XI
Formal Resistance to Discourses
Given that power exercised through discourses necessarily benefits some groups more than others, acts of resistance are inevitable. For the purposes of this study, we take the latter to refer to any expression, conscious or unconscious, of rejection of one or more principles of a dominant discourse. Moreover, it should also be noted that resistance can either be formal or informal. Informal resistance, an issue that will be addressed in detail in the following chapter, is by definition inchoate and unfocused, and may involve anything from refusing to go to mass on a Sunday, to girls who choose to have sexual intercourse prior to marriage. In both cases, the tenets of dominant discourses are being called into question, yet there is no underlying agenda, nor are individuals necessarily even aware that they are engaging in an act of resistance; in many cases, their purpose is merely to assert a measure of independence from their parents.
Meanwhile, formal acts of resistance are more focused, and are often characterized by the mobilization of counter-hegemonic discourses as means of confronting and resisting the status quo. Among the research participants, feminism, romanticism and eroticism featured particularly prominently in this regard, though it should be emphasized that their capacity to affect change is undermined by the contexts from which they emerge. That is to say, not only do romanticism and eroticism trace their origins to a distant past in which the prevailing discourses were quite different from those today, but none is broad-based enough to mount an effective challenge against present-day sexual culture in general. However, this is not to suggest that such discourses are entirely without subversive effect, as we will endeavour to show in the discussion that follows.
As Foucault makes clear, eroticism's roots lie in pre-Christian pagan societies, particularly Classical Greece. For the most part, these cultures did not seek to circumscribe the sexual practices of their citizens in a manner that would be familiar to us today. Rather, in Greece if not elsewhere, concern was focused instead upon means of ensuring that free men did not become overly caught up in a life of hedonism (Foucault 1987).
It is in this context that self-control (enkateia) was championed. That is to say, even as Greek thinkers recognized (and celebrated) the joys to be derived from such pursuits as eating, drinking and sex, they called upon individuals to restrict their pleasure-seeking activities to those times and places when 'need, moment and function' were in harmony (Foucault 1988:51). In effect, this meant that one should control one's urges in public (need), only engage in sexual activity when one was suitably prepared to do so (moment); and always endeavour to make sure that partners behaved in a manner appropriate to their social status (function). So long as these guidelines were adhered to, no particular act was forbidden; body and pleasure were as one (Dover 1989;Cantarella 1992).
However, if the views described above were representative of mainstream opinion in Ancient Greece, by no means is this to suggest that dissent was non-existent, as attested to by the numerous schools of oppositional thought which arose in the latter centuries of the Classical era. Without wishing to overstate their effect upon dominant mores and values within Greek society itself, they clearly provided much inspiration for early Christian ascetics, whose views on sex remain influential within Christianity to this day (Bullough 1979).
Male erotic discourses
Focused upon the body and its pleasures, modern-day eroticism provides a potent counterweight to the deadening impact of dominant sexual mores and values. Although it is essentially a male discourse, typified by such sub-cultures as those associated with bars, sports clubs, street gangs and brothels, its does not necessarily exclude women, so long as they are willing to abide by its principles and share in its outlook. Needless to say, its subversiveness lies in its opposition to 'respectable' forms of sexual oppression, which it challenges through the celebration of 'deviant' sexualities embodied by the street and those who might be found there, whether prostitutes, adulterers, gay men, lesbians or transgressors of categories.
Among those whom we interviewed, it is clear that „street’ sexuality holds a strong appeal. Not only did Aaron recount an incident in which his friend lost his virginity to a prostitute, but Mainor described in vivid detail a recent visit to a brothel:
It was some experience. I went with a group of friends and we were all up on the dance-floor with the whores. I began to act provocatively and then one of them grabbed my dick. I got so hot that I came right there in her hand, and the best thing was that I didn’t have to pay a cent.
Meanwhile, others derive pleasure from simply harassing sex-trade workers and others whom they consider deviant. As Jorge made clear, young men from Villa del Sol would frequently travel to downtown San José in order to „tease’ any transvestite they might find there: „they say really dirty stuff to us and we’ll answer right back with even filthier things.’ Although the potential for violence is omnipresent in these exchanges, one might nonetheless argue that the two groups are joined together by a common language of pleasure, a fact alluded to by Jorge during the course of our discussion: „I love to go because we talk dirty to each other, and you won’t find vulgarity like that anywhere else.’
