Latina/o Sexuality

Abstract

Sexuality has been a central feature of the lives of people of Latin American descent since the beginning of Spanish exploration and conquest in the Americas in the late 1400s. The history of Latina/o sexuality encompasses courtship, marriage, and reproduction; sexual activity including same-sex sexual intimacy, sex within and outside of marriage, and commercial sex such as prostitution; as well as various forms of sexual coercion and violence. Attempts to define, control, and regulate sexual activity and the shifting meanings and understandings attached to sexuality have also played an important role in the sexual lives of Latinas/os over the past five centuries and have helped to establish sexual norms, including appropriate masculine and feminine behavior, and to limit and punish sexual transgressions. While Latinas/os have at times been targeted as sexually improper and even dangerous, they have proven to be strong defenders of their sexual rights and intimate relationships in their communities.

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Publication Date

4-1-2019

Department

History

Additional Department

Comparative American Studies

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Latina/o, Sexuality, Reproduction, Interracial sex, Homosexuality, Same-sex sexuality, Rape, Immigration, Religion, Legal activism

Language

English

Format

text

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS