and instruct the driveq, praying pepe Women who work as prostitutes generally do so in places are that gets home *i*,o,rigetting they robbed or assaurted. Even o'oc.usionrltik",hir, "aiely new to, where they have no family, so they do not risk the humiliation of when Galäctica workers attempt to broaden being seen by a brother, cousin, or uncle. In this way, workers' their circle fbr celebrations, they worlds remain irot"t"a uy ; stigma and fearful that their become divided spatially between places where the stigma they suffer is secret will be revealed. l The stigma to be concealed or revealed. of working as a prostitute Yet with time, the anonymity sought by zone _full-time circumscribes one,s social rerations' causes f'ear workers decreases as they become known by some of the hundreds of and shame, urrd .r"ur", situations thenticity in of inau- repeat daily life. unlike Tuxtla's street customers who visit the Galäctica. As much as workers try to cre- prostitutes, who work inter_ mittently in order to supplement ate borders between their lives outside the zone and their work in the earnings from their aay;obs, o, *ort only a few hours late at night servicing ambiente, these borders are permeable. When zone and city center meet, p"erhaps only one or two clients, it creates anxiety for workers. Adriana spoke of the horror she felt when l()() THE SECRETS WE KEEP THE SECRETS WE KEEP r97

she saw a man from her neighborhood with a in the Galäctica. She hid in her sitting in the plaza in san Crist6bal, immersed in conversation room fbr hours, working, chil- but reaving her door open only a few inches. friend, when suddenly Viviana appeared in front of me with a few workers may also find themserves approached by clients when in thecity dren in tow. we hugged and chatted for a while and made plans to get center. Gabriela remembers two such incidents: together for pizzathat evening. Later she told me that when she had first seen me in the plaza that day she had waved, and that I had looked at One time I was in the pharmacy with my boyfriend, when suddenly her and gone back to talking with my friend. I had not seen her or her a man came up and grabbed me and hugged me and said to me, Patty doesn't want to talk to me. "Hi. You didn,t go to wave, but she said to herself, "Maybe the zone today?,,Tilen the cashier stared at me and I just It took all her coura8e to approach me and lowered my head. Another time I was going toth; Maybe she has changed." market with my daughter, walking off' and another man in the street said hello possibly be rebuffed rather than simply to me and wanted me. family in El salvador l:_h"g I stepped to the side and said to him, when sonia entered the ambiente, she told her is with you?,, He asked .'W-lat me ii I went to work today, and I felt that she was working as a clothing vendor who traveled from city to bad because I was with my daughter. city. For someone who has never worked selling clothing, she is well informed about such businesses; she can easily discuss how to rent a These sorts of actions indicate to workers a lack of respect for the women. location from the city, where to buy the clothing wholesale, how to price As Gabriela remarked to one client, ,,Look, idea for me inside here [the zone] I am it, and travel. Of her knowledge, Sonia says, "It was a good whatever you want, but outside, respect me, because I too have a family.,, to learn all that in case they (my family) ask me questions." Lying to her Both being approached and being to ignored reinforce a woman,s role as family was difficult at first, but she says, 'After a while you start a prostitute, something she tries to shed when she leaves the zone. Being believe it, until you think it is true'" ipgrored by those who staff the sMAV and administrative offices angers while lying to family members who live in another city, state, or even many women, who feel they are being snubbed. sitting at Dofla paula's country can be difficult, it is even more difficult to lie to one's children, food stand one hot day, Flor ,,rudeness,, expressed her anger with the of who may live with sex workers. Many women find that as children grow the zone staff. she had recently seen both the Accountant and the doctor older they become more curious and even suspicious. As Gabriela's chil- while in town, and had been ignored even by each of them. Even Olivia, a dren grew older, they often asked her what she did for work and nurse whose husband is a pirate taxi driver and whose mother-in-law is asked her to take them with her. She told them she worked as a waitress, Dofla Mari, a zone landlady, ignores them, says Flor. a cook, and sometimes a maid-the sort of jobs she would probably be During my early days in the field, it was often difficurt to know how doing were she not in the Galactic Zone. But Gabriela chose to tell her to respond to workers outside the zone. one aftemoon I stopped by the children about her work when she felt they were old enough to under- municipal govemment offices to speak with the mayor, u.,a i*o. found stand. As she explains it, "I couldn't bear any longer what I carried myself swept along into a parade that the city government was spon- inside from lying to them, and so when I saw that she [Ximena, her eldest soring' As I warked down the street with the mayot his functionaries, daughter] was getting older and was already in her second year of sec- and a few dozen people of Zoque descent in traditional dress, I looked ondary school, I told her I wanted to talk with her." Gabriela knew that up to see a woman who looked like sonia standing nearby on the curb, her daughter probably already had some idea of what prostitution was smiling at me' I was unsure what to do. would goirrg o.r"r,o say hello to from watching movies, soap operas, and dramatic television Plograms her somehow give away her secret? I was new to the ambiente and such as Casos de la Vida Real. (ReaI Life Cases is a television program that didn't know. I smiled back and kept marching. In another instance, I was reenacts true and horrifying stories, along with delivering to viewers not r()ii rq9 I'}IE SECREl'S WE KEEP TIIE SECRETS WE KEEP

so subtle sociar messages outside the ambiente' about the value of family. The one women, as they have few friends time I saw it, cem for most as a very depressed teenage girr committed with people outside the zone' such suicide by sticking her head in Bonita says she has little coniact the oven' She was Gabriela explains her own unhappy about her parents, divorce home and I close the door'" and the lack of neighbors: "I go and attention from her mother.) Though fearfur example' say I met you in the street that her aaughter wourd approach to the problem: "For reject her, Gabriela could t: 'T:J::::t^* where no longer lie: friends, and afterward you say we became l"' I'm not going to tell 'Mmmmm, I work in a store" I say' So, I said do you work?' to her,,,Listen, Ximena, I want to you aren't going to talk to talk with you. What if I teII you I work in the zone' would you do if you were told that your you, because from the social mama is a woman of the isolates women' cuis them off street, or that your. mama works in me." Working in the zone i place that is not a"*rrt, tt ut i" have outside the work- indecent?,, She just sat there and support that other workers looking ät me, and said to me, ,,Look relationships has few Mami, if it is in order to leave the ambiente' Gabriela to help us mo"rr" for*"rd, I will defend you. place, and makes it rÄre difficult Even if they because these women' were to say you are the worst of ;.;";,;;;;ä with women outside the ambiente' the best relationships illness of mamas, because for me and my sister "." They would fear she had a contagious you are papa and she says, would h"'' mama at the same time.,, I told her, ,,Thank 'ui"tt boyfriends' you,,;and f"fifü" rn" sexual advances toward their didn't disappoint me, because-I or might rnake she thought there are *""y spends her eamings' and how reject their mamas *r," As noted earlier, h;; worker when they find ou"t they work in this. "nirl."" " with sex work' they And I feel mitigate the stigma associated shouldn,t reject them, but on the cor experiences tn" *o't, *ay them who neglects family and rove thäm more because, even *ht her äarning' d'i"tittg' ,iTüffäT::?r?,i"Tt A prostitute less moral' or with sex with men, we don,t do ';;;; enioy her work is considered it with pleasure. It,s because they members, and who äppuu" to paying you are decent women' as a certain sum that you endure it. sex workers' Ideas about less "decent," even by other deeply ingrained' even in "loose" or "immoral" women' are opposed to have Gabriela's story illustrates the complex may aPPear to' and sometimes interactions between stigma, sex workers, who by their actions morarity, fan-riliar rove, and some oppressive cultural norms responsibirity. Many zone women able to, free th"ms"lrr", from prostitutes work as been but' as Magda in order to support children and One may work as a prostitute' extended families, but do so regarding gender and sex' at the risk of losing the emotional support do so "with shame'" and respect of those very peo- says, a decent woman should ple they financialry makes th1 w3rk morally support. while Gabriela's daughter way a worker spends her earnings defended her Only the in order to mother's choice to work as a prostitute, "Look Mami' if it is Mönica attriüutes her tempesru_ As Ximena toliher mother' ous rerationship defensible' too' imply that with her son, who rives in defend yotr"' Gabriela's words' Veracruz, to his recent dis- help tts *oor |o''o':d,I will covery of her employment not for pleasure but out of after he overheard a phone conversation fo' o""l' family-doing the iob between sacrificing notes' "The bad the relatives he lives with and less immoral' As Gabriela his mother. Bärbara suggests that, necessity-renders sex work even we haae doing if one's fämily members appear us zrsithout seeing the motiaes t'or to accept a woman,s work in the thing is that people scorn ambiente' "there is a wound, a certain feeling. on the outside they for- this."Thereisamoralvalueattachedtop'opetlycaringforone'schil- give you, but inside, no- I wouldn't look down on and sometimes gossip be able to get along with my family. dren. Even ott'"' lo"" -o-"" if they found out about in their rellllsiUitities to this, because they wouldn,t women they perceive as negligent trust me and about the are some- wouldn't treat me like their daughter. give their earnings to pimps' More rike a stranger or something, their families' Obligaäas' who and with a certain contempt. as it is known that they haven't And I could not bear that.,, from such moral iudgments' what free consid- Telling their friends the truth about their money (though they maybe their work is not a cause of con_ any choice as to how to spend :]O(, TIiE SEcRETS wE KEEP THE SECRETS WE KEEP 2OI ered "stupid")' Most zone women accept a highry traditionar motherhood, view of dress, Carla tells her the bodice is too loose, that she has nothing to fill it and it is their work as p.orri,r.rr", that allows them to ful_ out. There is a brief discussion of breast size among the three of us that till this idealized roie. culminates with Carla lifting her shirt and pulling a breast out of a lacy one need not work as a prostitute to experience the from shame that comes black bra (a startling contrast to her boyish exterior) and complaining of being associated with the Garäctica. Roberto, though no longer her lack of "firmness." worke4, was a sex sitting in a worker,s room one day _h"r, hu was seen by a Carla's willingness to expose her breast was surprising; in the zone, young man from the city center with whom he had u r.i"r,a"*p. had Roberto most workers, though they may sometimes dress in a revealing way, been hoping this man was gay, rike him, but had not told his friend adhere to certain cultural notions of female modesty and propriety. of his homosexuality. or r-ris place of emproyment for fear of alrenating Ramona would not change her clothes in front of us. My own social inter- him' when his friend asked Roberto what he was doing claiming there, he ried, actions with women outside the zone made visible the ways in which sex he was just visiting a friend. This incident caused Roberto a workers accept prevailing standards of female modesty, which often great dear of worry: Did the man he was romantically interested sexual in have greatly contrasted my own nonns. During at outing to Chicoasdn for relations with the women in the zone? Did he know that Roberto swimming, the sex workers would not let me wear my bikini in the river worked in the zone? Did he now know that Roberto was gay? and loaned me loose shorts and a baggy top instead. It's not easy to swim This last cause of simp,ybybeing"JLl'Tl*"ll';:::i,"J,lää:::T;"J."ji"j ftrlly clothed, but I wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention, they insisted. On another occasion, following a swim at a local pool, I retumed until one understands that it is generally well known by Tüxtlecos who from the bathroom in a knee-Iength skirt with my wet panties that I have been to the zone, or who know somebody who has been there, swam in (again under a long, shapeless T-shirt lent to me) in my hands. that most mc'n whc'r do service work in the zone (all the dors male food ven_ The women from the zone were shocked. M6nica worried aloud about and Roberto, but not the police, administration, or handymen) are what would happen were I to fall down and accidentally expose myself. gay' Roberto's h.pes about his friend's sexuality and his fears about I told her I didn't plan on falling down and exposing myself (and then in tront of his friend are, when ,nTf;";T-d" seen in this light, entirety began to worry about falling down). When a group of us entered a bar recommended by El Profe, the workers were dismayed to find it was a men's cantina and not a family-style bar. We stayed anyway, but not without a certain level of discomfort. FREEDOM AND RESTRICTION While some women may strut about the zone in revealing clothing (I'm a demeanor It is evening and defiantly proclaim, "Soy puta" whore), this often in the zone, and Carla has arrived for work. Carla rooks rike contrasts with the women's behavior outside of work. In the Galäctica, a boy: hair cropped close to her head, no makeup, an extra_large green polo light_ Flor is known for her consistent and loud use of profanity *d sometimes shirt covering her thin torso, and skinny t"g, pok-;; out of refers to herself as a "whore." Yet she remains angry and unforgiving her short brue pants. She wears white sneakers and no socks. Carla about the time Pepe called her a whore. At home, she speaks less loudly, a sex worker is not but a seamstress who sews st tbr curses infrequently, and hides her work from her neighbors and acquain- lhe workers, the sort of dresses ,^0."r;[oä;ffi1f:'"ilf:T: presents tances. Lorena, the most educated and politically informed worker, a ti'y red Lycra dress to Ramona, who shyly goes"behind the defends the women's right to behave as they wish in the zone, including curtain to her bathroom to try it on. When she o"ut, wearing cursing and behaving in a raucous way. 'After all," she says, "this is a "omes the 'IIIE 2(}2 SECRETS WE KEEP THE SECRETS WE KEEP 2O3

