Relations between homosexual men that do not reflect gender or age differences -- symbols of the masculine-feminine dichotomy -- are not tolerated or respected in jail. However, these types of relationships do exist, though they are of an “illicit” nature. The men who practice them are known as “zorras” or “foxes”, people who hide or cover up their sexual activities.
Who are these “foxes”? There is no simple answer to this question. This group not only represents a marginal sector, but also an alternative discourse to “cacherismo”. There are many kinds of “foxes”: open gays and “in the closet” homosexuals, bisexuals, heterosexuals and male prostitutes. We could say that “foxes” are as much a marginal group within the prison culture as they are an alternative sexual discourse. “Foxes” are symbols of a different model for homosexual relations. At the same time, they are the logical contradictions which arise from the impossibility of imposing a sexual model on the entire population. “We “zorras” are the ones who say ‘no, we’re not going to follow the little game of ‘cacherismo’”, says Marcos.
To clarify the phenomenon of “zorrismo”, it is best that the “foxes” themselves explain who they are and what they do. Marcos describes himself as a “legitimate zorra”. “But what is a “zorra?”, we ask him. “A “zorra” is a man who likes men, or goes to bed with them without all this bullshit about ‘active’ and ‘passive’. To explain himself more clearly, he tells us his story:
I’m a gay man. Before landing in jail for drugs, I led an open life in San Jose. I used to go to gay bars and I had affairs. For four years I had a relationship with the two owners of a gay bar who like threesomes. That pair of assholes were dealing coke, like me, but when I got busted they didn’t do shit to help me. They abandoned me like a dog. They don’t even dare to visit me, ‘cause they don’t want to show their true colors, that pair of motherfuckers. Well, just imagine what it was like for me, who had never been in prison before, to end up among all this riff-raff. At first I was freaked out that the homosexuals in jail are the transvestites. Those horrible queens, all dressed up like women -- they look more like lesbians than women. Well, you can imagine that I wasn’t going to cook, wash and iron for no shit “cachero”. When some son-of-a-bitch would ask me why I didn’t shave my legs and become a queen, I’d tell them to go shave their sisters’ asses. For me, all those “cacheros” are really a bunch of frustrated queens who can’t accept what they are. When they fuck around with me, I answer, “You may be a “cachero” but you still give your ass like anyone else.”
Marcos is a “modern” homosexual. He has a psychoanalytical perception of sexual orientation: people are defined by the object of sexual desire, not by what they practice. “A man who goes to bed with another man is gay,” he says, “and don’t give me that story that only the passive one is gay.”
Bisexuals are considered to be another type of “fox”. Jose, for example, is a masculine man who had sexual relations both with men and women, before going to jail. “I had a wife, but once in a while I enjoyed fucking a young boy,” he tells us. Jose does not wish to be seen as a “cachero”, or as a homosexual, the only categories “allowed” in prison. “I’m interested in a relationship with a guy, but none of that crap about being a father or a husband, like a “cachero”, he says. “I don’t think I should have to give money to anyone, just for fucking him, or be seen as a “cachero” who goes with “güilas”. I like to have a discreet fuck, and that’s it...” Jose is neither a “cachero” nor a homosexual, nor a “güila”, nor a transvestite. His relationships are discreet, though he himself admits that “I’m labeled a “zorra” and there’s nothing I can do about it”. However, he reveals that “I was as discreet as this before landing in jail. I’d never go to a gay bar, or hang out with queens. I have a wife and four kids.”
Despite their great diversity, there are some common features in the relationships of “zorras”. One of these is that their relationships are not defined within the active-passive dichotomy. There are no clear rules about who should be active or passive in the sexual relationship. Their relationships are not based on differences in power or specialization regarding who penetrates whom. This includes both the “modern” gay relationship and prostitution. In neither case does one partner play the role of the “man” and the other the role of the “woman”.
Another common characteristic is that the inmates who are “foxes” are masculine. These individuals are considered “foxes” precisely because they can hide their homosexuality. The feminine homosexuals, whether transvestites or not, cannot pass for “zorras”: the “cacheros” will not allow them to. For this reason, only a minority of masculine homosexuals or bisexuals can be “foxes”.