Certainly, the street appears to offer ample scope for expressions of sexuality that hegemonic forces would condemn as perverted. For example, Carlos indicated that he and his friends would routinely congregate in a vacant lot to masturbate and compare the size of their respective penises. As for Maikol, he described occasions when he would get together with a group of young men in order to seduce and later have sex with young girls. As he put it, „I feel funny fucking girls that young, but they’re into it and everybody’s doing it.’ Meanwhile, others recounted experiences they and their friends have had with animals, with Carlos in particular describing an occasion when his cousin forced the family dog to lick and suck his penis.
Of course, it is not only young men who are engaging in „deviant’ forms of sexual contact; as several participants indicated to us, they are well aware of the fact that anyone -even highly respected members of the community -are capable of falling prey to their sexual urges. Thus, while Frederico indicated that he has seen the parish priest on several occasions drinking and carousing with unmarried women, another participant was surprised to discover a policeman in the midst of an adulterous affair:
Not that long ago I was walking by a hotel where they rent out rooms by the hour, and who did I see coming out but the policeman with one of the neighbourhood women who goes to my church. I would never have imagined that she would get involved with a young man, especially since he just got married four months ago and already he’s trying to get it on the sly.
Still, whatever one’s opinion of the incidents described above, they all exemplify what is perhaps the most salient feature of erotic discourses: their emphasis upon the transgression of conventional sexual mores and values. Thus, within this context there is scope for flexibility and experimentation, even among men who would never willingly self-identify as gay or bisexual. As David, a young homosexual man, made clear,
you never know what to expect when you go into a room alone. Masculine men will often ask you to stick your finger up their ass, talk dirty to them, or treat them like a dog. I like to feel like a woman and don't particularly like it when a man grabs my balls and sucks them, but life is full of surprises.
Meanwhile, Kenneth has had similar experiences, albeit from a heterosexual perspective:
Women often enjoy being sadistic and biting you. When I'm half drunk I like a woman to do everything to me and for her to take the initiative. Doing the same thing all the time is boring. One woman made me suck her ass and afterwards she hit me with her belt.
Needless to say, implicit within these „erotic’ encounters is a restructuring of conventional relations of power, in which male dominance is replaced, at least temporarily, by a somewhat more egalitarian relationship dynamic. Interestingly, this perspective appears to be confirmed when one compares the different words used to represent the body within the context of gender and erotic discourses.
Thus, whereas the former tends to draw upon violent, power-laden imagery in its description of the vagina (hole, slit) and the penis (staff, snake), the latter generally makes use of far more benign metaphors, such as papaya or pumpkin for a woman’s vagina, and banana or sausage for a man’s penis. In this way, the conventional view of men and women’s sexual anatomy, in which one is expected to dominate and penetrate the other, is replaced by an understanding based upon mutual benefit and pleasure.
Moreover, eroticism also calls into question the mainstream belief that sex is dirty and should always be kept hidden away within the confines of the bedroom. Indeed, among those who took part in this study, many reported engaging in practices which run directly counter to mainstream sexual mores, for example through participation in „circle jerks’ where several young men get together to masturbate after watching a pornographic film. To cite Carlos,
once you get a little horny, you start touching it. Soon, all your buddies are ready and willing and then one will start jacking off someone else until everyone’s come.
Sharing sexual fantasies with each other is another way in which male participants derive pleasure, with pornographic magazines and videos playing an important role in galvanizing the imagination. Of course, it should be noted that the latter are often used for „educational’ purposes as well, since it is quite common for young people of both communities to go to parties whose principal purpose is to screen pornographic films. Not only did many participants indicate that it was precisely on occasions such as these that they saw the sex act performed for the first time, but several commented that they continue to watch them in order to learn new love-making techniques.