whorehouse, not an otlice." But Lorena arso compartmentalizes her life, also a sPace separati'g tion, a holding pen for populations defined as deviant, and her working self from her home self: ,,Here in the zone, I am of freedom, where these populations can experience alternative exPres- Lorena, and in the street I am Lourdes.,, sions of sexuality, gender, speech, and dress. \ y'hen I asked the director of The Galactic Zone is a space apart, where norms regarding gender and employed in the zone as vendors sexuality public health why the majority of men are enacted and subverted. workers can find certain riberties in. arc gay, he suggested they were there because of their own "Perver- the zone' It is a place where women may leave behind the curfural restric- sions"-that they enioyed watching the male clients come and go. tions on dress, speech, and behavior. More important, it is a place where looking at the clients; on slow days women Indeed, some of the vendors do enjoy can rive and work without the dependence on mule spo,rses or Pepe is prone to looking forlom and sighing, "Not one handsome meln farnily that Mexican culture prescribes. In her personar relationships, the here today." Of course, this behavior is not an expression of some deep- independent worker is able to maintain a great deal control over both her rare expression of his sexual finances seated perversion but rather an open and and her sexuality-and the t-o ur" not unconnected. self that would be less acceptable in the city center. Yet the liberties found In the zone, as noted earlier, individuals may also express their sexual in the ambiente are diminished by the stigma of working there, which orientation without fear. Homosexuality is generally torerated and affects the women's home lives and effectively controls and separates the openly discussed among sex workers. over di^ner one errening, viviana them from engaging in collective activity as prosti- told me that women, inhibiting her thirteen-year-old daughter had a resbianita(littie lesbian) tutes outside the GalacticZone. in her class at school, and that she told her daughter to respect the girl. Another example involved ofelia, who had recently retumeä to the zone soon after having a baby with her partner (she said that, since she was already having sex at home with her partneq, she felt she might as well come back to work). One day a group of us sat in Lorena,s room, where she was lying down on her side, and Ofelia sat leaning up against Lorena's stomach. Lorena began to jokingly moan with desire and grope around at Ofelia,s large, pospregnancy breasts, accentuated by a tight halter top. Gaby and ofelia began to tease Lorena, accusing her of getting excited, when ot'elia sutrdenly jumped off the bed and Jhouted at her, laughing, "You're wet!" ot'elia leaned .ver to look at Lorena,s crotch for evidence of wetness that would indicate sexual excitement as Lorena lay on the bed laughing and hugging a pillow. She then went to open Lorena's sweatpants, as they were the style that button up the sides and may be opened up compretely with a swift pull. unfort'nately, this pair hacl been sewn shut, they ripped. ,,Oops,,,said 1nd Ofelia, apologizing. The room, Lorena included, erupted with iaughteq, and ofeia revealed her own sexual history, saying, ,,It,s been two years since I craved a \4'oman, anyhow." The zone, then, is simultaneously a place of confinement and restric- FINAL THOUGHTS

responded that they would like to set up a small shop or vending booth of some kind, be it a taco stand (M6nica), a clothing store (Biirbara), or a food stand (Gabriela). But Esperanza hopes to be a teacher one day, and ErGHT Final ll'horrghts the deeply religious Magda says that, when she retires from the ambiente, she plans to spend her time evangelizing. Workers' dreams for the tj NDta R S.t.\ N Dt h-(;. I M,\cINI N(; future are pragmatic, shaped by the realities of the Mexican economy and their own educations and hard lives. I lx,licvc tlrul tv Still, as Sonia describes it, working in the zone is less difficult than .,r1,"rrrt. *irrrirr :l:il: |'lr',iii'1ilil; ;: working in other sectors of the ambiente, such as the cabaret. "There you Iris porcrrlialiries have to dance, talk with them, drink with them. Here it is much easier. r r'rk.rr,r ir. is,;,,11;:: ;|';.TH,:J: :::::1,:::,, They come in [she makes a rocking motion with her hips], suki, suki, suki, irrrrl rrrost irrr.lrrsivc ol. l.ll tlre r.rinrts ol.u,hich the and it's all over!" And while many zone workers are more likely to com- hrrrrrlrt s.orkl r.arr irr.r.rrsr ilrr.ll. plain about issues such as working conditions, expenses, and stigma, .lirrrre. .\91,1, they admit, during rare moments of openness when they are willing to express their vulnerability, that the actual work, intercourse with men l)r.r1rle who u.lrr hlr c tt ttlllittg.ittttt'l are strangers, can be emotionally challenging. Lorena says she closes irttagilte ultat I lrir*' l,,,,,,,,,.,,t her eyes when she is with a client so that "my eyes don't record it in my s,tttelirt*s I r,rrr'r rrrrrr.r."rarrrr ,, ,.,,,,t 1]..""""'r" brain." Mönica agrees with Lorena and says that for many years she didn't even think about it, and drank heavily. is Sortia It not the actual physical act that is most challenging, though the number of acts performed in one day may be taxing, especially since they're performed on the zone,s cheap mattresses sans box springs. It is the cultural attitudes toward gende+ the meanings assigned to sexuality, the poverty in which the women Sitting in pepe,s live, and a"O ,,T1:ne moming, the social and economic context in which selling one,s body toward I watch workers arrive the SMAV pepe is flitting ubortä, and head occurs that make the work most challenging. preparing racos, doins a rittre ;n" *,* lTff|T#i,lrJär,,11?,il; But, as Anne McClintock has writtery such things "can and must be changed. Empowering sex workers empowers hordins it up to *'J"a" all women, for the whore il:T:::;T: i*J:l "r"r",;""'" ffi.""- stigma is used to discipline women in general; and encouraging society Mnria, Maria ",.0 He sits down at;;;;iffi;äTi:^y;,r::f di#t want to. to respect sex workers encourages society to respect all women.,,1 qtterfa Marin, rrr),rrnns the rhyme: No rrro nbrin,ruaria didn,llst's,rinistring