Relationships between “foxes” are, in general, short-lived. Since “cacherismo” is the predominant sexual culture, inmates do not respect other types of couples. “Foxes” cannot allow themselves the luxury of having sex in the dens, in front of all their cellmates, and must do so furtively in the bathrooms, or when others are distracted. It is not easy to maintain a relationship under these conditions. And because many “foxes” only engage in sex for money, they have no interest in establishing an emotional relationship.
To complicate matters further, “foxes” also have sexual relationships with “cacheros”, “güilas” and other “foxes”. Julio, for example, is a “fox”. He is an attractive, masculine 24 year-old. He is too old to be considered a “güila” but is sufficiently aggressive to command respect. “I’ve already sent more than one son-of-a-bitch to the other side,” he tells us proudly. However, from time to time, Julio enjoys “sodomy”, as he calls it. Julio meets up with Vernon, a “cachero” of the old guard, in the bathrooms. “Vernon has a gay for a woman,” says Julio, “I only want to have sex with him once in a while.” Julio and Vernon have a passionate and totally “macho” relationship, as he describes it. “Vernon gets bored with that gay who’s so feminine,” he tells us. “I like rough macho sex. I think that men who go with women or gays are missing a real man’s love”. “What is man’s love like?” we ask. “Well, it’s the kind of love that doesn’t make you feminine. Because when you only go with women or with gays, you become kind of effeminate with all that stuff about feelings and love and flowers and all that bullshit. Love between men is “macho” style: pain and pleasure and none of that sodomy.”
Alberto is a “fox” who has sex with a “güila”. This relationship is completely secret, because “God forbid that the “cachero” should find out that I go with this kid!”, he tells us fearfully. “Don’t even think about mentioning names, ‘cause I’ll get pissed. Okay?” We asked him why he engaged in secret relationships instead of finding a “güila” for himself. Alberto explained: “ No, I don’t believe in relationships or in maintaining some kid. I go with this “güila” just for the hell of it. The kid’s really gorgeous. Did you notice his ass? With those buns he could feed a whole bunch of us in this jail,” he confesses.
Sometimes, “cacheros” have sex with each other. In this situation, the “cacheros” fall into the category of “foxes”, since they are stepping outside the rules of the game. Juan Carlos tells us that he has seen two “cacheros” having sex in the bathroom:
I was about to take a shower one night, because it was so hot, when I found Pepe and Tomas, the husbands of Leticia and Sonia, in a real lather in the showers. I could hardly believe it, because if one of those queens finds out, all hell will break loose in the block! Sonia would really make a scene, because ‘she’ tells the whole world that her husband is a real macho. Well, poor Sonia, because if she’d seen what I saw him doing, she’d fall on her ass.
Can a “güila” have sex with a transvestite?, we ask Daniel. “Sure”, he replies. “When a “güila” has sex with a transvestite, he’s considered to be a little fox who escaped from the den.” Daniel knows that some of the “güilas” who are “fed up of being meat for the “cacheros”, seek their own satisfaction with the transvestites.” Pedrito is one such example. He goes looking for Maripepa in the kitchen where “she” works, and, behind her “husband’s” back, “I have her in the kitchen sink, with the lard that’s used for cooking beans,” he explains. “Who knows if the gallo pinto (typical dish of rice and beans) we eat contains the offspring of Pedrito and Maripepa,” he tells us with a smile. “Is it possible for two “güilas” to have a relationship? We ask Daniel. “That happens a lot. Look at Mario and Ernesto. Both have their “cacheros”, but everyone knows they fuck each other behind their husbands’ backs. Ernesto plays the macho with Mario, but with his “cachero” things are different”, he replies.
Can a transvestite be a “cachero”?, we ask Manuel, in some confusion. Manuel, a long time “cachero” from the old Penitentiary replies:” Yes, of course, Black Willy,” he replies without hesitation. “That queen was feared because she was bad and because she was a witch. She knifed more than one person. Black Willy sometimes grabbed the young kids”. According to Manuel, “not all queens are passive. Willy was a man in bed, and he fucked more than one thug in jail. Nobody messed with ‘her’, and those who did wound up as stiffs.” Pedro also has something to say on this point: “There are transvestites who have sex with each other. Maria Candelaria goes to bed with Penelope. I know it seems weird, but it’s true. Many guys say they’re both lesbians and they can’t understand how two queens like them can make love. But, they’re together and they’re happy.”