Female erotic discourses
As we have endeavoured to highlight in the discussion above, male erotic discourses differ from those associated with patriarchy or the Church in that they fault no one, male or female, for engaging in acts from which they derive pleasure. While some might argue that it is scarcely surprising that men should be the principal proponents of this discourse, since they do not have to worry about becoming pregnant or being gang-raped while walking home in the evening, this is not to suggest that women are necessarily opposed to it. Indeed, as our interviews made clear, female adolescents are if anything more unhappy than boys with the demands placed upon them in matters of sex: that they should „save’ themselves for marriage; that they should not venture out of the home unaccompanied; and that they should avoid any activity that lends itself to sexual self-discovery.
Thus, even as one acknowledges the reticence of female participants to engage openly with erotic discourses during the course of interview and group sessions, their willingness to discuss related topics, such as romantic fantasies, underscored the degree to which they too subscribed to many of the tenets of eroticism.
„Secret’ boy-friends are a case in point. For example, Wendoly indicated that she has been involved in such a relationship for more than a year, taking advantage of the fact that her parents work during the day to go over to his house after school. Although they had abstained from physical contact for much of this time, they had recently begun to „make out’, an experience that left Wendoly feeling feverish and flushed:
I felt an emptiness, an emptiness in my stomach, as though I had never eaten a thing in my entire life and my eyes were all watery. I felt as though I had a fever, my body trembled all over. I don't know why, but I remained very quiet all day long.
Alexandra’s case is similar. Forbidden to have a boy-friend because she is (in her mother’s estimation) too young, she has gone ahead anyway, avoiding detection by always ensuring that her parents are out when he comes over. Moreover, she went to admit that he is very forward, and will often push her to see how far she is prepared to go. The incident described below is typical in this regard.
Once my mother went dancing and we were left alone with my brother and sister-in-law. Anyway, we were in the living room and decided to turn out the light. We were lying down on the couch, talking about things, teasing and joking, and then, all of a sudden, we started to kiss .. and soon he was kissing me here and there, and my body was saying yes, but suddenly I started thinking, God forbid, and then I decided that I should turn on the light before this got too far.
Meanwhile, dancing is another example of female participants’ engagement with eroticism. In short, not only does it give young women scope to challenge the passive role ascribed to them by machismo and the Church, but it also provides them with an opportunity to engage in a non-hierarchical, body-oriented experience.
Not surprisingly, parents are also sensitive to these issues, and this is precisely why many forbid their daughters from attending dances, or else insist that they be chaperoned at all times by an older sibling or adult. However, as the interview findings clearly show, young women have adopted a number of strategies in order to by-pass or subvert the restrictions placed upon them. Thus, while Daisy takes advantage of visits to some of her more permissive relatives to go out to nightclubs, others, such as Rosangela, sneak out of their house while their parents are sleeping or otherwise occupied. In all cases, however, participants stressed their love of music and the way that it made them feel good about themselves. To quote Alexandra,
The music, that's what I love most; any kind of music will do. Not like my mother, who dies when you put on reggae and says that it’s dirty and not really music at all. Anyway, I love it all: salsa, romantic, merengue, everything, and if it’s good dance music, so much the better.
Along somewhat different lines, the interviews and group sessions also showed that young women harbour erotic desires and fantasies that fly in the face of dominant societal expectations as to what female sexuality should and should not entail. For example, while several participants indicated that they enjoy nothing more than watching men as they walk down the street, others said that they went to sports matches simply to ogle their muscular bodies and hairy legs.
Moreover, it was clear that many of the female participants had exceedingly rich fantasy lives, as attested to by Daisy's dreams of 'making love on a rainy day with romantic music.' Similarly, Hilda indicated that she often imagines herself having sex in a park or public washroom, anywhere that she would run the risk of being seen. Of course, nourishing these fantasies are the stories young women tell each other about the joys of sex and the attractive men they have seen at school, on the beach or in magazines.
Thus, even though women are forced to contend with far greater pressure than men to avoid any and all sexual contact prior to marriage, many draw upon erotic discourses in their pursuit of alternative means of expressing their sexuality. One such means is 'petting', consisting of intense hugging, kissing and manual stimulation, which is undertaken with lovers and other male friends 'with rights'. Needless to say, the latter group is particularly interesting in this regard, encompassing young men whom a particular woman has bestowed the 'right' to make love to her without expecting any commitment in return.