*Iä,:'riilT*ii-rormonev'"";;;'lä.il::::::T*ilT::lt" u"O"ttence UNDERSTANDING commercial sex differently,it the first job choice ,o. -u, ,,ot -o*un I spoke to' when they I asked wärt"., wr,ut would like to d,utyf, were they ln defiance of theorists on either side of the sex work-prostitution not employed in the ,or,u,-rruurtv ult debates, in defiance of tendencies toward binaiy thinking and pat 2t)1 2(X) FINAL THOUCHTS FINAL THOUCHTS answers' in defiance of a craving for order and clarity, the rives women of the ambiente of the Zone, the women's are filled with deep .orrouä;;.; services are consumed, and the women in tum leam sonia says, are and, rike to consume. hard to understand. sex work As Magda told me, "I made myserf from nothing. Never did offers the women a decent I think I would have a cassette player, or an by great emotional and physicar air conditioner of two horse- :'fi? rirn nuy uu power, i#';::?-panied or three pieces of property, thanks to God. I never imagined this.,, withstrans"*rnllr:::J,il:::i::'"i.::ilT1il.$::rfi""":H; The tum toward prostitution by the women of the Zona Galäctica is while retaining also a testament some conceptualization of it to both an ongoing and lengthy history of economic as part of romantic love. In inequality and injustice in Mexico and Central America and the tendency of äT:'JtT#:äTä:H:[1mmxd*it*"1]i* neoliberalism to exacerbate rather than eradicate such inequality. The workers are modemization also freed from ."itui., gendered of Chiapas offers little opportunity to poor ladinos, and behavioq' cultural restrictions on speech, and dress. rney still less to indigenous peoples, who struggle to enter into an sim,ittaneously defy and increasingly and gender norms. enact sex ,4r global society on Society .r"fi.r"" them as their own terms. The conflict over the ejido land on both essentiar and expend_ able' Through prostitution, which the brothel was built was not just women gain some degree a battle for land but also a sym- financial independence of personar and bolic but continue ä lir struggle between Mdxico profundo and modernity-between col- dependency t sex lective landholding and community, and growing ""a "qr"rity. workers::ätl,T:[HTff##i consumerism and partners and family members-and individualism. The selling and buying of sexual this gives them freedom services in the Galäctica tural system from a cur- is part that reinforces femare dup"r,a"r,"y-but of a broader global trend toward increased commoditization and rely on male they must instead clients. u.e errt eprä",rr, consumption of household activities, sex included. The women of the fn", *f,o make their own schedules' but their work'.ves Galactic Zone are only a small al higmy regulatea by municipal sampre of the burgeoning ranks of poorly They are service authorities. paid women workers, but ;he; ."3irt.,otiorrs from the developing world, many of whom are the sore negotiating of servitude, instead with and refusing clienis, providers for their families, who sell domestic services such and even teaching them as cooking, uar health' The about sex_ child stories of sex workers, lives care, cleaning, and sex throughout the globe. the Galactic that prostitution in Zone is oppressive'rustrate with fast food restaurants, big-box stores, and shopping malls trans- llr.,n* -_h"lly nor liberating. Rathet, the work, performed within a forming Chiapas's urban randscape, the Galactic broade*yr,".. of unequal power Zone is yet another altar and burdened relatioru to a new, by stigma, contains within modem, and global political-economic order in which con_ it a compllx blend of exploita_ tion and freedom. Entering sumption is revered. Yet the zone is more sex work, l,r cross than this. It is also a place moral borders to do work Seographic and where local authorities seek to streamline 'vvr^ thaturdr is,rs/ as soniabonla r/omensays' beyond and reorganize the culturally of most the imaginations institutionalized people. buying and selling of sex by the popular classes. This is women enter not to say that the Garactic Zone in they seek to end the stigmatization of women who sell sex. a variety of ways for a variety reasons. They come to.escape of Far from it. The policies and regulations abusive partners and, of the Galactic Zone aI but come because more rarely, they they abusive ensure the continued stigmatization of sex workers. Rather, in parbrers. They come the zone, and for themserves'"r:.tr*1by for others authorities Most of ait, they .o'*" ro. have tried to bring a new order to the sexual marketplace, to sometimes the money. The work allows wc make commercial sex, which is potentially messy and virtueortheir"ru,,,.i',1ä,^,il:,:1:i::ilf even transgressive, clean and efficient and invisible. Govemmental oversight of th" ,or," nomic order, :11",H;:lly;:** wou'J norma'y be unavailable teaches us that the state, under neoliberarism, is not reducing its role in to them. In the Galactic public life.2 state policy in Tüxtla encourages the free market, nurturing :X)tj FTNAL THoUc'TS rINAL THOUGHTS 2O9

the growth of a low-wage, exploitative service-sector economy whih cial sexualities. But focusing public health efforts on people who work as eroding supp()rt for subsistence and community-oriented economic prostitutes does little to prevent the overall transmission of HIV and activities. sTDs; prostitutes themselves are not the primary or sole vector of HIV Rural poverty exacerbated by neoliberal reforms generates urban transmission in Chiapas. In addition, the zone, one of the "cheapest expansion as immiserated popurations converge on cities seeking work brothels in the Mexican Republic," may discourage condom use, since Farmers become service-sector or informal laborers. women, often left women who eam so little may be less likely to use a condom in order to responsible for financially supporting their families as men become eco- eam enough to pay for meals and expensive daily room rents. Further- rromically marginarized, increasingly enter the market economy on tertrrs more, clients, typically lacking solid inJormation on sexual health, believe that lay bare the inequalities of crass, gender, a'd ethnicity. Tüxtla,s sky- that regulated workers are free from disease simply because they work in rocketing population growth, due primarily to immig*,ior,, worries a regulated zone where they receive medical examinations. But medical public officials, as armies of the poor descend on the city and threaten ib examinations do not in themselves Prevent disease; and as McClintock hard-won modern reputation. Tuxtla is Chiapas, and Chiapas, as it has points out, "it is not the exchange of cash that transmits disease-high- been said so nany times since the Zapatista uprising, is Mexico. risk behaviors do."5 Despite the workshops, health information/ ques- Despite Tuxtla's relative prosperity, the Chiapas ä which the central tionable medical testing, and condom distribution Program, the Galactic American migrants and rurar Mexicans come in search of economic welr- Zone, while it may be a safe place to buy sex, is not necessarily a place for being continues to advance a neoliberal policy that threatens to further safe sex. impoverish women, children, and men throughout Mexico. And in so, why regulate prostitution? walking down the cobblestone streets Central America, the birthplace of half the women working in the of san Cristdbal's historic district, I pause to read on the wall of an old Galäctica, things have taken a sharp tum for the worse. The Central building some graffiti that, in part, answers the question. Nos quieren American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a comprehensive free trade domesticar, Thev want to domesticate us' treaty modeled on its cousin NAFTA, will soon be implemented in six The agreement 'ations. threatens to further quicken th" puce of advanced capitalism in Central America, preparing the region for increased immer_ IMAGINING sion in a global free market characterized by the exploitation of cheap labor and the degraflation of environmental standards, labor rights, and There are people who have, despite the odds, maintained their ability to rural life.3 CAFTA, says Bishop Älvaro ,,not Ramazzini of Guatemala imagine a reality different from the existing one. The Zapatistas, through only fails to address the need of Centrar America's poor, sick, and vul- their ,,uprising of hope," have dared to envision and create something nerable but may well make conditions here worse.,,r different from and better than the inequality and despair that have for so Regulated prostitution in the zone, though it provides women with a long marked the lives of so many rural and indigenous Chiapanecos.' work environment that is relativery free of the crime and violence that From Asia to Latin America to the United States, prostitutes too have characterizes street prostitution, is of questionabre value when it comes organized, challenging existing social norms and inequalities that stig- to diminishing the incidence of Hrv in both sex workers and clients and matize and punish women who sell sexual services. Ten years ago/ on among the population at large. In creating an inexpensive market for that warm August aftemoon when Desir6e, Lorena, and the rest of the working-class consumers seeking commercial sex, the state attained, in women took control of the brothel, the sex workers of the Galactic Zone part and temporarily, its goal of cleansing the streets of visible coruner_ too began to imagine and actively seek alternatives. social change 2lo t'tNAL THOUCHTS 2lr begins with the shared ability to imagine something different, some- sionals, and insufficient access to condoms are issues that can be reme- thing better. died by those truly concemed with the well-being of sex workers and Because prostitution is a varied and complex phenomenon, experi- societv. Yet any grand plan to ensure sex workers'health and human enced differently by those who participate in it, and because it is marked rights must include sex workers' voices. They are the experts in their by intricate, overlapping, and systemic power relations that reach field, and they have a right to participate in policy-making decisions that beyond gender inequality, it is not easy to plot a straight path to the will affect their work and well-being. improvement of the lives of sex workers and the conditions under which In thinking about how to improve the lives of sex workers, we would they labor.T "There is not," McClintock writes, "a single, authoritative do well to look beyond the Galactic Zone at the various approaches the narrative of prostitution, nor is there a single, intemätionally correct state takes in regulating, criminalizing, or decriminalizing prostitution. blueprint for political organizing.,,s In Tijuana, Baja Califomia, city officials in zoo5 revamped local prostitu- The current social and political-economic context in which the prosti- tion laws, compelling sex workers to get tested for STDs at the municipal tution of the women and men of Tüxtla Gutidrrez occurs makes their clinic, fining brothel owners who do not adopt "more sanitary prac- work and their lives far from easy. The stigmatization of women who tices," and issuing high-tech credit-card-like ID cards to sex workers that work as prostitutes in the zone individualizes, shames, and silences bear the woman's photograph and a magnetic strip that may be scanned female sex workers, many of whom lie to their families, demonize one to instantly reveal a worker's medical status.e This modemization of reg- another on moral grounds, and avoid engaging in collective action. ulation is, however, little more than the modemization of exploitation Regulating sex workers, confining and disciplining them, and defining and efforts by the state to control marginal populations. Taking a differ- them as a threat disempowers women who engage in legalized prostitu- ent approach, in 1998 Swedish government officials, guided by the belief tion. Criminalizing sex workers similarly disempowers and punishes. that prostitution is never voluntary, enacted reforms to criminalize pros- why must sex workers be confined and highly supervised in order to titution under a measure titled "The Protection of Women." Azoo4 report receive the social benefits (education, relative freedom from violence, and released by the Swedish Ministry of Justice and the police assessing the access to condoms and health information) found in the Galactic Zone? impact of the reforms found that, after the laws came into effect, prices lmplicit in the regulationist system is both the disciplining and stigmati- for sexual services dropped, clients were fewer but more often violent zation of those who work legally and the criminalization of sex workers and more often willing to pay more for sex without a condom, and sex who do not work within the bounds of the regulationist system. while workers had less time to assess the mental state or violent potential of a both groups are demonized, regulation further divides sex workers into client because of the need to quickly make arrangements to serve the those whose activities are state sanctioned and highly controlled, and client, for fear of getting caught.ro Criminalizing prostitution criminalizes those whose work is illegal and criminal and who are subject to arrest. prostitutes, impels them to work in ursafe situations, and increases vio- Loosening the controls and dismantling the regulationist system while lence against them. decriminalizing the activities of all sex workers is a step toward reducing New Zealand's zoo3 Prostitution Reform Act is, to date, the most pro- the stigmatization and empowering prostitute women and men. stigma- gressive and informed response to the complex issues surrounding com- tization is a key factor in inhibiting sex workers from individually and mercial sex. The act, which decriminalizes prostitution, seeks to create a collectively demanding and receiving the rights, respect, and remunera- legal and social framework that, in the words of the new law, "safe- tion they deserve. Ineffectual testing disguised as health care, exploita- guards the human rights of sex workers and protects them from tive landl'rds, impunity for violent clients and corrupt medical profes- exploitation, promotes the welfare and occupational health and safety of 212 FINAL THOUCHTS FINAL THOUGHTS 2r;l sex workers, is conducive to public health, [and] prohibits the silenced all prostitution use in surrounded ourselves with images of ourselves, and having of persons under rg years of age.,,rl Under the act, sex that the false-front world we've created is workers are protected by the others, we can now pretend country's occupationar health laws, re-quired are not world we've been given'"13 The Galactic Zone' one small part to undergo compursory medical instead the testing or provide health in Mexico, is Derrick tificates, and have cer- of the acceleration of advanced global capitalism the right to ief.rse clients. Furthermore, workers, clients, sex jensen's "false-front world," Bonfil Batalla's "imaginary Mexico"' a place and brothel owners alike bear mizing the risk or acquiring or transmi*i;t:Xt":ffä'i:*'r?"3:,ffi: notnatural,butaplacecreated.Thisbookoffersasteptowardunder- Extending responsibility to clients standingtheZonaGaläcticaandthetimeofwhichitisapart;toward and beyond the individual as they are r'vorker is more sex understanding the lives of women workers made invisible than just legal discourse. In 2oo5, aNew Zealand district potential by an economic system that court convicted a client of violating prostitution "cheated and choked" of their the Reform that unbeknownst Act when, a construction of gender that oppresses, and a moral order to the sex worker, he removed exploits, his condom during sex.12 and dignity addition, the reforms rn demonizes; and toward understanding the faith, defiance' give workers a new voice in government decision- in the midst of such extraordinarily constraining cir- making that affects them. The eleven-member prostitution that endure even Law Review is these things-faith, defiance' and dignity' along Committee' created to review and cumstances. And it assess the reforms, incrudes and so can members of three with the realization that we've created this place and time the New Zealand prostitutes Colrective, a sex-worker advo- imaginings of something better' cacy organization' Though the change them-that encourage outcome of the New Zealand reform remains to be seen (and the fact that it does not extend to iÄigrant workers is a major flaw), this sort of moder for the decriminalization prostitution offers of the most protection for the health women and rights of and men who labor in the sex industry. stin, I remain ambivalent about prostitution, a form of work that often separates self from body and sex from pleasure, but I can,t say the exchange of sex for cash is wrong. The problem is not prostitution but what prostitution represents in this particular context: u gr"uui"hrf, fro- subsistence to service; a detachment of p"opre from the land base and from their ability to support themselves; a separation of people communities, from their their families, their bodies, their emotions. It is not neces_ sarily sex work that cheats and chokes women. It is an unjust economic system paired with an unequal gender-sex system that cheats and chokes women' Ironicalry, within such a system, women can sometimes find in prostitution a life better than the one they might have had.