THE REVOLUTIONARY BACKSIDE
According to Foucault,11 all human relationships are imbued with power. Both heterosexual and homosexual relationships are shot through with it. No human relationship, however simple it may be, is devoid of power. However, certain discourses are promoted to increase the dominion of some groups over others. Not all people have equal access to power, even less so if they are in prison, at the mercy of different degrees of physical force and aggressiveness. Some inmates are more powerful than others, which means that they impose their discourses and rules. The discourse of “cacherismo”, as we have seen, benefits the “cacheros”. It prevails because they wield control over the money and have the physical strength to subjugate the rest. The “cacheros” are not only the ones who penetrate the transvestites, but they are also the prison drug dealers and the main killers: in other words the “coles” (gang bosses or tough guys). A “col” is an inmate who is feared for his capacity to kill, either directly or by using a hit-man. In practice, the hard guy “fucks” the entire jail: he uses some inmates as women, others as followers, hit-men and employees. Others are bought with favors and money. “Coles” control many things in prison: prostitution, the distribution of drugs, robberies, services and information. They decide who gets attacked, who lives and who dies.
The sexual discourse of “cacherismo” is theirs. On the basis of this, “coles” can continue as such, and at the same time can use other men as servants, either sexually or socially. But this situation does not go unchallenged. Those inmates who must submit to the control of the “cacheros” find ways of resisting them, because, as Foucault himself noted, “ever since power has existed, there has been resistance”. In other words, sexual relations that do not conform to the rules and discourse of “cacherismo”, are ways of resisting, of not submitting to the power of the “coles”. From the transvestite who possesses a masculine inmate, to the “güila” who gives himself to a queen, the inmates sabotage the discourse of “cacherismo”. They demonstrate that sexual and social relations may be established in a different way, without a system in which some always give the orders and others obey. According to Rosa, a transvestite, “the act of my fucking a “fox” is my way of saying that I’m tired of being the passive one.” In this context, the penis and the backside become weapons of subjection and of liberation. “This ass is revolutionary,” says Clemente, a gay man. “It’s the only thing I have to show that, just because they fuck me, it doesn’t mean I’m a second-rate queen.”
Similar actions, then, have different meanings. A “cachero” who allows himself to be penetrated by his transvestite lover shows that he is so “macho” and such a “col” that he can afford to “give his ass”, as they say in prison slang. However, a transvestite who penetrates a “güila” sends another message: he says that power can be alternated and that nobody should have a monopoly on power. For this reason, if “cacheros” discover such a transgression, someone will be punished. But if a “cachero” does the same, the rest of the inmates will simply look the other way,” as Maria Alejandra says. “Cacheros do what they like and nobody says a word. Some swallow more than the most voracious queen, but just you try to tell them that....”
POWER AND SEX
Is a “fox” a revolutionary and a “cachero” an aggressor? There is no simple answer. If we consider the fact that a “fox” looks for more symmetrical relationships which are divorced from the power games of the “coles” and the “cacheros”, the answer would be a definite yes. However, “foxes” may also be seen as traitors: they introduce extraneous elements into the “cachero” culture, which are alien to the community of male inmates. Which, then, are the elements of what might be termed “prison colonialism”? The answer is very complex. “Foxes introduce a way of doing things that belongs to those pompous little gays from the city,” Carlos, a traditional “cachero”, tells us. “And what’s wrong with that?”, we ask. “Well it’s the way of thinking of those goddamn cops and guards, who want to turn us guys into shit,” he replies.
To understand what Carlos means, we need to pause along the way. We have said little about how judges, prison officers, social workers, psychologists and others who work in the penal system, influence prison culture. That is not the objective of this work and the task would require one or more books. However, it is important to take a brief look at the relations of power between prison officers and inmates.
Loss of freedom can be seen as a way of “feminizing” a man. From the time he is arrested, the inmate becomes dependant on others. If he wishes to make a phone call, get an appointment to see a doctor, change to another block or another bed, see a relative, cure a tooth ache or play football, he must rely on the good will of others. I say “good will”, because prison officers “play” with their permission to make the prisoner more obedient and passive. Any prisoner who does not submit to their power is blacklisted, transferred to the most dangerous blocks, refused parole, locked up in a punishment cell and even assassinated by a cell mate. Officers wield great power which the prisoners must accept, “because if not, they fuck us all,” says Carlos.
The inmates’ submissiveness is almost theatrical: prisoners learn to address officers with great respect as “sir” or “ma’am”, to produce a “humble” smile of gratitude when a favor is granted, to lower their eyes when an important visitor arrives and to serve coffee and wash dishes when groups of “Christians” come to save their souls. “You have to oil the wheels with that bunch of motherfuckers, ‘cause if you don’t, they give you shit”, says Luis. The submission is fake, but it hurts, “because you have to pretend to be good all the time, like you’re in an election campaign,” says Maria Fernanda, a transvestite.
Not only does the prisoner’s behavior become “feminized”, but his life history is “colonized” or appropriated by psychologists, lawyers and social workers. Mandatory therapy and participation in rehabilitation workshops means that inmates are questioned by health professionals about their crimes. Unlike most inmates, these “experts” are from middle-class backgrounds and their psychoanalytical training makes them anticipate answers even before they ask the questions. Thus, in the course of their “therapies”, they tend to look for what university has taught them are the “causes” of criminal conduct: lack of love, broken homes, physical and emotional aggression, neglect, extreme poverty and ignorance. The prisoners know very well what they must say to “soften up” those who will evaluate their aggression, or grant them parole. “Maria Emilia, the psychologist, nearly cries when I tell her that I became a transvestite because my Dad raped me when I was a little kid,” says Penelope. “I sniffle a little when I tell her that I prayed to God not to let my father hurt me, because he would leave me bleeding for days.” “But did your story have an effect?” we ask. “Of course! Maria Emilia would say I was gay because of that aggression and that I could change if I wanted to. And that if I paid more attention to women and talked to them more, I would end up liking them.” “And how did it benefit you to play along with her?, we ask. “Uh, well in her report she would say that I was cooperating a lot and thinking about my life and she could see that I could change and be a good member of society. But, as soon as I left her office, I’d say to myself: “Oh, what a stupid bitch!”. “And did you listen to the psychologist and pay more attention to women?” we asked. “Of course! I’d leave the office and turn to look at the secretaries and ask myself, ‘where did that creature buy those great heels?”
Pedro Jose killed three men. We do not know why he killed them, nor did we ask him. However, he too knows what to say to obtain a more favorable evaluation that will get him out of Maximum Security. “Officials love to cloud the issue,” he explains. “When they ask me about my crimes, I know what I need to say: I felt an enormous rage, I saw red, I didn’t know what I was doing, and it was only when I opened my eyes that I realized my crime, which was the fault of that character of mine which I don’t have now.” Jonas does the same when prison officials review his case to decide whether he should be granted parole. “I just talk about my kids, that they don’t have a dad and that I’m dying to see them. I tell them that they go to school and they hardly know me. That the youngest asks, ‘where’s Daddy, where’s Daddy?’ That’s the only way to make that bitch Nora, the social worker, feel sympathetic towards me, the great whore.” “And does it work?”, we ask. “Of course! With that story I always get permission.” “Well, at least you get to see your kids,” we reply. “Are you crazy? You know my whore of a wife got together with a butcher. I wouldn’t go near those motherfuckers!”
Because communities of male prisoners are colonized, they establish mechanisms to resist oppression. These include alternative discourses, parallel power structures, social mobility, specific language, rituals, myths and ceremonies. “Cacherismo”, for example, is a distinct discourse, independent from that which predominates in middle-class Costa Rican society. It is diametrically opposed to the religious discourse which condemns homosexuality. “I attend Christian services for the coffee and the ‘empanadas’ they give us. But when they start preaching against sodomy, I turn a deaf ear, because those pious old broads don’t know the great things they’re missing,” says Julio, a “cachero”. Emilio, another “cachero”, explains, “for me, sodomy is not an illness, as the Unit psychologist says, but a natural way of satisfying yourself among men. I don’t believe all that bullshit about the only way to make love is through the vagina.”
