Gender and sexuality Essay

Gender and sex has permeated the character of Latin American acress throughout history. Latin America has demonstrated examples of the manipulation of sex activity as a means of a nations g everywherenment activity asserting its political and affectionate sway, and the history of the Cuban Revolution shows that Cuba is among much(prenominal) nations. Since its infancy in 1959 and through the 1990s, the Cuban ultra government has managed to achieve a sanitary-documented history of oppressive practices that has made the Cuban government the subject of much worldwide reproof and scrutiny over the years.Among the root of this oppression is a commitment to political and social control along gender lines for a greater nationalistic ca go for. not unlike other Latin American nations, gender theatrical roles as they be recognized in Cuba pay sullen been constructed and forcefully prescribed by the government. The citizens of the nation moderate been socialized to discern betw een masculine and feminine traits, as well under jump out why certain traits are desirable while others are not. These determinations catch had far-reaching consequences in the cultural realm of Cuban society.Social circles are designed partly upon a persons recognition of and adherence to specific gender roles. A part of the Cuban revolutionary governments use of gender for political and social control is its spot toward and relationship with male crotchet. The systematic perse leadion of homo informals in Cuba has been used by the state in an insular fashion against its citizens for the purpose of controlling them, but to a fault as an outward political pass of serves to uphold national dignity and honor as part of a Cuban national identity that is to be recognized and respected throughout the expect of the world.In addition to this covers thesis world based on the Cuban revolutionary governments use of gender and sexuality as a tool of political and social control, the no tion of patriarchy is a theory that is central to this thesis. Part of Cubas national identity is the paternal nature of its government, which not only applies to the relationship between the state and its citizens, but also applies to the relationship between Cuba and other nations. Dominance and strength, two factors upon which patriarchy is based, are what Cuba stands to project to larger, more powerful nations as a symbol of an exalted position in the world.As discussed in the paper, Cubas patriarchal government uses its rejection of homosexuality outwardly as a tactic of resisting and rejecting the systems and ideals of nations that the Cuban Revolution finds itself to be fundamentally at odds with. Evidence of this can be found in works such as Ian Lumsdens Machos, Maricones, and Gays Cuba and Homosexuality. The arguments made in this paper are create verbally around various primary documents that not only shop at the central thesis, but also serve as a base for extended di scussion of certain elements that have contributed to a greater part of a nations history.One such element is the notion of gender roles and norms cosmos defined and prescribed by the state, which in turn affects its societys views. This includes the legal and penal mechanisms through which the prescriptions are upheld. Legal enforcement leads to a second element, which is nationalism as the motive for the states manipulation of gender and sexuality. This control of the Cuban people is part of a greater political agenda ensuring the success of the Cuban Revolution.A part of this political maneuver is maintaining the honor of the nation and defending its worldwide image. A third and final element is the sentiment of cultures and governments undergoing change over a period of time. such changes include the states gender-based ideas and prescriptions, as well as the catalysts for such change. These changes are ultimtately reflected in the attitudes of a nations people. The film Fres a y Chocolate is one of the primary sources that this paper is written around.Set in Cuba circa 1979, Fresa y Chocolate reflects the attitudes toward homosexuality that were the norm in Cuba during the first couple of decades of the Cuban revolution, and also depicts the governments use of gender and sexuality to advance its own political agenda. What qualities make or do not make the revolutionary? What place does a homosexual have in the Cuban revolution? What is homosexuality supposed to mean to the communistic youth? These are questions that Fresa y Chocolate raises and helps answer. The other primary documents that this paper is written around are the writings of controversial gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas.This paper discusses some examples of the persecution that Arenas endured as a homosexual coming up during the Cuban Revolution. From physical attacks and censorship to arrests and imprisonment, Arenas symbolized to the Cuban revolutionary government the classic threat to the patriarchal state that the government misgivinged and aimed to neutralize. Although writings from a persecuted homosexual in Cuba stand to possibly reflect certain biases, it is important to look at alternate points of view with the purpose of still supporting the basic arguments conveyed herein.For that reason, this paper will also discuss the works of writers such as Rafael L. Ramirez and Rafael Ocasio, who did not emerge from a situation similar to that of Arenass. Ocasio explains that Reinaldo Arenas initially expressed interest in the Cuban Revolution, having left(p) home at the age of fifteen to become a guerilla fighter for Fidel Castro. (14) Arenas was rejected payable to his young age and the fact that he had no firearms. His enthusiasm for supporting Castro eventually waned, however, and it was the sexual repression that Arenas encountered at his boarding school that began his discontent with the Castro regime.