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Sexuality, Social Inequalities, and Sexual Vulnerability Among Low-Income Youth in the City of Ayacucho, Peru

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Sexuality, Social Inequalities, and Sexual Vulnerability Among Low-Income Youth in the City of Ayacucho, Peru SEXUALITY, SOCIAL INEQUALITIES, AND SEXUAL VULNERABILITY AMONG LOW-INCOME YOUTH IN THE CITY OF AYACUCHO, PERU CARMEN J. YON Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Carmen J. Yon All rights reserved ABSTRACT Sexuality, Social Inequalities, and Sexual Vulnerability among Low-Income Youth in the City of Ayacucho, Peru Carmen J. Yon This ethnographic study explores diverse ways in which sexuality and social hierarchies and inequalities interact in the lives of low-income youth who were trained as peer-educators and sexual health and rights advocates in Ayacucho, Peru. It examines three central questions: 1) How are meanings about sexuality related to social hierarchies and social prestige among these youth? 2) How do quotidian manifestations of social inequity shape vulnerability of youth to sexual abuse and sexual risks, and their sexual agency to face these situations? and 3) What are the possibilities and limitations of existent sexual rights educational programs to diminish sexual vulnerability of youth facing diverse forms of inequality, such as economic, gender, ethnic and inter-generational disparities? I analyze what may be termed as the political economy of sexual vulnerability among low-income youth, and show the concrete ways in which it operates in their everyday life. Likewise, this research studies sexuality as a domain of reproduction, resignification and critique of social inequality and social hierarchies. The context is an Andean city, which in recent decades has experienced incomplete processes of democratization, and also a greater penetration of consumerism and transnational ideas and images. This study also reveals cultural logics of youth about sexual risks and complex dimensions of their sexual and gender agency. In terms of policies and programs, this research offers evidence and reflections about some challenges and limitations of a participatory sexual rights project within a context of poverty and social inequalities in urban low-income areas of Peru. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and Figures vii Acknowledgments viii Dedication x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Youth as “Included-Excluded” in a Globalized World 4 Sexuality, Social Stratification and Social Inequalities 6 Social and Sexual Vulnerability 8 Practice Theory, Sexuality and Agency 11 Sexual Rights and Citizenship of Youth in a Highly Unequal Context 14 Study Design and Research Methods 16 Ethical aspects 24 Outline of the Chapters 27 CHAPTER 2: A NEW GENERATION IN A CHANGING CITY 30 A New Generation of “Huamanguinos” 32 From a Seigniorial City to One of Sons and Daughters of Rural Migrants 35 The Organization of the City and the Colonial Order 37 Human Settlements and New Towns Setting-Up 40 Post-Conflict Ayacucho 45 Access to Formal Education and Forms of Discrimination in i Educational Institutions 50 Informal Economy, Sources of Income and Job Opportunities 57 Economic Activities of Youth 58 Demilitarization and the Presence of the State and NGOs during the Post-Conflict Period: Recovering Citizenship? 61 Access to Media and the Internet 69 Consumption and Markets: Languages of Modernization and Equalization among Peers 72 Included-Excluded Youth 76 CHAPTER 3: INSTITUTIONALIZED DISCOURSES ABOUT YOUTH SEXUALITY IN AYACUCHO CITY 79 Families: Absences, Norms, Generational Distances and Conflicts 83 The Catholic Church: Presence in the Everyday Life of the City 88 The Virgin Mary and the Body as a Temple 90 Religion as a Resource 93 Educational Institutions and Catholic Sexual Education 98 Sexual Education in State-Funded Schools 100 Media and Markets: Building the “Social Skin” 105 Sexy, Modern and Rebellious Girls 107 Peers and Youth Cultures: “They May Replace Your Family” 113 Mancheros, Metal, Gothic, Hip Hop and Others 116 The NGO and the New Gender and Sexual Rights Narratives 121 ii Beyond Socialization 127 CHAPTER 4: CATHOLIC MORAL DISCOURSE IN THE EVERYDAY LIFE EXPERIENCES OF YOUTH 129 Gaps between Religious Ideology and Teenagers’ Experiences and Interpretations 131 Virginity: Desirable but Unrealistic 133 Valuable but Relative: Navigating Different Cultural Scenarios 136 Contraception: “It is not a Matter of Faith” 141 Where Does the Discourse about the “Decent and Respectable Woman” Live? 144 Forms of Self-control and Self-censorship 144 Norms, Restrictions, Prohibitions and Surveillance 153 Honor and Shame within a Context of Changes 164 Religion in the Everyday of Youth: Changes and Continuities 169 CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL HIERARCHIES AND THE UN-MAKING OF SEXUALITY AND GENDER 172 Playful and Serious