Submitting or Resisting: Exploring the Popular Central American Belief that Homosexuality Can Be Induced
Marlon I. Morales
University of California, Los Angeles
There is a popularly held notion in the rural areas of some Central American nations that a man can be ruined sexually. He can be made a homosexual by submitting to anal intercourse. This popular belief is a result of many sociocultural factors including geography, politics, economics and religion. Here an overview of the notion in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua is presented. These three Central American nations share common characteristics that make it possible to generalize in some ways about them. Homosexuals are explored in urban and countryside regions of these contemporary Latin American communities. Particular emphasis is placed on analysis of popular beliefs about homosexuality and homosexuals and the function of such beliefs.
INTRODUCTION
Despite what is believed to be a pervasive homophobia among Latin American people, the topic of homosexuality is alluring in many social settings. Perhaps women, more openly than men, are likely to discuss the topic. Given the right conditions, however, the subject of homosexuality is discussed by both men and women equally. If media is any indicator of public interest, then Spanish language programming like Christina and Primer Impacto reflect an attraction toward the discussion of homosexuals for these programs often have the topic on their agendas. Discussion of homosexuality, however, occurs with family and friends more often. Discussing homosexuality with some members of my Salvadoran family some time ago, I recall a confident theory of the “making” of a homosexual. Some Latin American Communities in Central America believe that homosexuals can be made. Men can lose their virility and actually be made into homosexuals. One often hears the typical phrase “No nacen, se hacen.” Is it possible for a heterosexual male to become homosexual or develop a homosexual interest? Many Central American Communities support the idea. Men are said to lose virility and be made homosexuals by submitting to anal intercourse. There are different ways in which males may lose virility. Some males chose to submit to anal penetration and so become homosexuals by choice. Other males are forced into anal penetration against their will. Knowledge that a man can lose virility gives rise to a system of ritual resistance to homosexual influences and encounters that could make males receptive. Such a system is interwoven into the standards of virility established by local communities. Whether forced or chosen, the process of inducing homosexuality is indicative of an aberration. Virility must never be taken from a man and a man must never willfully surrender his virility. As a result of analyzing reasons for notions of homosexuality, this paper will clarify how sociocultural conditions have assisted in shaping the development of the common notion of influenced homosexuality. I propose to explore the social origins of this popular belief that a male can be made to become homosexual in the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua because of what are clear common similarities between these nations.
METHODS AND ALIGNMENT
Before proceeding, it is important to clarify both the methods used to develop this paper and some terminology about homosexuality. Some writing attempts to be strictly based on the ethnographer’s field notes and data. Such writing is called ethnographic. Other writing is purely based on analysis of previous work and so is called ethnological. This paper is not strictly ethnographic and also not strictly ethnological. This paper may be called indirect ethnographic work for certain limitations prevent this text from being called ethnographic. My space as an ethnographer remained static. I did not travel to Central America. I did, however, seek information from direct sources. As a result, my observations comprise both analysis of previous texts and analysis of data compiled from local informants. My direct sources included Central American immigrants living in Los Angeles. Most but not all of my informants are recent immigrants whom I met through family members. My informants consisted of five Salvadoran men, one Guatemalan man, one man from Yucatan and a North American woman who had spent time in El Salvador during the civil war.When speaking of the issue of homosexuality in Central America, this paper addresses men only. The word homosexual indicates male experiences. The words bisexual and transgender, aside from being irrelevant to many Central American communities, do not fall into the mode of analysis used here. Bisexuality is not perceived as a real condition in Central American communities. Simply stated, there are men and then there are those who are fucked or get fucked by men. There are no interim sexual states. Throughout Latin America, one notices the strict division. It may be argued as Lancaster (1988) does that a man, whom he labeled the hombre-hombre gains esteem of his peers by including men in his sexual experience repertoire. Even so, no amount of masculine expression will protect him from the stigma associated with homosexuals. To get away with sleeping with men he must be a well established partner of women. Even then he is not bisexual. Bisexuality is a North American concept, as is transgenderedness. In North America, transgenderedness is understood as a medical condition. Transgendered people experience a psychological condition in which they feel gender mismatch. Presently this condition is treated by gender reassignment surgery (DSM-IV American Psychiatric Association 1994). North Americans understand transsexualism as unrelated to the experience of being a homosexual or bisexual male. In Central America, however, transgenderedness and transvestitism are all associated with homosexual males. As residuals, such feminine inclinations constitute part of the expected pathology of homosexuals.