Derrick ,,Fearing Jensen writes, death, fearing life, fearing love, and fear_ ing most of all the loss of control, we create social rules and institutions that mirror our fears and reinforce our destructive behaviors. Having EPILOGUE 2r5

and this ride is one of my last-I've gotten a fellowship that will Pay 4e to write up my dissertation back in New York City' This good news makes me sick. It is not easy to leave the ambiente. The driver mercifully tape lilrilogrre pops a loud salsa cassette with an anxiously frenetic beat out of the player. He slides in another, ABBA' Soothing Scandinavian 197os PoP' Welre nearing the highest point in the mountains now. Heavy rains have washed much of the road away this year; at points the twolane road is reduced to three-quarters of a lane. orange traffic cones aPPear out of the green, warning. Somebody, feeling playful, has filled the orange cones *iU,, *ita purple flowers. I think of the women of the zone and all they,ve shared with me. I think of the wild purple floweis and whoever put them there. I'm grateful for the gesture'

Back in New York City, Sonia and I are slowly climbing the stairs inside the statue of Liberry crowded in along with hundreds of other tourists statue, on a warm summer day. when she told me she wanted to see the my niece, I balked at first. I had iust been there a few months before with and being trapped on a staircase for hours in a giant piece of metal on a ten- hot fuly day didn,t sound like a good time. But there was a certain I derness in her desire that it aroused in me something. It was the first time I could clearly understand the kind of stmggle thatwould make a Person J'he road between San Cristobar and Tuxtla climbs high into the clouds, truly yeam to see the Statue of Liberty' curving and winding all the way until it srowry descÄds climb higher, the stairs narrow, becoming a small' single-file fields through com- As we into the central. lowra^ds of I knew we'd Chiapas. This road hu, ,""".,try bu"., staircase that spirals up and up, seemingly endlessly, though modemized' replaced by a much straigiter and far less beautiful high- eventually reach the crown and the tiny windows that offer a complete way that has cut travel time between san Crist.bal and Tuxtra of lower Manhattan. we move slowly through the strange vertical Past in harf. view the indigenous community of choice, the Navenchauk and its strange, still lake tunnel, just a step or two at a time. Though we are all there by that comes and goes like the rains. past piedra parada and its namesake other pilgrims around us moan and complain about the trek. An over- giant rock, painted white now, jutting two stories skyward. white woman with a Midwestern feel about her huffs about the ft'ggy It,s a cool, weight morning and r stare out the at their watches, window of the collective taxi into the physical effort required of her. Others cast anxious looks lush green and fog and willing away the the Broadway show for which they have -mist, nausea that the hairpin worrying aloud. about missing tums bri.g' I',ve made this journey way back äor"., of times over the past yea{, tickets. A few give up shortly after beginning, squeezing their 2l+ EPILOCUE EPILOGUE 2r7

down the steps against the throngs pushing upward. one guidebook to New York ,,excruciating.,, City describes the 354 steps as Amid the complaining crowds, who are begiminl to challenge my sense of goodwill and fleeting national pride, sonia recounts the story of how she came from the Garactic Zone to the united states to find work. Sonia and the hundreds of other migrants who set out from their homes for the united states each day are propelled northward by neoliberalism's fa'ure to provide. she, along with nearly thirty otherr, r,ua paid a pollero to help them cross Mexico's northem border. of the journey, sonia' who has experienced an undue amount of suffering in her tlrirg- one years/ tells me, "Never, patty, never have I suffered like that.,, The group, mostly Salvadorans like sonia, warked withoutpause for two and a half days' The days were unbearably hot and the nights too cold. on the first day, she drank alr the water she had brought. By the second, her dry lips began to crack open, spilling blood down her chin. sonia,s shoes were not made for such a journey; one by one her toenails began to sep_ arate from the tender pink skin beneath Figure t3. A client heads home. Photo by Patty Kelly. and fall off. she,"u.räa ro stop, but the others warking at her side urged her to keep going. she was the only woman among them. In front of us on the stairs is a group of young men from Texas. one King. By the end of a few weeks' time, she had sent three occasionally tums around in a Burger to ogle sonia, who is attractive and younger rooks hundred dollars to her mother and son in El Salvador. The last time I than her age. The men hoot and holleq, as thrilled thousands of dollars ascent as if they spoke with her, she told me she had stashed away are overtaking Everest. The ogler tries "il;; to engage sonia in in her pillowcase. conversation' Mistaking heq giggling for coy flirtation, n" ao-eri,tpick up on the fact I have retumed to the Galactic Zone again and again over the years. that she doesn,t speak a word of English. Climbing Since the initial period of my fieldwork, there has been both change and and occasional interruptions asiäe, sonia continues her in the zone. The outcome of the ejido conflict gave new life to st.ry' There on the bordeq, continuity in the desert that takes the rives of hundreds of would-be the phrase "Mexican standoff." For nearly ayeat both the city govem- new Americans each year, Sonia prayed that the Immigra_ ment and the Ejido Commission continued their efforts to win the rights tion and Naturalization service authorities would catch her and send her federal judge ruled in back to Mexico. to the land beneath the Galactic Zone. Finally, a or even El Salvador. she was in pain and not sure she favor of the ejidatarios, but decided that they could not take control of the would survive. But they didn,t catch her. land until they paid the city of Tuxtla Gutidrrez for the eighteen modules During her early days living in a Latino community in New she worked Jersey, constructed there to house sex workers. The ejidatarios, being Poor Peo- in a bar where she danced (fully clothed) sarsa with men, ple, cannot afford to pay the city, and the land beneath the Galactic Zone immigrants like her, seeking not sex but companionship for only as long as a song remains, for now, in municipal hands. or two' She later worked in a salvadorur,.urtu.,.unt and then Many of the women I came to know in the Galactic Zone remain there, :rtii IprLocuI EPILOGUE 2t() while others have moved on. Gabriera retumed to the zone after her well. She had a tattoo on her arm. efforts at earning money as a She tended to pal around with Lorena food vendor in downtown Tüxtra bear did not and Ver6nica. Small details. She lived in a concrete fruit' Esperanza, who had stopped home near the Pan- working in the zone but who continued to take the adurt American Highway with her children and a man. Some said he was her education classes offered there during period of my fieldwork, the husband. Others whispered that he was amantenido.lt's really not impor- graduated from a school where she received a tant. The newspaper said she certificate in early ch'dhood education. was originally from Campeche. Small she had been lucklesrty _ ing for work details. Bleeding from the neck, Alicia managed to alert her co-workers for many months. Bonita became ""ur"t tota'y immersed in the ambiente' she gained the who sought help for her. Her killer, presumed by many to be a soldier, weight that many women do eating when living and successfully fled the Galactic Zone nude, leaving his in the Garactic Zone and began clothing behind in to wear the specially made revealing clothing and heavy Alicia's room. Weeks later, authorities claimed that the body of a man makeup preferred by some workers. Flor and found in the nearby Sabinal River was that of the man who facobo, the health inspectoq, broke up. killed Alicia, Having lost a good deal of weight, Flor is no longer the gorditn but people in the zone disagreed, arguing that the description of the sh" ruys she once was, and she continues to corpse did not match of the be depressed by Jacobo,s departure. that client, and that authorities were trying to Mönica, who had,been intent close the case without finding Alicia's murderer. Pepe told me that she on leaving the ambiente and opening a taco stand up had been stabbed in the neck in such a way that there was little chance of in her home state of Veracruz, left the Galactic Zone with survival, but high hopes during my last month others said Alicia bled to death because she didn't receive in the field. Little had been heard her, and rumor had of adequate medical attention from the staff of the Anti-Venereal Medical sex work somewhere northern border. *J"ti"jjh:jij:ilr on the Service, who may have been reluctant to treat her for fear of HIV- though tbund that Mönica too had rerurned. sn";:T":i;'*;Tää:::i there was no evidence she was HIV positive. embarrassed by her retum. Lorena left the zone to give birth to her second child. Desir6e's sister The close confidence we had all once shared was Viviana also had but gone' I recently heard that a child with her husband but is now back at work. M.nica has again left the zone ried an and mar_ Esperanza, who had been trying desperately to ord friend. she retums from time get pregnant with her to time to sell crothing to rner co-workers. It her for_ first child during my time in the Galacttc Zone, finally did so. The last is not so easy to leave the ambiente. n"pJu"a Paula oon" time I saw he1, she was living with her husband in a still t'eed the women and the staff new rental home, of the Galactic Zone. pepe saved enough money to f-inally content with her rapidly growing belly. The women of the Galactic Zone buy the small food stand he had been renting are resilienf from a cousin for nearly a decade. some succumb to the dangers of their work, but most con- Dr. Ramos, thankfully, has replaced' Magda, it been tinue on, living and creating new lives, sometimes singing rather than was said, returned to her home in t"pi"i"r" nearly three decades in prostitution. crying. Bärbara, too, left the zone, "r,", no one is sure though what became of her. The three women who tested HrV pos- iti'e during my absence were immediatery and permanently suspended from work. One of tl b ook is named, ""0 ;;: ää:l ll,rfi .rä ?*:1, i.;,T:T she had ff : to beg the zone administration for ..rt?J" money t";;y her a And a client stabbed Aricia to death in her room. I didn,t know her Notes

