GENDER AT ITS LIMITS: THE EROTIC AND THE POLITICAL IN FICTIONAL MEXICAN AND BRAZILIAN 20TH CENTURY TEXTS
BY
LILY MARTINEZ
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012
Urbana, Illinois
Doctoral Committee:
Associate Professor Dara E. Goldman, Chair Associate Professor Martin F. Manalansan Associate Professor Joyce L. Tolliver Assistant Professor Antonio Tosta
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes the representation of the erotic and sexuality in works of
Mexican and Brazilian fiction in the twentieth century. I examine how the erotic motif influences the construction of gender and sexuality. Erotic representations apart from the surface function of displaying what is aesthetically pleasing also have the possibility to transform or, at a minimum, disturb gender norms. By analyzing gender, my objective is to show how fluid gender identities are, and how the erotic motif can also have political implications by surfacing feminist and activist ideologies. Most importantly, however, by closely analyzing how the erotic has been mobilized in political terms, I am able to observe how radical authors have become in rewriting the female body and erotic desires. Some of the texts under analysis are Gabriela Cravo e
Canela by Jorge Amado, Entre Villa y una mujer desnuda by Sabina Berman, Eu Tu Eles directed by Andrucha Waddington, among others.
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To my Mother, Father and Evangelista
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Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Dara E. Goldman for being my unconditional advisor all these years and for directing my dissertation. It has been a long journey, however, one full of insightful comments and endearing challenges. I am grateful to my dissertation committee,
Professor Joyce L. Tolliver, Professor Martin F. Manalansan and Professor Antonio Tosta, who graciously agreed to be part of this project and who have supported my research. At the
University of Illinois, I am grateful to the Foreign Language and Area Studies Program (FLAS) awarded by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Center for Global
Studies, the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Program (DFI), and the
Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese who provided funding for my Doctoral Program, research and professional development. I also thank my colleagues in the Department of Spanish,
Italian and Portuguese, who have encouraged my research. I have enjoyed so many discussions over the summer and the academic year on the erotic and gender with the dissertation reading group, which included Kristina Medina, Carina Vasquez and Professor Goldman. I also gratefully acknowledge the constructive criticism and invaluable comments provided by my reader and best friend Ursula Wolf. Your companionship and support over the years have been invaluable for my academic success.
The completion of the dissertation has been a long journey filled with sacrifices and love.
I wish to thank my mother and father for their unconditional love and support. My sister, brother in law, niece, nephew, and my family, for their encouragement, kindness, and many moments filled with delicious Mexican food and insightful advice. In Champaign, I am indebted to the friendship, camaraderie and love from my special friends Ursula Wolf and Megan Kelly. Lastly,
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I dedicate this dissertation with love, to my constant intellectual and emotional companion,
Francisco Evangelista Junior.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Rethinking Foundations and Expanding the Boundaries: Theorizing Eroticism, Sex, Gender, Sexuality and the Body ….………….…….…………………….….1
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………..1
Western Erotic Legacies and the Latin American Experience ………………………….……9
The Feminist Project and the Body ………………………………………………………..…22
Cultural and Geographical Specificity: The Brazilian and Mexican Feminist Movement …..26
Mapping Gender, Sex and Sexuality ………………………………………………………....37
The Erotic Tradition ………………………………………………………………………….47
Expanding the Borders: Eroticism as a Source of Knowledge and Empowerment in the Latin American Experience …...………………...………………………………….……...... 58
Chapter 2: Cannibalizing the Erotic: Food as Allegory for the Subversion of Power in Gabriela, cravo e canela and Como agua para chocolate ...... 62
Contextualizing Food within Cultural Movements, Literature and Historical Events …....….65
Reclaiming Spaces of Labor and Pleasure and Their Potential as Sites of Knowledge …...... 76
The Normative as Chaotic: Containing Gender and Challenging its Boundaries ……….…...92
Chapter 3: Challenging Traditional Gender Roles Though Erotic Androgynous Identities in Entre Villa y una mujer desnuda and Eu tu eles ……………………….………………..…102
Androgynous Eroticism: Eu tu eles …………………………………………………………...109
Mexican National Figures and the Mexican Revolution ……………………………………...128
Androgynous Eroticism: Entre Villa y una mujer desnuda ………………………………...... 136
Chapter 4: In Between Eroticism: Transgender Tales in Georgette: Sex veste saia e calça and “¿Quieres que te lo cuente otra vez?” ………...…………………….………...……...…...149
Georgette: A Tale of a Man and a Woman ……………………………………………..……..152
The Union of the Princess and the Fairy in “¿Quieres que te lo cuente otra vez?”………....…168
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………..176 vi
Works Cited ……...………………………………………………………………………….....185
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Chapter 1: Rethinking Foundations and Expanding the Boundaries: Theorizing Eroticism,