Gender Games 174 Bargaining Theory and Culturally Complex Subjects 176 Gender Agency: Power and Projects 177 Narrative Agency and the Power to Name and Classify 179 Recreating and Normalizing through Jokes and Mockery 180 iii Classifications and Regulation of Sexual Agency among Peers 190 Self-Presentation and the Ability to Seduce 196 Messages and Visual Images in the Virtual World: Sexy but Innocent 204 “Afterward… it’s your dark past that follows you”: Self-Regulation of Sexual Desire and Initiative 207 Transgressions and Self-Regulation: Tensions and Balance in Gender Games 213 CHAPTER 6: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND INTERSECTING SOCIAL CLASSIFICATIONS AND HIERARCHIES AMONG YOUTH 219 Interdependent Inequalities, Social Exclusion and Stigma 221 Cultural Racism 224 The Sexualization of Race 227 “That Person is not For You”: Exclusion and Racial Hierarchies 229 Geographic Place of Origin and “Spatial Stigma” 237 Homosexual Men, Stigmatization and Discrimination among Boys 242 Social Class and Economic Discrimination 247 Social Inequity, Intersecting Hierarchies, and Sexual Agency 253 iv CHAPTER 7: VULNERABILITY SITUATIONS, YOUTH SEXUAL ABUSE AND RISKS 257 Specific Ethical Considerations 260 Sexual Abuse at Home 262 Relationship with Adult Family Members or from their Circle of Friends 265 Inequitable Gender Relations and Economic Dependency 268 Agency and the Conditions of Choice of Girls Who Face Sexual Abuse 274 Sexual Vulnerability at the Work Place: Sexual Risk Contexts and Precarious Jobs for Youth 279 Domestic Work and Sexual Abuse 280 Coca Growing and Contexts of Sexual Risks 287 Sexual Agency and Gendered Labor Opportunities 295 Vulnerable Situations in Recreational Spaces 296 Women’s Surveillance and Social Vulnerability 298 Remote “Protected” and Dangerous Areas 299 Prohibited or Clandestine Entertainment Places 302 Alcohol Consumption: “Compromisos” (Engagements) and Vulnerabilities 305 Social Protection and Sexual Protection 310 Social Vulnerability, Sexuality and Agency 317 v CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL REFLECTIONS 322 Sexuality, Social Inequalities and Social Hierarchies in Urban Ayacucho 323 Research Contributions 329 Political Economy of Sexuality: Inclusion and Exclusion Dynamics 332 Consumerism as an Entry-Point to Understand Larger Projects 334 Vulnerability does not Obscure Agency 336 Geographies of Sexual Vulnerability and Meanings about Risk and Safety 337 Intergenerational Relationships in the Production of Sexual Vulnerability 339 Sexual Abuse and the Perils of Ideologies of Domestic Space as Sexually Safe 343 Sexuality as a Site of Agency of Girls 345 Types of Agency: Beyond Reproduction or Change of Social Structures 352 Implications for Policies and Programs 354 Approaches to Understanding and Promoting Sexual Health of Youth 354 Sexual Health and Social Policies: Beyond Information and Individual Approaches 356 Bibliography 359 vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Socio-demographic Characteristics of Young Informants 20 Figure 1: Map of Ayacucho Department 1 Figure 2: Map of Peru 1 Figure 3: Peripheral Neighborhoods in Ayacucho 48 Figure 4: Posters on the Wall of one of the Girl´s House 80 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the youth of Ayacucho and to all the informants who participated in this study for their generosity with their time and for trusting me enough to share their experiences and views. I learned a great deal from them about young people in Ayacucho, their concerns and their hopes. Special thanks to Professor Richard Parker, my Sponsor, for his invaluable advice and support. His contributions to the political economy of sexual health and his commitment to sexual citizenship movements in Latin America have been a source of inspiration and learning. I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to Professor Jennifer Hirsch, the Chair of my Committee and Second Reader, for her important suggestions and for challenging me with questions, especially in the themes of gender and agency. It has been a privilege to have Professors Carole Vance and Lesley Sharp as members of my dissertation committee. I thank them for their theoretical and methodological contributions, which enhanced my work and my formation in medical anthropology. Professor Miguel Muñoz Laboy has been a member of my dissertation committee and a source of constant support throughout my doctoral studies. My sincere gratitude for his sensitivity, insight and understanding of my concerns about Peruvian youth. viii I would also like to acknowledge my fellow students in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, especially Ernesto Vásquez, Dulce Natividad and Jonathan García, for their generous friendship and for sharing their experience and offering their suggestions. I am grateful to the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University,
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