HISTORICAL SETTING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTEMPORARY CENTRAL AMERICAN IDEOLOGY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY
Exactly when Homo sapiens entered the Americas is not clearly known. We do know that the hemisphere has been inhabited for some 15, 000 years (Weaver 1993: 7). Mesoamerica is considered a region because its people share important cultural similarities which historically include “stone cities, highways, ceremonial pyramids, advanced agricultural and hydraulic systems, considerable social stratification, elaborate communication systems, and a very sophisticated calendar” (Taylor 1995: 81). While we have seen great states develop in the central valley of Mexico, the Maya sphere presents a different scenario. Below the Isthmus of Tehuantepec social organizations that developed are identified as Maya chiefdoms which at times, as in the Yucatan, formed federations. In addition to all the commonalties of Mesoamerica, these Maya communities were very influential during their classic periods. Maya lowlands and highlands developed complex market systems for the exchange of precious stones, feathers and other goods. In all of Mesoamerica, same sex erotic behavior was present before the arrival of the Spanish. Mesoamerican same sex erotic behavior prior to Spanish influence, however, cannot with certainty be called homosexual behavior because so little is known about it. We carefully assume that such behavior served a ritual purpose. It may have been reserved for special days of the calendar. It may have been codified to insure proper expression. Unfortunately all of this is speculation because “most information on homosexuality, its meaning and social structure either went unrecorded, or was lost, destroyed, distorted or suppressed” (Taylor 1995: 80). Most importantly we can surmise that same sex erotic behavior was very important in the theology of Mesoamerica. Their theology of duality consisted of expressing the nature of the divinities who created the world in terms of power embodied in a male-female force. According to some codices, same sex erotic behavior outside of liturgical time and environment was not acceptable. Such an attitude was especially true in the last civilization to develop in Central Mexico, the Aztec State. Even though the Aztecs paralleled the Spanish in strictness about same sex erotic behavior, they had little influence over the Maya sphere. At the time of the Spanish arrival, the Maya sphere was much more liberal about same sex eroticism (Taylor 1995: 84). The Maya sphere was in decline at that time. The great chiefdoms had long since passed into history. As a result there was weak, if any, legislation of homosexual behavior. Presently, this parallels an unspoken skeptical toleration of homosexuals in some parts of Central America.
