© 2012 Anahi Russo ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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© 2012 Anahi Russo ALL RIGHTS RESERVED RETHINKING INTIMACY: LOVE, FRIENDSHIP AND SEXUALITY IN THREE GENERATIONS OF QUEER WOMEN IN MEXICO CITY (1960-2010) by ANAHI RUSSO A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Women’s and Gender Studies written under the direction of Dr. Carlos U. Decena and approved by _____________________________________ _____________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October, 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION RETHINKING INTIMACY: LOVE, FRIENDSHIP AND SEXUALITY IN THREE GENERATIONS OF QUEER WOMEN IN MEXICO CITY (1960-2010) by ANAHI RUSSO Dissertation Director: Professor Carlos U. Decena This dissertation investigates the transformation of intimacy in the lives of three generations of women participating in queer spaces in Mexico City, at a moment in which sexual citizenship is being redefined in Mexican society. More specifically, this research considers how the social organization, discourses and practices of intimacy have shifted for women participating in queer spaces in Mexico City since the 1960s. My study looks at how the emergence of these transcontinental debates intertwines with the new nationalist rhetoric that has proclaimed Mexico as a pluriethnic and multicultural (instead of mestizo) nation. After positioning these debates in processes of national identity and transnational dynamics, I explore through my ethnographic data, how gay and lesbian individuals in Mexico City have reconfigured their views on intimacy (i.e. love, friendship, sexuality) since the 1960s, and in particular in the midst of these changes on sexual citizenship. I focus particularly on women participating in queer ii spaces. I suggest that if we truly are to understand queer lives in Latin America, it is imperative to engage with discourses on intimacy produced through the State and other institutional actors and the ways in which these are experienced, rather than primarily centering our analysis on ontological questions as research on same-sex sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean has continuously emphasized. My qualitative research is based on ethnographic fieldwork I conducted in Mexico City for 10 months in 2009- 2010, including participant observation, 45 qualitative interviews and the review of newspapers of record. It is also influenced by seven intermittent years of everyday life in Mexico City since 1998 and a previous anthropological fieldwork research in 2000. Ultimately, my study contributes to the fields of the anthropology and sociology of intimacy, interdisciplinary studies on gender and sexuality in Latin America and notions of sexual citizenship, nationalism, space and place. iii Acknowledgements I am profoundly thankful to many individuals, institutions and conditions that brought this project into being. I cannot thank enough my advisor, Carlos U. Decena, for his encouragement and vision that have sustained me throughout my years at Rutgers University. The numerous conversations we have had since 2006, gave shape to this dissertation draft after draft. I am also deeply indebted to my internal committee members: Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, this project would not have been the same without the dialogue you have sustained with me, and the ways in which you considered every single of my words with great and profound care; Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui I am indebted to your thought-provoking questions that pointed me numerous times towards directions I had not considered; and Jasbir K. Puar I am really thankful for your support throughout the years and in helping me rethink numerous parts of this project in connection with broader questions and scholarship. I am also profoundly thankful to my external committee member: Gloria Gonzalez- Lopez for providing such generous comments and guidance. There are numerous other scholars and activists I have worked with at Rutgers University, on long term projects or teaching, which nourished my dissertation at many levels: Temma Kaplan, Julie Rajan, Barbara Balliet, Cheryl Clarke, Jenny Kurtz, Mary Hawkesworth, Kyla Schuller, Ed Cohen, Yana Rodgers and Anna Sampaio. I want to thank in particular Charlotte Bunch for being such a thoughtful, open hearted and visionary mentor. Thanks to the team at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership: Lucy Vidal, Mika Kinose, Jewel Daney, Margot Baruch and Cynthia Rothschild. I also want to acknowledge all iv the students I had the opportunity to work with. In particular the social justice communities, you’ve taught me the true meaning of love and standing for a fairer world. I will always be grateful to you. In Mexico City, I was fortunate to take part in the Gender Studies Program (PUEG) at UNAM, as a visiting scholar in 2009-2010. My fieldwork was also made possible with the support of a doctoral fellowship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I will always be thankful to PUEG’s director, Marisa Belausteguigoitia, for her contagious passion for research and teaching, and for your ability to always bring the beauty you see in each and everyone of us, to the surface. I am also thankful to Hortensia Moreno who acted as my advisor in Mexico. Our conversations brought me to see things that were before my eyes, but I had not named. Lucia Melgar and Gerardo Mejía pointed me to wonderful resources that facilitated my experience at PUEG. None of this would have been possible without any of the people who participated in this research. I will never have enough words to thank you for opening the doors of your lives to me. Musas de Metal, Mujeres Mayores de 30, Grupo de Yoga Shakti-Les and el Grupo Lésbico Universitario, welcomed me warmly and helped me bring to light this dissertation. I am also very thankful to the activists who kindly shared their views: Nadia Rosso, Gloria Carreaga, Paulina Martinez, Lolkin Castañeda and Rosalinda Avila. Last, I would like to thank my friends and families who have accompanied me throughout my years of graduate work. Gracias a mis amigas Mónica, Monse, Deborah, Dalila, Claudia, Valerie, Luisa and Nadia. La vida no es posible sin el v amor y la amistad. I deeply appreciate the encouragement and friendship of my colleagues Ashley Falzetti, Susana Matallana, Ariella Rotramel, Stephanie Clare, Jodie, Agatha Beins and Jillian Hernández. A special thanks to my friends Sara Angevine and Anel Méndez-Velázquez, with whom I shared living spaces. You made my life so much better. Heartfelt gratitude to Yelena Kalinsky for helping with some last minute edits, formatting and truly being there with me at the heart of things. I cannot imagine my life in graduate school, and truly understanding why I was there, without Zen practice and the support of my dharma brothers- sisters and teachers: Kurt (Kankan Roshi), Shugen Sensei, Jimon, Tesshin Sensei, Mike, Nobuko, Sandy and Kritee, among numberless beings. Gracias a mi familia who has always given me their unconditional support and love: Jose, Maria, Sara, Jason, Inti, Alei, Daniel, Josianne, Salvador y Naima. Thanks to everyone and everything that has brought this project into being. Love always! vi Table of Contents Abstract of Dissertation.......................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................iv Table of Contents...............................................................................................................vii Chapter 1 An Introduction to Rethinking Intimacy..............................................................................1 Chapter 2 Creating Ethnographic Knowledge: The Setting and Methods.........................................23 Chapter 3 Producing Mexican Sexualities and Histories in Mexican Nationalism............................59 Chapter 4 A Woman’s World of Sexual and Gendered Possibilities: Subject Positions on Same-Sex Sexuality in Mexico City (1960–2010)............................................................................110 Chapter 5 “Recreating the World from Our Skins”: On Intimacy, Sex, Love and Friendship........160 Chapter 6 Mapping Bodies, Mapping Cities: Generational Geographies of Desire in Mexico City...................................................................................................................................208 Epilogue...........................................................................................................................250 Bibliography....................................................................................................................260 Appendix 1 Interview Questionnaire – Spanish..................................................................................278 Appendix 2 Interview Questionnaire – English...................................................................................284 Appendix 3 Discurso Oficial de la XXXII Marcha del Orgullo LGBTTTI........................................290 Appendix 4 Map of the Federal District..............................................................................................296 Curriculum Vitae.............................................................................................................297 vii 1 Chapter 1 An Introduction