Latin American Male Homosexualities

Book excerpt: This anthropological volume examines Latin American male homosexualities in Spanish-speaking, Brazilian, and indigenous societies from theoretical, literary, ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and lexicological perspectives. Focusing on issues of family, society, culture, politics, economy and ethnicity, the contributors explore homosexual practices in pre-Columbian indigenous societies and in colonial and modern Latin America. Wide-ranging issues in this volume include homosexual categorization, machismo and homosexuality, the "activo-pasivo" cultural dichotomy, the gay image in Chicano fiction, male homosexuality and Afro-Brazilian possession cults, the gay movement and human rights, and others. The twenty-two articles and essays in this volume demonstrate that Latin American homosexuality is complex and diverse across history, nationalities, and ethnicities. In addition to Stephen O. Murray, contributors are Manuel Arboleda G., beverly N. Chiñas, Wayne R. Dynes, Peter Fry, Paul Kutsche, Luiz Mott, Richard G. Parker, Karl J. Reinhardt, Clark L. Taylor, and Frederick L. Whitman.