SPANISH ROMAN CATHOLICISM
When Spanish and native Mesoamerican cultures met, a cultural syncretism took root. Just as some native Mesoamericans, like the Aztecs to the north, interpreted same sex eroticism strictly, the Spanish also interpreted homosexuality strictly. Unlike Mesoamericans, Spanish culture found acceptable what they understood as homosexuality regardless of time and place.Spanish priests and military quickly recognized that the people of Mesoamerica were prone to what they called sodomy. The Spanish records narrate the homoerotic tendencies of these middle American people. In the Maya sphere homosexuality appears to have been very common; not only seen, but recorded on stone sculpture (Taylor 1995: 84). What the Spanish called sodomy, expressed not only anal intercourse but also all other forms of sexual intercourse unsanctioned by some arbitrary authority (Keen 1971 in Taylor 1995: 84). The kind of Catholicism that took root in Central America was very homophobic. Spanish Roman Catholicism was more strict than Catholicism elsewhere. This is evident in its literal interpretation of sacred scripture. The penal code after the Latteran council of 1179 called for a prison term for what it called, acts of degradation such as homosexuality. In Spain, however, the code published was expanded to include castration and stoning (Taylor 1995: 87). Same sex male sexual expression was labeled weak. The Spanish concept of male virility facilitated the development a system of machismo . Despite a recent radical movement, present Roman Catholicism in Latin America is still conservatively influencing attitudes about homosexuality. The influence is wielded by a male hierarchy which is reacting to the period of civil war and liberation theology by taking a theological position that refocuses on attaining or maintaining power. Congregation documents like Raztinger’s 1986 Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons are rigorously interpreted. Even Pope John Paul II in a recent pastoral letter to the Latin American bishops admonished them to see homosexuality as a danger to the family and the community in Latin America (October 14, 1997).The influence of other Christian communities must not be overlooked. The countries of Central America are only about 90% Catholic. Protestant forms of Christianity are no better than Catholic hierarchical thought when it comes to homosexuality. In fact, Protestant Christianity is more zealous and militant in its approach to riding the lands of Latin America of homosexuals.Religion is so embedded in the people’s life experience that any attempts at tolerance are outweighed by the damage of years of intolerance. Both the ancient reservation and the modern theologies have developed a system of patriarchy that maintains men and the beliefs about men’s behavior as central to Latin America. For Central America homosexuality is a weak state that is rejected by established ideology.
EL AMBIENTE
Both the physical and social environment for homosexuals reflects political and economic realities of the nations of El Salvador , Guatemala and Nicaragua. Male homosexual behavior is not expected to be publicly seen. Community standards differ. Rural environments certainly do not have spaces where homosexuality is public. Urban environments are more tolerant, yet still do not fully accept public homosexual expression. The three nations of Central America are different in their approach to homosexuals. All but Nicaragua are somewhat tolerant. Nicaragua’s conservative government has established public laws against homosexuals.Space for homosexuals in Central America is limited. There are not many places for males to socialize. The spaces that exist reflect the general underground nature of homosexuality. Cruising spaces, for example, are found in the city plazas and in and around temple ruins. Bars, dance clubs and restaurants that cater to homosexuals are limited to urban areas. In all three nations, “gay ” clubs and bars are located in upscale locales (personal communication). These places have a more North American atmosphere and clientele yet are out of reach of many homosexuals. Rural people have no space that caters to homosexuals.Since there are no places that rural people openly designate as “gay” or homosexual, it is possible that homosexual myths about desolate areas such as empty fields or ruins develop. Popular notions about homosexuality are shaped by stories of probable homosexual encounters that are rumored to occur at such places.
POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY
The small nations of Central America share a common history of outside intervention in both economy and politics. Capitalist imperialism ravaged the nations of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. Various foreign enterprises such as the American Fruit company and oil companies have exploited the region. Foreign interests assisted in the development of an oligarchy in these regions.The consequence has been the development of generally stratified societies in which oligarchies control property and profits while the poor and less educated remain marginalized. Education and poverty of the masses is a factor in the development of popular beliefs. Low levels of education and poverty, both caused by stratification, adversely affect attitudes about homosexuals (Bonilla 1990:444).Land reform as an attempt to establish egalitarian societies in these three nations led to bloody civil wars from the 50’s through the 80’s. Oligarchies opposed land reform with the support of United States interests. Guerrilla warfare in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala ravaged these nations and their people. Historically, both militarily controlled democracies and leftist counter movements have both seen homosexuals as a threat to social order. Civil war put a hold on industrialization and social progress in order to deal with domestic instability. Industrialization is a recent development which primarily affects urban areas. There are still many who depend on agriculture for subsistence and who live in small rural communities.Homosexual social organization in Central America very closely parallels the stratification of their societies. Homosexuals in the cities have more resources than those in the countryside. Homosexuals in the oligarchy have better resources than homosexuals in the peasant or Indian communities. Participation in the national economic and political system depends on how much privilege one has been born into or attained. People who are not in the oligarchy are not privy to such access.There are no dichotomized economic or political subsystems in these Central American nations because of homosexuality. Homosexuals are part of the economy and participate in the political system. Homosexuals, however, are more dependent on the market than are other groups. The stigma of being identified as a homosexual could endanger one’s livelihood. So homosexuals make an effort to blend in and not stand out. Some homosexuals find they have roles or careers reserved for them. It is understood that some occupations are appropriate for homosexuals (Murray 1995: 71). Such occupations as hair dressers, secretaries, academics or members of the ordained ministry are appropriate. The appearance of “career homosexuals” is aligned with development of its cities. Urban tolerance has resulted in a relocation of homosexuals from the rural areas. Silence still remains the norm; the homosexual should not identify as a homosexual even if he is in a homosexual occupation.Given the stratified nature of society, children of the privileged classes who are homosexual have more liberty. Elite homosexuals have the capital to secure space (puterias ), but also partners without fear. Homosexual expression in Central America parallels the kinds of ethnic and social tensions that exist in these nations. In the countryside, searching for sexual partners is a difficult thing that is done under veils of secrecy hence the air of suspicion around homosexuals.
ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL CLASS
The three nations of central America that comprise the focus of this paper have unique characteristics. Despite common geographic and historical traits, these nations are independent and have particular cultures. Central America is just a term used to identify a region on a map. Latin America is not homogenous. There is great diversity in Latin America. There is no one common culture. Guatemala, for example, has the largest population of native people. In addition to Spanish, native Mayan languages are spoken there. There is cultural tension between the Indios and the Ladinos in some parts like Guatemala, just as there is tension between Circum Caribbean Afro Americans and Ladinos in Nicaragua. El Salvador and Nicaragua have native Maya but not many. Generally, cultural tensions in Central America can be reduced to tension between Ladinos (or Latinos) and those who are not.Stratification along the lines of ethnic and social class is very much a part of these nations. In Guatemala there are basically two groups of people: Indio and the Ladino. Indios are the natives and Ladinos are the equivalent of Mesztizo label. In El Salvador there is a sector of the population that can be considered the oligarchy. Traditionally called the escalon, it is composed of the more phenotipically European people. Indios and others are increasingly becoming part of the escalon especially by gaining privilege through military service. Nicaragua has a similarly stratified culture. In Nicaragua one can find Caribbean blacks since historically this area has been part of the Circum Caribbean African American Diaspora. Power is held by those who are in the upper strata of an escalon, for example. The browner people, those not phenotipically European have little position or influence.Harris and Wagley (1956) present a typology of Latin American communities. They propose a division into nine groups. Tribal Indians, modern Indians, peasants, engenho plantation and usina plantation, townspeople, metropolitan upper class, metropolitan middle class and urban proletariat. For the discussion of submitting and resisting, this paper will deal with only the townspeople. More specifically it will deal with peasant communities. Peasants being the “horticultural people of Latin America (and frequently the lower classes of small towns)” (Harris and Wagley 37).
HOMOSEXUALITY
What behavior constitutes a homosexual? “Who do you sleep with?” said one of my informants. The answer was rhetorical and made sense instantly. Homosexuals are those who sleep with other men. Homosexuality is associated with sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse will always be a topic in any discussion of homosexuality. For the purposes of this paper the following story will introduce the popular assumptions associated with homosexuals.
QUEDO ARRUINADO : A story of submission
La finca is the land that is worked. Las fincas are beautiful; crops as far as the eye can see. There the crops grow and at the proper time in the year, the crops are harvested. The story is told of a young man who left his home with his friend and other men to work the harvest season for the first time. [The boy’s name is not important. The boy’s name changes frequently as the story is told again and again]. Now, then, men have needs, very strong needs. Somehow men must relive themselves in the absence of women. One of the older men in the fincas fue un listo . He knew the young man had entered the age of needs. He fooled the young man into going with him into the fields. The older man promised to teach the boy how to be a real man; how to relieve himself like a man. In the fields one night the man took the boy. Se lo cojio . Fue un listo, un bandido . El [the boy] quedo arruinado. The boy would never be the same. What happened to the boy? He went on to become a cubiche . This story is told as a tragedy of youth. The story is told in an admonishing voice strongly urging the listener never to be fooled by such temptation. Never allow yourself to be penetrated by another man. Men have nothing to offer other men. This story is just one example of tales that form part of the rural lore in El Salvador. The tale provides an insight into the beliefs of people in the countryside. In the story we see how the boy became different. He lost his virility. He became a homosexual. There are similar stories in different parts of Central America. Some common sayings are more like anecdotes. There are various ways to admonish youth.El arrunido is a young man who has submitted to anal sex. He is never again the same. Some quality about him has changed. This parallels the virginal status of woman who are defiled if they have sex prior to marriage. The implication is that anal sex is quite dangerous. Like a drug it is addictive. Also implied is the sexual pleasure that is associated with anal sex. Why would such danger be associated with anal sex?
LINGUISTICS
While anal intercourse is understood to be the definitive identifier of a homosexual, there are other secondary features. If we explore methods of communication, a clear understanding of what and why it is important to maintain virility develops.Lancaster (1988) in “Subject Honor, Subject Shame” introduced what he calls the folk notion of the cochon. The cochon is a construction of what the homosexual is in Nicaragua. In El Salvador and Guatemala there are also words that carry the same folk construction as Lancaster observed in Nicaragua. Hueco is used in Guatemala and cubiche is used in El Salvador. Cochon , hueco and cubiche all indicate an effeminate quality in men. These words are not exclusive to the individual nations, but are shared among the regions.These terms reinforce the notion that the homosexual is all that is contrary to the virile male. The way in which males communicate the knowledge of who homosexuals are is expressed in many verbal and non verbal communications. Masculinity is often over stylized. Men are expected to sit with legs spread to indicate potency, for example. Behavior that strays from masculine behaviors communicate homosexuality and make a man susceptible to stigma.Popular words for homosexuals are “less derogatory,” as my informants have told me, than are others. It is more derogatory to use the words joto, maricon or puto. In cultures that are concerned with avoiding vulgarity distinctions must be made to prevent communication of wrong signals. Words like cubiche are described as amusing while words like joto for example would only be used in anger, in aggression toward homosexuals or others.Not only are the words used to describe homosexuals, they are also used as an incentive against any unvirile behavior. Boys who spend too much time with women in the kitchen are teased with words such as hueco. Boys and other men often use these terms to test each other’s masculinity. Lancaster (1988) observes one such case as he describes Miguel in Nicaragua:A typical interaction between Miguel and the other boys would go as follows. They are all playing some game on the sidewalk out front in the yard behind the house. The competition becomes acute and an argument develops. The argument eventually centers on Miguel versus some other boy or group of boys. Miguel’s claim in the dispute is answered by the charge that he is a cochon. He insists, “Yo no soy cochon” (“I am not a cochon”), and fighting ensures, with Miguel typically throwing the first punches. The other boys eventually subdue Miguel and mimic sodomizing him (115)Anything out of the ordinary such as fear or lack of interest in working the land make one subject to this tease. Academics, for example, are seen as too given to non practical thinking. They are subject to being labeled cochones unless they prove themselves masculine by public communications of masculinity such as marrying and having children.Not all men can escape such labels. Men who are homosexual are often expected to have “such personal characteristics as effeminacy and flamboyance. Feminized by more masculine men, some cochones act out their role in the more extreme form of transvestitism. Many more appropriate semitransvetic forms of dress: a shirt just a little too blousy, or pants slightly too feminine in color, fit, or texture” (117). Men who have been forced to submit to anal intercourse are expected to try to recover their status, but the label will remain with them. There will always be suspicion of their masculinity.Homosexuality is induced, then as a result of power struggles between men. Men prove themselves more masculine than others, sometimes causing a homosexual label to be associated with the least masculine. The community’s idea of what a man is and how he comports himself is repeatedly evident in the “making” of homosexuals. More importantly, the function of such ideas really motivates the construction of the folk category.