(17) Ocasio cites the reprisal that students faced if c aught committing homosexual acts. In addition to expulsion, school officials also went as far as detailing the nature of students transgression in school records, thereby barring these homosexual students from other state-run schools. According to Ocasio, Arenas give tongue to that arrest and incarceration could also result from certain instances of such activity. (17) This made Arenas aware of politically-related persecution of homosexuals as an adolescent.Systematic, state-sanctioned persecution of homosexuals is further exemplified by the nighttime roundups of homosexuals organized by Cuban police force, a practice that traces buttocks to 1961. The earliest documented case of this is known as the Night of the Three Ps (prostitutes, pimps, y pederasts). Gay playwright Virgilio Pinera was among those who were arrested. (Ocasio 24) These raids were stringently politically-motivated, for as Salas explains, police targeted eachthing they found in these raids that appeared to be antisocial or non-conformist, including clothing or hairstyles deemed inappropriate.In support of this, Salas cites an instance in which a youngish Communist League leader was arrested in one of the raids despite not being involved in any homosexual activity. Police targeted him because of his long hair, which was cut by authorities. The man was released once he confirmed his identity. (155) Homosexuals targeted in these raids were considered part of a greater antisocial element that the government sought to eliminate.Ocasio explains that while officials appoint prostitutes to schools where they could supposedly be rehabilitated, Castro stated that homosexuals would be barred from the possibility of having any influence in cultural life, schools, or the arts. (24) The aforementioned roundups of homosexuals organized by Cuban police had an affect on Cubas intellectual community, and was only one example of the Castro regimes politically-inspired oppression. Various official stateme nts were made by the Cuban government against homosexuals as part of a nationwide campaign promoting proper ethical policies that fostered acceptable revolutionary behavior.It was clear that writers such as Arenas and artists such as Pinera were not seen by the new regime as conducive to the political achievement to which the Cuban revolutionary government aspired. This is supported by Castros famous Words to Intellectuals speech, which Ocasio cites as the first official statement made by the Cuban revolutionary government that determined the boundaries inside which revolutionary writers and artists were to operate What are the rights of writers and artists, revolutionary or not?In support of the Revolution, every right against the Revolution, no rights. Homosexual persecution rooted in the Cuban revolutionary cause is apocalyptic of the revolutionary governments concept of what it referred to as the rude(a) Man. In Social Control and Deviance in Cuba, author Luis Salas discusse s the states concept of the New Man as Cubas ideal revolutionary, which allows no place for a homosexual in the revolution. (166) According to Salas, such a question was all the way answered by Fidel Castro with the following statementNothing prevents a homosexual from professing revolutionary ideology and consequently, exhibiting a correct political position. In this case he should not be considered politically negative. And yet we would never come to believe that a homosexual could embody the conditions and requirements of conduct that would enable us to consider him a true revolutionary, a true Communist aggressive. A deviation of that nature clashes with the concept we have of what a militant Communist must be. Salas contends that to the Cuban revolutionary, the New Man represents strength, honor, and connotes maleness and virility.(166) Conversely, homosexuality is considered to represent helplessness, a classically feminine trait. The strength needed to be a true revolutio nary is something that the Cuban revolutionary government saw in the uncorrupted youth of Cuba. The youth of the nation was regarded by the state as one of the most treasured possessions of the nation that was expect contribute to the success of the revolution, and as such, was to be protected from a group viewed as seducers of small children. (167)This aforementioned political attitude with regards to homosexuals in relation to the communist youth of Cuba was reflected in the film Fresa y Chocolate. In the film, David is a young communist university student who initially views an older homosexual artist named Diego as person who is to be avoided and not to be trusted. Davids roommate Miguel is even more militant in his revolutionary, homophobic stance, and resorts to using David to spy on Diego due to his belief that Diego is a danger to the revolutionary cause and thus cannot be trusted.Although Diego eventually befriends David, there is a mutual understanding between some(pre nominal) characters of the dangers that such a friendship can pose to a young communist like David, and David makes it clear to Diego that they are not to be seen together in humanity. This depiction is asserting(a) of the states effort to socialize its youth towards anti-homosexual sentiment by portraying homosexuals as political obstacles and enemies of the state in order to influence public opinion and sway political action in the governments favor.As Leiner explains, homosexuality played a role in Cubas prerevolutionary touristry economy, for the widespread solicitation of male prostitutes by gay tourists contributed to the economy. Furthermore, the stratification of prerevolutionary Cuba also lured many heterosexual working-class men into the underworld of homosexual prostitution in order to earn a living. According to Leiner, the homosexual bourgeoisie largely controlled this underworld as did American organized crime, which managed the lucrative, but seedy occupational do main based on prostitution, drugs, and gambling.Such an aspect of prerevolutionary Cuban history is declarative of fears present among state officials in revolutionary Cuba, who sensed homosexuality as generative ground for the re-emergence of American imperialism, the bourgeoisie, and classism in Cuban society. This is consistent with Lumsdens contention of revolutionary Cubas regulation of gender and sexuality in Cuba being a part of the states willingness to overcome underdevelopment and resist American efforts to prevent the revolution from succeeding.(xxi) According to Salas, gays were a remnant of capitalism in the eyes of the militant Cuban revolutionary. According to the Cuban government, the New Man was not motivated by the decadence and wanton lusts that characterize homosexuality, which the government believe was associated with the selfishness that marked capitalistic societies. In a speech given on July 26, 1968, Fidel Castro characterized the revolutions ideal New M an as possessing an altruistic and humanistic natureIn a communist society, man will have succeeded in achieving just as much understanding, closeness, and brotherhood as he has on occasion achieved within the narrow circle of his own family. To live in a communist society is to live without selfishness, to live among the people, as if every one of our fellow citizens were authentically our dearest brother. In addition to the idealism of Castros statement, there is also the character of the language behind his statement that is undoubtedly male as well as overwhelmingly exclusionary.The ideals promoted by Castro in the above excerpt can just as easily be prescribed to women for them to live by such ideals, but the macho/socialist amalgam questioned whether male homosexuals could. (Leiner 27) Leiner explains a study conducted by esteemed commentator Lourdes Casal, who analyzed the influence that the Cuban revolution had on Cuban literature. According to Leiner, Casal discovered a g eneral disdain for homosexuals reflected in over 100 novels. Casal contended that the rejection of homosexuality was the rejection of femininity.Accusing a man of being a homosexual was to be considered an assault on that mans masculinity, and was considered synonymous with deeming that man a female who is devoid of strength and unworthy of holding power. (23) Such a meaning prescribed to the title homosexual underscores the nature of the Cuban governments patriarchal structure, in which power is directly associated with being a man both physically and sexually. Leiner also explains that in revolutionary Cuban society, the perception of homosexuality and therefore, femininity went beyond mere sexual preference.Physical weakness and lack of muscularity, a lack of interest in physical competition, the display of a quiet demeanor, or a gentle, nurturing or sensitive nature were plenteous to raise suspicion of homosexuality. According to Leiner, such qualities were perceived as weak and inferior, and therefore effeminate. The strong, abrasive, and competitive male was above suspicion of homosexuality. (22) The question of why homosexuals were perceived by the state as counter to the revolution remains partly unanswered.In addition to the Cuban governments belief that homosexuals possessed unwanted qualities such as weakness, cowardice, and perversion, the states view of homosexuals as a danger to the institution that is the traditional family further compelled the state and the society it influenced to write homosexuals off as antithetical to a socialist society. (Leiner 25) Lesbian playwright Ana Maria Simo was jailed for four-and-a-half months in 1965 and also suffered shock treatment to correct her simply due to her associating with people who were suspected of being homosexual.She was not a lesbian at the time. She states that she and her friends were political individualists and anarchistic, and that is what bothered the government, not their being gay. (O casio 30) According to Leiner, lesbians were no cause of perplexity for the revolutionary government. Leiner states that Lourdes Casal found no mention, or even the vaguest hint of evidence of concern over lesbianism in either the pre- or post-revolutionary literary works that she analyzed.This is a manifestation of the Cuban governments patriarchal structure in that the governments complete absence of concern over the lesbianism in Cuba is indicative of the governments relegation of women as secondary, lesser others. (Leiner 23) Unlike homosexuals, lesbians posed no threat to the Cuban revolutionary cause, for the revolution never looked to women for signs of strength or power upon which the government could rely in order to ensure the success of the revolution.However, lesbians, even those who displayed overly masculine qualities, were still considered women just as homosexual males were, and both were deemed unqualified for revolutionary status by the state. Standards of gender and sexuality were prescribed and legitimized by the revolutionary state, thus criminalizing homosexuality. The governments enforcement of its prescriptions has been carried out via formal as well as informal means. A prime example of a formal method of this enforcement is penal legislation.Such legislation involving homosexuality can be found in two dents of the Cuban statutes. In one section of the statutes, legislation involves the relation between homosexuality and the states concept of social dangerousness. Article 73 of the Cuban Penal Code regulates social dangerousness, and cites behavior deemed antisocial as its target. In Cuba, homosexuality has been legally deemed antisocial. (Salas 151) Lumsden cites the use of the word antisocial as a code to describe displays of homosexuality deemed ostentatious.