PREFACE

r. Mies 1986, z4-25. z. Bliss 2oo1.,75. 3. Weitzer 2ooo, a3. field, see Kelly zoo4. i. Fo, u rr,or" detailed discussion of my experience in the 5. Rabinow t984,t97. 6. Stacey rg88,zr.. flattering' The politics of 7. Untike the termgringa , güeritamay be considered non- ethnicity and skin color are alive and well in Mexico, where lighter-skinned, own indigenous populations continue to dominate in most realms of society. My of appearance: expe'rience in Chiapas also reveals the culturally relativistic nature while in nlhe United States, I am an olive-skinned, dark-haired, petite woman, green- the Galactic Zone I was transformed into an average-sized, light-skinned, eyed woman. 8. Jensen 2@o, gg. workers and staff of the Galactic 9. i f,"u" changed the names of all the sex Zone. The names of major public figures have not been changed'

227 NOTr.s _ t'o PACl.s 3 6 NOTES TO PAGES 7-14 22:l

INTRODUCTION 18. French Lgg2,52g.It should be noted here that the liberal tradition in Mex- ico is different and, in some ways, in opposition to a u.s. understanding of the r. Brcnnan 2oo:+; Kempad o(J Tggg; Lirn r99g; Wilson zoo4. term liberal.In the Mexican context, Liberalism in general, and economic liberal- z. Harvey 2oo5,2. ism in particular, are associated with policies such as free trade, privatization, and 3. Fernändez-Kelly r9g3; Ong r9g7; Safa ry94. social conservatism. 4. For a good introduction to maquiladoras and their role in neoliberar dever_ 19. Bliss zoor. An updated 1898 Reglamento increased the minimum legal age opment in Nicaragua, see Witness peace, for n.d. to sixteen (ibid.,3z). 5' brief example of the ways in which ,A free trade can afTect small-scare Mex- zo. Ibrd.,29. ic'rn f-armers: Folkrwi-g the 1994 passage of NAFTA (the North American Free zr. Ibid.,5. Trade Agreement), tracre barriers to the iinportation of corn produced less expen_ zz. Ibid. sively by lJ's. agribusiness were aroppeä, resulting in the flow of cheap corn 23. Ibid., 2t4-L5. exports into Mexico. Mexican farmers could not effectively compete with such 24. Bello a994,25' cheap imports-as pubric Citizen reports, "The price paid to farmers in Mexico 25. Witness for Peace, n.d.,6. for corn fe, by over ashuge 70gtt amounts of u.s. yellow corn were dumped into 26. Bello rgg4, the Mexican market,, (public 3a. Citizen, n.d.). 27. Harvey 2oo5,99. 6' Har'ey 2.,.5, toJ-4; fbr more . on the emergence of the Latin American bil- 28. Bello 1994. lionaire during the neoliberal era, see NACLA 1997. zg. For a fuller discussion of this and other aspects of privatization in Mexico, 7' white' salas, ancr Gammage zoo3, iii. For the complete articre about Bill see Teichman 1993. cates's wish, see http://business.timesonline.co.uk,/tol,/business/markets/ Marichal ry97,28. urrited_states / articleV3434.ece, 3o. accesse dluly 15, zoo7. 3r. Nash zoor,8. 8. White, Salas, and Gammage 2oo1,,2r.. 1997,23. g'^For 32. CIACH more on the gendered erements of neoriberalism, see Adamache, curos, 33. Russell ry94,283. and otero rgg3; Nash 1gg4; Nash and Fernändez-Kelly rgg3; sparr ryg4; white, 34. Ibid. Salas, and Gammage. zoo3. j5. See Collier ry99 lLgg4l. ro. White, Salas, and Gammage 2(n3, 1,g. Unfortunately, the electoral ballots were destroyed in t9gz, preventing rr. UNICEF zto5, t6. 36. anyone from finding the truth. See Castafleda 1'994' L57' rz. Farmer 2oo5,4tl. ThePAN would win Tuxtla again in 1998 with the election of Paco Roias r3. Rubin 37. ry84,267. and in zoor with the election of Vicky Rinc6n. In zoo4, the city would be back r4. Weeks ß. ry85, under PRI control. r5. See Suärez Findlay 1999. poor Chiapanecos have been 38. Though the EZLN uprising is the best-known, r6. Foucault 69. rygo ft9771, building independent campesino movements in the state since the r97os. For more r7' ln late-nineteenth-century Engrand, the Contagious Disease Acts calred for on other movements, see Collier ry9g [a9941; Harvey 1994, ry98; and Nash zoor' thc mandatory medical inspection of suspected sex workers; Zapatista's alternative development strategies, see Earle repealed these laws were 39. For more on the in 18g6 following organized feminist campaigns (walkowitz against them and Simonelli zoo5. r98o). social anxiety regarding the white (Peace and slave trade was high during 4o. Among these were the misleadingly named Paz y Justicia Jus- this period in many countries, rnctuain! England, Argentina, and the united tice), a pro-PRI peasant organization responsible for forced evictions, violence, states (see Guy r99o; Meil Hobson t9a7;. itineäenth-century puerto Rican killings in northem Chiapas. For more on this topic, see Human elites, riberal and numerous reeling from the rg73 abolition of slavery and other iorms of forced labor, Rights Watch 1997, 43- 45. sought to reorganize society thrt'rugh moral reforms focused on combating inter_ 4r. see Collier :IggglLgg+1,88-8g, for a deeper discussion of NAFTA and the racial promiscuity and taming elite women's sexual passions tt.o,rgi timing of the EZLN uPrising. (Suärez Findlay r999). "i,r."tio., 2l+ NOTES.TO I,ACES 14_19 NOTES TO PAGES 1,9-22 221)