STANDARDS OF VIRILITY
Machismo is a system of patterns of behavior that are extremely male and reinforced by those around the male. Lancaster (1992: 236) elaborates on machismo and its functions: “Machismo, then, is a matter of constantly asserting one’s masculinity by way of practice that show the self to be “active,” not “passive” (as defined in a given milieu).” Not only must males position themselves in a masculine way. They are expected to act in a particular way. Machismo exists in Central America where it take the form of virility. Un varon is expected to be virile. Machismo is not worshipped as much as it serves a purpose. Latinos do not identify with machismo. Latin Americans do not event think about it. It is just the way things are.It is evident men are expected to act a certain way. From childhood men are steered away from things that are woman like or from roles that are woman like. It is important for a boy to know that he is different than women. Standards of virility are often dichotomized, having both negative and positive characteristics. The negative behavior includes womanizing and excessive hostility. Positive behavior includes generosity and loyalty to the family and nation.Standards of virility for people who work the land in the country are important. Maintaining such standards means the social order is maintained. The crops will be harvested and other tasks such as the keeping of live stock will get done at the proper times. The tasks that bring subsistence and maintain standards of living will not be neglected as long as men know what to do. Anything that is disruptive to virility endangers the community.
SUBVERSIVE BEHAVIOR: VIRILITY AND THE HOMOSEXUAL
Anal intercourse implies a pleasure that is distracting from the practical tasks of a man’s work. Brandis (1981:216) for example states that this fear of enjoying penetration is salient in Latin American males. It is important to avoid the hedonic component of the standard of virility. Such a component could possibly include the allure of anal intercourse. Males are at risk of becoming homosexual by submitting to anal intercourse. Such men then are not seen as productive elements of the society. So any behavior which steers men from their proper role is equivalent to homosexual behavior.Men are not expected to sleep with other men in any way. A homosexual is one who goes to bed with other men regardless of his role. The man who perceives himself as a virile varon, which Lancaster (1992) describes in Nicaragua as a hombre-hombre, and yet sleeps with men is suspected of homosexuality. Contrary to established work (Kutche, Parker, Lancaster, Carrier and others ), the active insertor is not free from stigma. The active male stigma derives from suspicion. My informants tell me an active male is very much subject to scorn. The very fact a man would prefer to penetrate another man rather than a woman makes him vulnerable to suspicion. Such an act is seen as useless. No life will come of it The result is negative on the family: no children to help the father with his work. If it is known that a man sleeps with other men as the insertor his masculinity is still suspect. Situational homosexuality, as in prisons, however, vindicates the active male’s masculinity because absolute necessity forced him to sleep with men. The story of the older man in the fields is not seen as a case of situational homosexuality. He is a law breaker. The listo for example is labeled a canalla or desgraciado . He is breaking the standards of virility by stealing virility from other men. His activity takes on a label of it own. Regardless of age, he is equivalent to a pederast or rapist. Activos disregard the standards of virility. He very much deserves the label cubiche. He may demonstrate masculinity but his actions are contradictory to the masculine ideal.Simply stated, the standard of virility serves its purpose. Virile men work fields and this supports themselves, their families and their nation.
CONCLUSION
Many sociocultural factors facilitate the development of folk notions about homosexuality. The central popular notion about homosexuality discussed in the context of Central America was a popular belief that homosexuality can be induced. This paper specifically focuses on the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Generalizations are made about these regions because they share similar characteristics. The analysis of the popular belief was prefaced by commenting on the affects of historical setting and the development of ideology about masculinity as a result of both native ideology and Spanish ideology, political and economic systems as well as systems of ethnicity and class.Though only regional folklore was analyzed, the results strongly indicate that there are practical reasons to develop and maintain notions that men are susceptible to becoming homosexuals. Men may loose their virility and then serve no purpose to their community. It is especially important for people who still depend on agriculture to construct these folk notions. Such notions reinforce expectations and in a practical way maintain a way of life for people.