Sex, Gender, Sexuality and the Body
Not only is erotic desire and sensuous feeling removed from the dominant philosophical tradition with which Kant is associated-and (by extension) from aesthetic pleasure-but sexuality, sexual desire, and the body are all proposed as a threat to rational, civilized society. Eroticism, because it is linked to the emotions (from sexual arousal to fear and anger), has the power to agitate the mind, the soul, and to disrupt order. Alyce Mahon
Introduction
The science television series Through the Wormhole, explored the possibility of a sixth sense in June 2011. One of the studies presented was that of Professor Daryl Bem, who believes that humans have the ability to sense erotic opportunities in the future. He theorizes that this precognitive ability developed in humans over thousands of years in order to provide reproductive opportunities. Although controversial, his study reveals that when a subject was presented with two curtains on a computer screen, and had to choose which one had a picture behind it, most of the time the success rate was fifty percent, which are the results that are mathematically expected. When the computer transitions its images and only shows those of an erotic nature, the subjects predict correctly which curtain will reveal the image fifty three percent of the time. Although the difference is small, Professor Bem states that it is statistically significant, and he proposes that humans can anticipate future events when emotions are involved. This experiment reveals the great potential that human erotic desire holds, even within the more resolutely black and white world of scientific investigation. If eroticism has been found
1 to be a motivator for precognitive learning and predicting future events, imagine the potential that it holds in other aspects of life. How can erotic desire serve as an asset to cultural studies, and what does literature reveal about the erotic potential?
In practice, eroticism does not exist by itself, but is intertwined with the politics of gender and sexuality. Eroticism, sexuality and gender influence one another and their boundaries in practice overlap. Consequently, the erotic is deeply tied to society’s prescriptions onto the body and its sex. Based on sex, individuals are taught a gendered way to socialize, behave, think and desire in particular ways. Arguments for maintaining the erotic as a private matter are uprooted when making visible the historical treatment of the erotic, in relation to gender and sexuality.
History shows that gender, sexuality and the erotic have all been highly politicized by the state.
As history reveals, the erotic is always political. Furthermore, if the erotic for the sake of the erotic is viewed as threatening to social values and therefore is constantly under a careful watch by larger political forces, what could become of an erotic that is public and has a political intent?
What is the potential and just how threatening is it to the established social order?
Gender and sexuality are critical markers in the discourse for social equality. David de
Ferranti et al. discern that inequality in Latin America is extensive (1).1 It is also the prevalent factor that characterizes every aspect of life. According to the research conducted by the World
Bank, inequality determines “access to education, health and public services; access to land and other assets; the functioning of credit and formal labor markets; and attainment of political voice and influence” (1). Equality is one of the principal objects of the social movements of the twentieth century, principally as stated by the research, because it corresponds to power and representation. Gender for example, is a pivotal demarcation for the allocation of social, political
1 The work is collective and no individual scholars are cited within the findings. 2 and economic resources. While over fifty percent of the population in Latin America is female, being female continues to be a salient variable that affects the likelihood of poverty and inequality (Ferranti 81). In the family sector, being part of a lower class translates to less income and more children than middle and higher-class families. In occupations, Ferranti et al. report that women are more often found in low paying service occupations, regardless of their racial and ethnic background (88). As a result, sex greatly affects the social, political and economic opportunities and conditions for an individual.
Inequality in economic and political terms is more easily measured than the inequality that exists within the family and other private spaces, as well as the accessibility to our own bodies. Social class and level of education are influential factors in empowering marginalized individuals to gain fairness in all social aspects; however, it is not always the case. For women to attain equality in all aspects of their lives is a difficult matter. The reason for which the task becomes so challenging, is that it requires the modification of all social centers that produce and disseminate values, including the family, religion and state. In the family, for example, many females continue to be solely responsible for completing the household chores and raising the children. As members of a family, women must also conduct themselves in ways that are representative of femininity with certain dress codes and mannerisms that ultimately secure their marriageability. Sexually, virginity continues to hold a strong value; indeed, the less sexual exp