In contrast to the Spanish used by the middle classes, the inmates have invented their own dialect. Where sexual terms are concerned, the words “cachero”, “zorra” and “güila” substitute the words “homosexual”, “bisexual” and “heterosexual”. This is more than a simple change. For the inmates, the world is divided into strong and weak, not into men and women. This reflects a different way of ordering things. Words which the middle classes use in one way, are transformed into something else. A “bisexual”, according to the middle-class, is a person who has sexual relations with men and with women. In prison slang, a bisexual is someone who is active and passive. This means that practice is more important than the object of sexual desire. To “modern” groups, the word “gay” means a homosexual who is aware of his or her sexual orientation and of belonging to the homosexual community. In prison, a “gay” is a transvestite. This means that not all those who have sex with men in an active way are homosexuals. The inmates, for their part, have their own initiation ceremonies, love rituals, gang rapes and innumerable rules about what can and cannot be done, in the political, social, economic and sexual arenas. One way of showing love, for example, is to slash one’s wrists. When an inmate wishes to demonstrate his fidelity to another who does not return his affections, bloodletting is the way to do it. Another way is to tattoo the name of the transvestite or the “cachero” on the most intimate parts of the body. “I have Mono’s name tattooed on my backside,” confesses Endivia, a transvestite. “I had it done with the words ‘Mono’s Property’”. When two men marry, they cut their hands and exchange blood. “Now with AIDS, that practice is less common,” says Pepe, “but it used to be a real marriage ceremony.”
“Cacheros”, for their part, establish a parallel power inside the jail, which rivals the power of the prison officers. The latter know they must respect the “cacheros” because otherwise things would become more difficult for them. “Cacheros” have the power to organize a strike or a riot, have a guard killed, buy favors, hire a hit-man, maintain order or create disorder,” Daniel tells us. This power is wielded according to certain rational principles. Otherwise, the jail would be a permanent blood-bath. The fact that crimes are relatively few and far between, and that they have declined in recent years, means that the system is preserved through moderation. The “coles” impose their authority and run the prison’s internal market in drugs, prostitution and other services which are under their control. If there were no internal system of authority, chaos would prevail. “Look,” says Puro, “this is a jungle. Unless order is imposed, nobody here respects anything. That’s why it’s important for people to learn who they shouldn’t mess with and that there are things you can’t do. We’re like the internal law on the blocks, the guardians of prison morals.”
The system imposed by the “coles” and the “cacheros” not only provides a certain security, but also a certain pride of belonging. Inmates aspire to be respected and feared like the “coles” and to enjoy some of their privileges. “Of course I feel proud to be a ‘col’”, says Puro, “it’s an honor that people respect me and ask for advice. I see that the rest look at me like a movie star and that when I speak, I’m respected.” There is a system of promotion to reach the top. Nobody becomes a “col” as soon as he enters prison. A man must prove his masculinity, his independence from the authorities, his respect for other “coles”, his strength and, most important of all, his business skills and ability to subjugate his adversaries. This takes time and therefore the “coles” are generally the inmates who serving longer sentences for more serious crimes.
What does this power structure have to do with the “cacheros” and the “foxes”? A lot. Every parallel system must protect the integrity of its institutions and ensure its independence from other power structures. “Cacherismo” establishes clear rules which differ from those “outside” prison. Thus, anyone who does not abide by these rules or who swears allegiance to other different models is attacked and persecuted. A “modern” homosexual who shares the official view that sexual orientation is determined by the object of desire and not by practice, as the “cacheros” believe, constitutes a danger to the system because it “introduces ideas that are alien to the jail,” says Luis. An officer who is a “fox” and seeks sexual favors from inmates is a threat, because as Pacheco points out, “sooner or later the inmate will open his mouth too much.” A “güila” who questions the “coles”’ control over the transvestites or a transvestite who does not respect their decisions, will be the victims of assorted punishments, “because you have to respect the decisions of the elders”, explains Polo.
It is for this reason that the prison community persecutes those who do not fit in with the “cachero” model: it senses that any changes call into question the most important structures in their daily lives.
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11 Foucault, Michel. La Historia de la Sexualidad. 1/ -18th ed Siglo XXI, Mexico D. F., 1991.