(83) According to Salas, anti-homosexual legislation was considered a preventive measure, for the display of so much as even an attitude that authorities perceived as antisoci al justified police intervention. (Salas 153) These laws stem from government fears, such as the fear of the threat that homosexuality poses to the traditional family structure. in that location is also the governments fear of homosexuality hindering the success of the revolution, of which the fear of homosexuals corrupting the nations youth is a part.(Salas 154) The latter fear can explain homosexual males receiving much harsher punishments for having sex with underage boys compared to the punishments that males faced for having sex with underage females. (Lumsden 82) The fact that laws pertaining to homosexuality are in a section of the Penal Code that pertains to violations against sexual development and sexual relations that are considered normal is indicative of the states perception of homosexuality as a condition that is contagious and leads to pedophilia.For this reason, Article 317 also includes the act of propositioning an adult for homosexual sex in its permanent barring of convicted sex offenders from the teaching profession and any other field in which such an adult stands to have authority or potential influence over children. (Lumsden 84) Aside from the Cuban revolutionary governments fears related to the issue of homosexuality, the eagerness of some government officials to enforce anti-homosexual law is also indicative of their determination to remain above suspicion of being homosexual for their own fear of legal and social reprisal at the hands of the government.Examples of this are provided by Reinaldo Arenas in his highly acclaimed autobiography Before Night Falls, in which he discusses various sexual encounters he had with homosexual government officials in Cuba. Arenas cited an incident in which a police ships military officer with whom he had just had sexual intercourse actually arrested Arenas for being queer. Perhaps he thought that by being the active partner he had not done anything wrong, Arenas stated.This statement by Arenas i s a clear reference to the commonly held perception of the active, penetrating partner in a sexual act between two men not being a homosexual because his dominant position is considered a product of masculinity and power. This perception is diametrically opposed to the perception of the penetrated partner, for this partner assumes a role that is subordinate to the dominant penetrator, thus representing the role of a adult female.In Arenass aforementioned discussion of his arrest, he stated that at the police station, the arresting officer attempted to explain his arresting Arenas by falsely accusing Arenas of groping him. However, Arenas managed to prove the officers involvement in the homosexual act by quickly admitting to the other officers that he still had the officers semen on his body, thus making the officer the subject of much surprise and lower from his colleagues and work superiors.As part of his account of this incident, Arenas alluded to the revolutionary governments b elief that it is not possible for a homosexual male to possess the qualities that makes a true revolutionary. At the same time, Arenas also made a reference to the belief of a homosexual male being equivalent to a woman They ended up saying it was a shame that a member of the police force would engage in such acts, because I, after all, had my weakness, but for him, being a man, there was no excuse for getting involved with a queer. Because he managed to achieve a position as a police officer in the Cuban revolutionary government, which included a convincing display of the masculine traits that the Cuban government believed were instrumental to the composition of a true revolutionary, the police officer was undoubtedly a man in the eyes of the state, whereas Arenas was not. The engendering of the passive and active partner in homosexual intercourse is not exclusive to Cuban revolutionary society, however.In What It Means to Be a Man, Casper and Ramirez cite the bugarron, a term used in Puerto Rican society to describe a male who is everlastingly the one to penetrate the male partner, yet always considers himself heterosexual. The bugarron blatantly dismisses the notion of his partners masculinity, and confirms his partner as the woman of the situation by traffic his partner names such as mujer, mami, mamita, or loca.(96) Furthermore, the bugarrons usage of sexuality is highly ritualized to conserve his manhood and avoid being questioned about it. (Casper, Ramirez 97) The bank to only be a penetrator and never a recipient of penetration serves as a political metaphor. The perception of a penetrator as heterosexual and undeniably male is underscored by masculine traits such as strength and dominance.Pingueros, a name given to male prostitutes in Cuba who only penetrate and refuse to be penetrated, represent the conquering of foreign bodies when solicited by gay tourists. (Chant, Kraske 139) This representation mirrors the notion of Cuba not just fending off b ut successfully invading and screwing back the imperialist, capitalist nation that has or might wish to exploit Cuba for its own self-interests.Just like the concept of prescribing gender to an active and passive partner in sexual intercourse between two men was reached over time by way of changing attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions, attitudes and behaviors toward homosexuality in general changing over time is also to be considered. Cultures are not static they change over time, as do the notions of gender and sexuality in a culture. (Casper, Ramirez 27) over the past decades, Cuba has witnessed a certain degree of change in attitudes and actions toward homosexuality on behalf of Cuban society at large as well as on behalf of the state.