-12. cienerar C.mmand of the EZLN, ',Declaration of v,,rar,,, tn uttrcttts iZapatistns! Doc_ Salud Püblica en el Estado de Chiapas, Archivo Municipal de Tuxtla Gutidrrez, of Ilrc NLiu Mt,xictttr Reut,tlutitttt (Brooklyn, Ny: Autonom eäia,'ry947, 5t. Expediente Zona Galäctica. 41. on June 28, 1995, police shot and killed sevent""r, *urrrt"rs of the ca'rpesino organization 56. The use of accusations of homosexuality against public figures in common of the southern sierra and wouncied twenty-three more' in Mexico, as such activity shakes societal foundations and public standing in Members of the group were known for their activism protesting the loss of ways that opposite-sex infidelity does not. agrarian lands to national and international timber Otero 1995; Teichman 1996. 44. Senzekry97. "orporutiorrr. 57. Instituto 58. For a further discussion of debates about the meanings and impact of 45. Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informätica, ,,Conteo de globalization, see Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton 1999. Poblaciön y Vivienda zoo5i, zut5, www.inegi.gob.mx/est,/contenijos/espanol/ rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlenzz&c=4r6g&e=o7, 59. Harvey 2@5,2. ui.Äsea September g, zoo7. 46. Womack 79gg,21. 6o. For further discussion of the ways in which the neoliberal state has shifted Subcon-randante its attention to issues of the gender-sex system and away from social welfare, see 47. Marcos 1gg4, Jo. Lancaster zoo3. '18' See womack for more rygg on conzärezGarrido's changes to the penal codes. collier aggg 6r. Otero 2oo4,3. bg94r, tz7, arso provides a detailed analysis oi .nur,g", to th" 62. See Scott 1998, z. pe^al code and their effect on agrarian activists in Chiapas, mu.,y of *ilo^ ,"u." jailed for dissent. 63. See Human Rights Watch zoo6. ,,Mexico 64. Ibid. 49. Miguel Gonzälez Alonso, a un paso de la anarquia ,,, Cuarto poder July 25, zoo5,Brz-:r3. 65. lnzoor, the Mexican Constitution was amended to prohibit discrimination, including sexual discrimination. ln the same ye€u, the federal government created 5o. Collier ry99ft9941, t4o. INMUJERES, the National Women's lnstitute, whose sole purpose is to promul- 5r. Subcomandante Marcos rg94, zz6. gate equality for women in Mexico. While these changes were made during the 5:. See Harvey 1994. June Nash provides an example of changing regional priorities a.d practicc.s surrou.ding presidential administration of Vicente Fox, do not mistake him for a feminist. In a privatization with the case of tle äugar mitt in Pujiltic' The recent speech, Fox compared women to washing machines, stating that 75 percent mill began operating in the r96os as u priuut"".,i"frirl] *u, ,ora of Mexican families now have such appliances and not to the government in the r97os, "and with two legs and reprivatized during the presidency of Carlos nas, and sali feet but metal washing machines" (ke Lawnnkers Protest Remark, The Herald, Feb- later sold back to the government (zoor, ro3). ruary 11, zoo6, www.eluniversal.com.mx,/miami/r695r.html, accessed 14, 53,. Rojas Wiesner and Tunon pablos zoor, gs. fune Gonz;ilez Garrido's zoo6). 5-1' interest in matters rif sexuality were not ited strictly lim_ 66. Gutmann ry96,25r. to Prostitution. During his govemorship, abortion was decriminalized in 67. Alonso Chiapas in December r99o, The new legislation, ry95,74-75. which allowed for abortion as means of family planning, a 68. LeVine 993,54. had a rife of only twenty-two days: following from pressure 69. Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informätica, "Estadisticas al the Catholic Church, it was suspenala. rt would be unwise to mistake the Propdsito del Dia del Amor y La Amistad. Datos Nacionales," 2oo4, www decriminalization of abortion under Gonzälez Garrido,s governorship as a femi_ .inegi.org.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/contenidos/estadisticas/ nist action. In a zoo5 t"a"*.|:y with the newspaper poder,the Crnrlo ä.*", gov_ ernor is quotecl zoo4/amistado4.pdf, accessed September tT, zoo5. as saying, "The wif'e of u p.esid"nt has no function other than in Gay Mexico News and Reports. Neither female inequality nor the stigma- the bed, the kitchen, or the DIF national 7o. [the social welfare agency].,, Abortion is allowecl in tization of homosexuality is uniform or predictable. There exist regional and eth- certain circumstances, such as when the pregnant"wo*är, t HIV pos_ nic variations: among the indigenous and matrifocal Zapotec of southem Oaxaca, itive' Abortion fotowing rape is regal in all Mexican states but is often actively discouraged women play strong roles in the community; and homosexuality and male trans- by gover.ment and medical authorities. For more on this topic, see vestism, according to Beverly Chiflas, are a relatively accepted part of life. Human Rights Watch 20cl6. daily There, the muxe, abiological male who maintains some culturally feminine char- ,s5' Untitled document on the Galactic Zo.e, r9g9, servicios coordinados de acteristics, and who engages in transvestism and sometimes same-sex sexuality, NOl BS 'ro PA lcES 23 _ 27 ) PAGES 27-35 22'7 rs as a third 'iewed gendet arongside male and female. Though her accounts of Other the muxe have' been questio.ed, Chinas ,,Mestizos 9o. sectors of the sex industry have adopted English words to describe writes that in EI Centro may harass and even persecute,r,.tc services. The Gitano, a nightclub in the tolerance zone, offers a Show Täble Dance, boys on occasion, but Zapotec parents (especially Estilo Las Vegas (Las Vegas-Style Table Dance m.thers and other women) are quick to Show). Its advertisements say, in defend them anä ,r,"tJ.rgäi.',,be themselves" because, English, that there is "No Cover." Massage parlors that offer male customers hand as they put it, "God made them that way,, (chinas 1o9). rygz rtg7l, manipulation of the genitals refer to this service in English as "relax." "Unquestioned beliefs are the real authorities of a culture. Therefore, if an 7r. Carrillo zooz; LeVine r993; prieur r99g. 9r. 72. Lancaster 2ooj, j3o. individual can express what is undeniably real to him without invoking any 73. Gutmann 1996. authority beyond his own experience, he is transcending the belief systems of his 74. Ibid., z5t. culture" (Combs 1978, z, in Jensen zoo6,5). 75. Ibid. 92. Galeano L99L,tzo. paz, Bradburd 1998. 76. For ideal Mexican women are 93. passive, pure, and modest. Confined to the domestic sphere', they are the embodiment 94. Agee and Evans ry6o[rg39l, tz. of motherhood. physically and fig_ uratively, they Scheper-Hughes 1992, 28. are permeabre and therefore vurnerable. rrrey areirrerfositories 95. of honor for their famiries and the 96. Galeano rg9l,, LzL. maintainers of morality for society at rarge. women who do.ot embody these'irtues can be sources oi sha-e to ihe ramily. They are dangerous and a threat to the social order. Men, in contrast, are machos, ONE. MODERN SEX IN A MODERN CITY actrve and independent. They merit masculine honor and respect as they use their power in a manner considered "r,Jg appropriate and dignified, though their Epigraph: Greene L939, ag4. machismo may also be characteriz.'o by thäunpredictable and destructive use r. Writing in the r98os, Robert Wasserstrom noted, "Perhaps more that power (Paz t9B). of than any other social group in recent history, the native people of the central Highlands of 77. Carrillo zooz; Gutmann Higgins ry96; and Coen zooo; Lavrin r97g. Chiapas have been the subject of a prolonged and continuous scrutiny, of a rig- 78. felin r99o; Lavrin t97g. orous examination of the most intimate details of their daily lifie" (tg$,11, trans- 79' cutmanrr ry96, For further 3z- discussions of the macho and machismo, Iation mine). The Zapatista uprising also generated an abundance of information see Gutmann 1996; and Mirandd 1997. Though I do not make much use of these about Chiapas as intemational media coverage brought the rebellion to a global ternrs in this study, I suggest rve interrogate Äenr but not dismiss them too read_ audience (see Nash 1997). ily, as they are still relevant for Mexican*women and men, who experience them z. For exceptions to this trend, see Colby Siverts 1973; Rus 1997; and in some form daily. 966; Wasserstrom 1983. 8o. Gutmann t996,zzr. 3. The quotation is from Cleaver ry94, a5. 8r. I thank Anne McClintock for this point. Chiapas constituted the northernmost territory of Guatemala until Sep- 82. Gill r994; Gutmann 4. ry96. tember 4, 1824, when it was annexed by Mexico. The annexation was contested 83. For a deeper look at women factory _ workers in Mexico, see Femändez_ by many, including merchants living outside the Central Highlands in the cities Kelly rg83; ancl Igresias prieto rgg7. see ong ryg7 for the Malaysian of Comitän, Tapachula, and Tuxtla, who feared that union Mexico 84. Femändez-Kelly with would cut ry83, t 35. "*p".iur,.". them from 85. off Guatemalan markets while disproportionately favoring the eco- Barry t97g;Dworkin rggr; Overall 1992. nomically powerful elites of San Cristöbal de las Casas. See Benjamin 1989,8, 42. 86. Assiter and Avedon 1993; Bell r9g7 Church Gibson and Gibson 1993. Ibid,45. 87. Shrage r994. 5. 6. H. Ayuntamiento ry88, to9, translation mine. 88. For recent work that moves beyond the I liberation,/exploitation debates, 7. Del Carpio Penagos L995,78. see Kempadoo 7999; Kempadoo and Doezema r99g; Nencel zoor; Weitzer zooo. 8. The quotation is from Mdrida Mancilla L995,123. ft was Carol Leigh, an activist, performer, and . 9? autho, also known as Scar_ 9. Ibid. lot Harlot, r,r'ho coined the term sc.t ioork in r97g. ro. H. Ayuntamiento 1988, rt6-t7. 22ii NoTEs TO PACES l6_51 NOTES TO PAGES 55 -7o 229 11. INECI ryg1,,60. TWO. HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT rz. Ross zoo5. 13' Despite'resistance by groups such as the Civic Front r. Foucault aggo huacän Va'ey, to Defend the Teoti- IagTTl, 45. ,nu ,,:::-:O"ill; late zoo4, with the support of the Narional z. See Lopez-Jones 1987. Historv' *i;J; I:li::;#'ä;'ffffi,?Iill officiars deeäed *," i"'ai"g,ic 3. See Kempadoo and Doezema 1998; and Delacoste and Alexander t987, f.or more on organizing among sex workers. r4' INEGI .^gg]' 22' Chiapas is also home to nearly 15 percent 4. Delany zoor. indigenous people (CIACH of Mexico,s iSSf,S). Caldeira zoozj999l. 15' 5. of the 2,403 municipalities in Mexico, Tüxtla ranks just z,z60th in 6. Delany zoor. its level of marginality, making terms of it one of the least impoverished Ironically, during my year among pimps, consruners of sexual services, municipalities (GIACH of Mexican 7. and ryg7, Indicators for )- marginality include infant morar- a wide assortment of undesirable men, I found that the doctor in charge of ity, employment, and access to electricity and running water. inspecting women to make sure they had not been assaulted in any way by r6. Ibid., rg. authorities was among the least principled 17. Ibid.,4o. characters I had met. 8. Walkowitz r98o,3. 18. Carrillo i 2oo2,x. lbid.,7t. rg' It is worth 9. I mentioning here that the term gay(and sexual identity rc. Ia lornada,May zr, zoo5, "Cero creacidn de empleo formal en el gobiemo complex and contested itserf) is . Hontosexuar is a term that may de Vicente Fox," www.jomada.unam.mx women be appried to any man or / zoo5 / o5 / zr /ozonreco.php, accessed ' who is sexually attracted to his or her < JuIy 27, zoo7. as we w'r see in the ro'o;inq .h"il;; rr. Douglas 1966. "feminine" ;;; #,:T,: filT"i::JJI ffi: p;i;,;. recep.rive tz. Ibid.,15. ::l'lit$"t:xil:" rore during a sexuar chapters and 13. Ibid., For Nicarasu", r"; I 4. Also see cui.ier ,95. )g-4o. i;.'"T"1illli"tt r4. See Curtis and Arreola r99r; Gilfoyle rgg2; Marin Hemiindez t994; zo' while it courd be argued that the consumption Symanski has of sexuar services by clienb r98r. a negative impact on their families, di;;l. ro'owini p"gur;ä";r, " 15. Guy t988,6t. that the to* p.i"", 16. Walkowitz t98o,5. their services #;:::T:l"rrJ:T accessible even to men of few "^u,* ffi means, ,l:rrn certainly such r7. What I present here is a very brief overview of a complex and contested could be spent on food or clothing money or other household needs. system of identity and labeling. For more, see BuffingtonrggT; Carrier ;g95;Car zr. Curtis and Arreola tgga. rillo zooz; Liguori and Aggleton t999;Prieur t998. zz. As noted earlier, the ejido _ is a form of co 18. See Carrier r995;Ptieur t998. rhis system or ru.,aioüi,,g *u, tio^' y-,*;; ü;.äää:11ll*:*:#K,il- 19. Liguori and Aggleton 1999. which stated that communal lands couri not be sold, bought, or rented. zo. See Carrillo zooz,63. Ios Salinas dc, Gortari re car_ workrbrtheree4r.;'1fr11#;::"?ä:?;fftTi.ofl;*ffiffi zr. Prieur 1998. -c zz. Higgins and Coen 2ooo, tr5. For a similar situation in Brazil, see Don lands to private enterprise and agribusiness. Kulick's wonderful ethnography Traoesti (:.998). z3' untitled, undated tiocument on the Galacti Ttrxtla c Zone,Archivo Municipar de 23. See Kulick 1998 for a similar situation in Brazil. Guti6rrez, Expedien te ZonaGaläctica. 24. fte Buffington 1997. 24. Enloe z. ryg9, 25. Carrillo zooz, 25. Untitled, 18. undated document on the Galactic z6' Zone. 26. See Carrier 1995; Carrillo zooz; for a similar discussion on Nicaragua, see Today there is no waiting rist at the Galäctica and always a few Lancaster 1992. The phenomenon is not unique to Latin America; see Khan 1999 available for incoming workers. rooms for an Indian example. .).J( ) NOr[s 1.o PAGES 7o_7g NorEs ro PAGEs 8S-gZ 2;rll

