Maricas and Lunfardos: A Critique of the Mediterranean Model of Sexuality

Most studies of sexuality south of the Rio Grande depart from the idea of a Mediterranean model shared by Southern Europe and Latin America. According to this model, there is a sharp opposition between machismo on one side and marianismo on the other. The dichotomous division of male and female gender identities, claims this paradigm, is paralleled by a similar distinction between "active" and "passive" partners in the realm of same-sex sexuality. Although some recent studies have questioned the imposition of an axiomatic paradigm over an entire region and throughout history, the major features of the Mediterranean sexual paradigm remain unchallenged.  Through the analysis of plebeian sexual culture in Buenos Aires between 1880 and 1930 I will present an alternative interpretation. My goal is to show that male and female identity were not as stable as scholars have thought and same-sex sexuality operated beyond the Mediterranean paradigm.
My research explains the character of plebeian sexual culture in terms of the gender demographic imbalance, the gender division of labor, job instability and lack of family sociability. These factors, I argue, created a sexual culture where men and women barely followed their own moral standards. It was against this backdrop that most plebeian men seemed to have engaged in same-sex sexuality and many women probably practiced prostitution. Their self-representations of gender and sexuality, however, did not necessarily coincide with this reality, maintaining a portrayal of their life that was closer to the Mediterranean paradigm.  Through the analysis of the socio-cultural history of Buenos Aires between 1880 and 1930 I propose a model to explore historical and geographical difference between varying cultures of gender and sexuality throughout Latin America.