27. tbid.,77. :8' Cay Mexic. News .r.tl neports, 'Action aboutthe,,menstruationquota,,,andnonecouldtellmeofitsoriginsorreason Called against Tecate Councir likeiy that the menstrual quota has some basis in cultural Discrimination,,, n.d., wrvw.globalgayz.com/mexico_newsoo_o3.hUrnl, for existence. It seems the "pollution" and potential power associ- April 6, zoo5. accesg€d beliefs about the female body, about as gender and class oppression' zg' Ln ated with menstrual blood, as well in lornadn' Jury z, zoo4, "Vestidas en arresto domiciliario?- .unam.nrx/zoo wwwjomada" l 5. Brussa zoo3. z / iuloz / ozo7o4,/ls_tir.html, accessed jo. May zz, zoo5. 6. McClintocktgg). Amnesty International t9g7, :.5_.16. 1998, r84. It shcluld be 7. Uribe et al. 3r. noted hert that sexual difterence is nnr,rnir^-*r-. _ Bliss 2oo't,2o4- Mexico trr other parts or Latin America. 8. o"in"r]ili.l'il:,'rTit:,'f:ä:rä:f# McClintock 1993. calls a 1't.rerant intolerance," in which 9. See certain activities and blhaviors and Lucero r99z;l)rlbe et al' r998' allowed and expressed. ,,certain an ro. Rivera, Vicente-Ralde, in tacitly agreed spaces,, (zoo5, et al' 1998' Galactic z$_6$. Tbe rr. Rivera, Vicente-Ralde, and Lucero r99z;IJtlbe Zone may be viewed as one of th"se"spuces. Alexander r987' 3z' carorina Gomez rz. See Delacoste and Mena, "En nueva afros hubo cerca honrofbbia: de goo asesirntos por 13. UNAIDS zoo4. ONG," Lrt,Jorntttla, May ß,zoo:, *r"w.jomada.unam.mx/imprimir .php?fecha=zoo5o5r6¬a=o3gnlsoc.pnp, r4. Campbell zoo5. üc"rrea May zz, zcn5. 15. Uribe and Bronfman 1997. 33. Liguori and Aggleton ,999, rir. For a discussion of Brizilia,n Eavestis (who dift'er from Mexican travestis) ,,not_men,,, 16. Ibid. as see Kulick r99g. and Bertozzi zoo3' The 17. Bautista, Dmytraczenko, Kombe, 34' murders in Juairez were not immediately a matter of public and police my stay in the zone, MEXFAM, a local "family planning" organi- attenti,n; it took years of st^rggle r8. During by activists and the mothers oi HIV and STDs to clients at the main women for the srain young zation, did orrce iistribute information about authorities to take the pioblem seriously. 35. See Reding r99g, t6_ztt. gate. in charge that perhaps I' along Liguori r9. When I arrived, I suggested to the doctor 36. and Aggleton r999. would be a with the workers, could help make a newsletter for workers that workers felt were rel- forum for discussion o1 and broader topics that "o.,"-irr.r", 'f HREE. me it was not a good idea. It would iust cause trouble because, INSIDE THE GALACTIC ZONE evant. He told afteragroupofhumanrightsactivistsfromMexicoCitygaveatalkon-organiz- Epigraph: Foucault before, the workers complained more and thought ry9oft9771, )6_ j7. ing sex workerr ro*" *oitLs r. Ibid. "everything" was an abuse of their rights' z. Ibid., r38. zo.Thisincidentbroughtanendtoanyeffortlmadetostayneutralamong to tell me 3. Ibid. conflicting parties in the öalacti c Zone. Edith had crossed boundaries me to go to the director of public 4' In her study of w:r1en and social of the unwashed speculums and had asked change in Cuernavaca, sarah LeVine founrl that, lvhile many orde'r informants health,knowinglwasinclosecontactwithhim.Ididthisandbroughthimtothe reveatla that, lacking inlor,ouno.,, had bee' shocked when ,r,"y their periods arrived and had believed zonetohaveaPrivatemeetingwithworkers,wheretheycouldairtheirconcerns mensrruation they were'r, Though the meeting had little impact for in Mexico.today,is_more frequently air.""r"Jl*orJgäu.rgttu.r, directly to the municipul govlrnment' female siblings, anci mothers (LeVine ,S9l) zoneworkers,itdidaidinthedisintegrationofmygoodrelationswiththestaff ül ln the zone, some women, like and neutrality dur- Gabriela' speak openly a,b.ut menstr""ri.", of the sMAV. For more on the delicate balance of engagement they share information about sexuality with their daughters. sex workers ^"a iog *y field experience, see Kelly zoo4' who work while they are menstruat_ irg must pay a fee, *olTr a."menstruation zr. CIACH et al. t997, 35-6' quota." In their work on menstrual symbolism, Buckley and Gottlieb (r9gg) zz. Ibid.,16. makJ clear that a universar menstrual hrboo does n.t exist, and Rabinow 1984,245' that there rernains a .eed.for ethnographic 23. lt'hen discussing specificity menstrual meanings. I questioned 24. Farthing t995,r.46. various people in the zone 25. Ibid. NOTES 'r'o _ PACES gg r r 5 NOTES TO PAGES 115 - 125 2;J3

26. obligadas in the Garäctica generally puebla, were her purity and innocence. . . . arrive by way of and s,o an she has been robbed, and that the oblects stolcn sometimes called Poblanas (residents puebra), rape or abuse as theft, we are ultimately led of a word that, in the zone, har As long as we cling to the concept of become synonymous with pinryetl. back to the belief that a woman's worth and sense of self lie in her sexual purity, only in terms of ownership or loss. To imply 27. Farthing 1995; Vilas 1993. and we can speak of her condition that can be seen or touched, 28. that deep within every woman is something essential Vilas 199),4r. is an a vessel containing the reat her that can be stolen by someone else, absolute obiectification of women. (zoo6, 58)

FOUR. CONVERGENCE By suggesting that some intangible but essential resource, be it dignity' purity' or sense of self, can be stolen from a woman by a man through forced sex, by sug- r. Bonfil Batalla 1996. gesting that rape, though aw fuL, is the worsf thing that can happen to any woman' z. Ibid., r. i".ontinrr" to reinforce sexist and homogenizing ideals about female worth and George Collier the vagina (or the female body in general) 3. bsgg bsg+l) defines peasants as rural subsistence or small_ female experience and the belief that scale agricultural producers who are often, but not always, indigenous. is the route through which we maintain or lose ourselves' Despite their integration 4' into the urban economy, the ejidatarios still 14. Lim rg98,r. embody Bonfil Batalla's definition of Mdxico profundo, us tt"y retain various 15. CISC 1994,8. Mesoamerican traits. 16. Higgins and Coen 2ooo, r72. Archivo 5. de Tuxtla Gutidrrez, Expediente Zona Galäctica, n.d. 17. Palmer 1994, zr8. 6' workers pay as much as us$rz5 per month to rent a small dark room in the caläctica. For this same price, one could rent a two-bedroom house in an upper- middle-class neighborhood in western Tuxtla. FIVE. ''TT SEGAN INNOCENTLY,, 7. Cohen rgTz;Goode and Ben-yehud.ary94. the word ambienfe. Taken generally, it means 8. Weeks ry8r,256. There is no strict definition for ,,milieu,, ,,scene." used to refer to the male 9. Guy r99o; Symanski r98r. or In much of Mexico, it is sometimes gay scene. Higgins and Coen (zooz) use the term when discussing the social ro. See Goode and Ben-yehuda ry94, zg_29. in Oaxaca. Carrillo suggests it has been rr. Though I fbcus here on the municipar world of gay male transvestite prostitutes effort to maintain control of the desire Galäctica, used sincl the early twentieth century as a euphemism for same-sex male the campesinos also used the press to promote their cause, though to a the term la r:ida (the life) has long lesser degree' During my first meeting (zooz, r8). Ln describing female prostitution, with the Comisariado Ejidal iruring body in use (see Bliss zoor, r8), but in the Galäctica, sex workers refer to the world of the ejido), I met a journalist and friend of the campesinos been who had just puts (Nencel 2oo1, r52- lished a full-page of commercial sex as the ambiente, as do sex workers in Peru article_ in a local daily paper aboui the dispute, aetaiting the This use of the term ambiente in the zone is injustices the ejidatarios had suffered. 55) and Costa Rica (ortiz et al. rgg8). with and profmity to central America, rz. See Bondi 1998; Albert zoor. perhaps related to Chiapas's history r3. Brownmiller where the term is more cofiunon, along with the Presence of Central American t975, i9r; see also ward 1995. yet while feminists, redefini_ tion of rape as violence prostitutes in the zone. rather than as an act of sexual desire has been a necessary ro. shift in the discourse, the ways in which the r. White L9go, rape of women remains a grear r99z; Wynter source of anxiety z. Barry tg79; Dworkih r98r; Farley and Kelly zooo; Overall and fear for women and men across cultures is still problematic. As Vanessa Veselka says, a987. also see McClintock 1993' The real problem is 3. Shrage ry94,565; not that we treat rape as sex, but as theft. . . . you weren,t just violated, we tell you Chaney and Garcia Castro t989,3; Gill 1994. a raped woman. were pillaged. Something of i.,t i*i" rrii,r" 4. was stolen from you. The Chaney and Garcia Castro 1989. fervent belief that thisls true is evidÄt on all sides of the 5. issue' From traditional cultures that treat a raped woman as bankrupt to progres- 6. Fernändez-KellY 1983, r43. sive movements that speak ,,";"d- in terms of "reclaiming,, oneself and rfi; Gledhill r995;Safa ry95' experience, we 7. tell a woman roudry and clearry that if she was sexually v"iolated 2ilj-'r !;i+ NO'TES TO PAGES 126_118 NorEs ro PAGEs r4z-t6o

evemng 8. Delacoste and Alexander r9g7. both pepe and I appeared on the but not soon enough. That evening 9. sex worke'rs' methods -nu*r, food stand' of birth control vary. From informal conversations,I tacos and sipping Cokes at his learned that some workers dealers in New York City's spanish relied on birth control injections like Depo_proven zr. "utingln his study of piärto"Rican crack and others userJ only illustration of the ways in which condoms. Philippe nott'gJl' ftovides another ro' Though Harlem, origins (in this case there is a preference among crients for righter-skinned, fr.;;p";;.;kers of different national non- structural economic man' prompted by indigenous prostitutes i'r the zone today, Kalherine ugui"st one another' AMexican Bliss notes that, during the Mexicans and Puerto n"-#i 1930s, a magazine informants cannot find well- reported that one Mexico City brothel procured young n:":l rndige Bourgois, told him *niääi'["'!i the Puerto nous women from Chiapas and oaxaca it to.youYan in one word: Because in order to prease clients who had a par- "Okay, okay' I'll Jxphin paying iobs: "We come here to work ticular penchant for such women (zoot, r79). Of Mexicans' the man said' Ricans are stupidl Srupiäf' when he rr. Bourgois 7ggo, Rican man describes how he feels 49_5c.. that's all." In contrast' a Puerto rz. Wasserstrom and when I see them''cause I tg76, rz. with ft'f*t""' ';ft'fakes me feel like shit crosses paths notes' often lead 13. Benjamin ry89, zo5; Wasserstrom 1976, ^ me'- Such feelings' Bourgois rz. know they work for tnä"t ttt"" r4. Carcia zoo6,3t. Bourgois 1995' a3o-31" i. against Mexican workers' See r5' other southern border states are Tabasco, Campeche, and euintana Roo. "i.r""äzz. Lancaster 1992, 244' 16' According to local newspapers, as part of their efforts to combat illegal the migration, the united states Immigration singer known for songs.detailins and Naturalization service began to Barrio is a Mexican offer financial rewards ? lllLiTi;lel Remodeled the House"' fbr information leading to the detention of titles such as "l Already polleros, indi- pain of love, with P;;; for Nothing?" viduals who guide migrants across the border 'Are You Listening to Me' Good in exchange fo. *orrey. "Like a Dog," "Human Scum"' r7. Ballinas zoo5. and "Two-Footed Rat"' r8. To learn more about the lives of migrants at the Mexican-Guatemaran bor_ 25. Anderson 1983' der, see Kovic and Kelly zoo5, zoo6. 26. Meniivar zooo,98' t'o* r9. Najar zoo3. data.regarfins to::"l p:lllTl'j:.:u*" 27. Most ot *v who had for- zo, My fieldwork period was one of heightened "träographic intlrviews with two women poritical instab.ity in Chia- observations u,ta io'*u-täii"fot*ul pas' As the I']RI a third women with whom struggled to rnaintain control, researchers, areas Evidence suggested that of investigation merly worked as oUtigaaas' now work- were circumscribed. Deportations of foreign tourists student from Puebla (many participating in a I had frequen..ol1t"t?,-ü1";; ;;;"tälege an phenomenon labeled Zapaturismo-Zapatista refused to identify herself as tourism), activists, and intenectu_ ul'o an obligada' tuauä ing in the *u' and staff knew als alike were not uncommon. Even the Honduran "or,", the"man whom most zone workers reggae_rap band who per_ obligada, carefully ref!*ilg to formed at the Mother,s Day fiesta was picked up by INM authlrities, pareja (partner)'^ only to be to bä her pimp as iner "China" or "La bailed out by the municipal governm".,t, Sonia is often referred to as *hi.h felt responsibre for their plight. 28. Because or n"'isiätti"atures' As a researcher and foreig.er working in an increasingly xenophobic region, I did Chinita," meaning "Little China girl'" my best to remain invisible to authorities of the INMi, tn" tfrr"ut of dJportation was very real. After countless interviews BUYERS and much paperwork, my research visa was SIX. SELLERS AND approved six months after I made the initiar request. Happening upon a caravan of Zapatistas in san Cristöbal and Sirianni t'996' z' for peace talks with the gtv"-äät, I returned r. MacDonald of the tip" for home immediately; Jt"t"'iott of "inverting the symbolism as I had rearned through the experience of friends, z. See Foff Pa"r""l acciden- 'g;t a New restaurant' tal proximity alone could get practiced by waitresses in Jersey a person deforted. My efforts at invisibility were a similar strategy not always successfur, though' soon after the land conflict in the zone erupted, Higgins and ranva Coen (zooo) tele'ision ne\^'s crews came to ou*1:u: Michaer co'er the event. I was urged by the staff of the i. H",i3;!llil3l1.r'1";t" oaxaca City "' prostitutes working ihe street in to le'a'e quickly through a side gate reserved for poli." urd found that male transvestite while 'MAV rtuff. I did this. j"ro, (us$q.+o ,r,Jus$tz.6s) per client, charged between * *o ,5o :l:l() NO'rE5 TO PAGES 16()_1g1 NorEs ro PAGEs t86-zr1 2if7

older women (in their late thirties KEEP to fifties) working the streets charged between SEVEN. THE SECRETS WE 4o and 6o pesos (us$4'7o and usgz.os), a price the authors refer to as ,,minimer., 5. Bliss 2oo1.,154. r.ForsimilarProcessesinSoutheastAsia,seeLimrgg8;Phongpaichitrg8z' 6. Brown 1982. z. Carter t987; Odzet 1994; Phongpaichit r98z' In her uprising and the collapse of the peso' many Mexicans 7' acc,unt of sex tourism in the Dominican Republic, 3. Before the Zapatista Denise Breruran his presidency writes about rural women's unsuccessful upi.o.r"d of Carlos Satinas. Today there are still some who think efforts to use wardrobe to brend into the sex-work scene in Sosria (zoo4, 143_44). 8' on occasion is somewhat less extravagant than it may seem, when one con- a worker may have the opportunity to prepare T:i::fi;il:"e her own food: be costly and one room in Dofla Mari's that getting a telephone installed in one's living quarters can module has been converted into a makeshift kitchen, siders where workers may sometimes pepe time-consuming, a process often involving many months of waiting' prepare meals. sometimes lets a trusted prepare food in his stand, Goffman ::Ti" which will often be shared by a handful of 5. ryq,)- worKers 6. Ibid.,4. g' For similar findings among male gay transvestite sex workers in oaxaca, 7.lbid.,86-87. see Higgins and Coen zooo. ro. See Enloe pollock r989; Sturdevant and Stoltzfus 1992. rr. Enloe ryg1,, 147. EIGHT. FINAL THOUGHTS rz. Albert zoor,t16. Evans 196o zZg' r3. Stoler 1995. Epigraph: Agee and lrglgl' r4. Enloe 'tgg1,, 147. r. McClintocktggS,). various sectors (local, "La 2. It must be observed that "the state" is composed of t5. vulnerabiliriad de las mujeres y el VIH/Sid a,,, Ia Jornada en lnternet, different agencies that often have competing interests, and that Letra S, March z,2ooo, www.salud.gob.mxlconasida,/otraspub/letraese state, federal) and /lszw/ arenotalwaysinternallyhomogenous.Furthermore,thestateiscomposedof lsmaroo.htm, accessed 26, zoo7. For luly similar findings in Costa Rica, where very likable' housewives constitute human beings, some of them 36 percent of the population oireported testi- cases of HrV For märe on CAFIA, see the washington office on Latin America's infection, while prostitutes make ,rp ,o 3. p"..".rt, see Ortiz ei al. ry9g, z6z. r 6. See Gutm ann t ,,urban monytotheHouseWaysandMeansCommittee,wwwwola'org/economic/ 996, 48 - 4r,for a discussion of p oty gumy. and the cafta-ways-means-testimony'pdf, accessed April 27, zooT' multiple meanings of the casa chica. Reporter Online zoo5' r7. LeVine 1993. 4. National Catholic r8. Monto zooo. 5. McClintocktggl, S. ,,uprising of hope,, from the title of Duncan Earle and 19. Enloe 1992,25. L. I bo..o* the phrase jeanne Simonelli's zoo5 ethnography about their work amonq the Zapatistas' zo. Foucault 1985; Stoler 1995. zr. Gutmann ryg6, t3z. T.Furthermore,toborrowfromDerrick|ensen,it,sonethingtowriteabout and "quite another thing to make it all happen' (zoo6' 38$' zz. Ibid., ry3. social change 23. The existence of the 8. McClintock tggl' 9. Garactic Zone's large client base, when compared with the men 9. McKinleY zoo5. of Neza with whom Gutmann also raises -oiked, further'luestions Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network zoo5' about the nature of ethnographic data ro. and self-presentation by both researcher ,,Prostitution Reform Act zoo3," sex in and informants. fl. Laws in New Zealand: Prostitution www.sexinnz.co.nz/newsz.htm# commencment, accessed 24. See Carrillo zcnz,83, ro6. New Zealand website, zr, zoo6. 25. Collie'r ry9gb9g4); LeVine 1993. |une 26. Carrillo rz. Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network zoo5' zoo2, gg; also see Gutmann ry96,42_33. 27. CISC 1994,13. 13. Jensen 2o0o,99. Bibliography

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