As one might imagine, it is but a short step from petting to genital intercourse, and though few of the girls and young women interviewed were willing to discuss this issue explicitly, in many cases such activity could be inferred from the anecdotes they related about the experiences of girl-friends and female family members. For example, Alexandra was quite adamant that all of her friends had already had sex:
Of my three best friends, I'm almost sure none of them are virgin. You see, two of them went with their boy-friends to sleep by a river and the other one went on a trip with her boy-friend and didn't come back until the day before yesterday. They lied to their mothers and told them they were going to visit some relatives but the truth is that they were with their boy-friends. According to them, they didn't do anything, but who's going to believe they slept by the river with their boy-friends and they didn't do anything?
Certainly, there can be little doubt that many boy-friends are exceedingly insistent in this regard, as the passage below suggests.
After a few months he had asked me so many times to give in, to give him my virginity as proof of my love, that one day we were alone and went to a beach, I felt so much desire, it felt so good to have him touch me all over, that I couldn't resist. Next thing I knew it he was penetrating me. Sometimes you have this uncontrollable urge. [Leidy]
Lesbian relationships are another form of erotic transgression that most female participants would not admit to, even if it was obvious that some had prior experience in this area. In particular, a number of young women noted that they had been propositioned or harassed by lesbians in the past, with Dunia stating that on several occasions she has been faced with women who call her 'cutie' or 'sweetie', and who 'flirt openly' with her. Meanwhile, in our interview with Hilda, she asserted that 'most of [her] friends have had little flings with other girlfriends,' and went on to describe an encounter she had had some years previously:
When I was about six years old I had a little thing with the girl next-door. We used to kiss and kiss. I had forgotten what we used to do until I talked to a friend at school about it and then I remembered. I think my first attraction was to this girl-friend. I loved her very much and she was my best friend.
For the most part, scholars agree that the notion of romantic love originated in the cultural context of twelfth century Europe, when stories of errant knights and virtuous, unattainable women first began to circulate among the elites of the day. In these works, love was platonic and rarely consummated, with heroic men undertaking seemingly impossible quests for the sake of their lady's honour (Johnson 1983).
Although it has undergone substantial change over the course of intervening centuries, this tradition of romantic love remains with us to this day, and is continuously disseminated through such channels as television soap operas, music and film. Indeed, as Johnson (1983) makes clear, its power to give meaning to individuals' lives is, if anything, more powerful than ever, replacing mysticism as the path to true happiness and sublimation.
Moreover, our interview findings show that romantic discourses hold considerable appeal for both men and women. In the case of the latter, they offer a means of resisting and subverting the sexual mores embodied by Christianity and Science. Meanwhile, romanticism affords men the possibility of having a relationship that transcends the vulgar objectification typical of mainstream gender discourses. In this way, having Idealized the woman they are involved with, they become willing to make sacrifices on her behalf, and shelter her from the barbs, gossip and insults that men routinely direct towards women whom they consider to be sexually active.
As one might imagine, passion plays a key role in this regard, as it used to justify and explain behaviour that runs counter to personal self-interest, as well as the tenets of dominant discourses. That is to say, individuals who are in love are expected to devote themselves whole-heartedly to their partner, regardless of the consequences. Indeed, it is precisely on this basis that romantic discourses sanction pre-marital intercourse and other sexual practices condemned by the Church, presenting them as signs of each partner's undying love for the other.
While one can scarcely describe romanticism as a feminist discourse -after all, many would argue that its emphasis on essentialist identities serves only to reinforce patriarchal sexual roles and relations -one should not discount its significance, particularly in marginal communities like Villa del Mar. On the one hand, it provides women (and men) with a means of resisting those who seek to control and circumscribe their sexuality by forcing them to remain celibate outside of marriage. On the other, it serves as a useful device in explaining why relationships fail, and why the reality of marriage so often does not live up to one's hopes and expectations.
Gender and class differences in romantic discourses
That romanticism is a discourse that does not hold the same appeal for all social groups is implicit within the discussion above. Thus, let us now address these differences in a somewhat more explicit fashion. In the first instance, it is obvious that women are generally far stronger proponents of romantic love than their male counterparts. This is the case for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that it offers them a potent alternative to the misogyny that permeates mainstream gender and religious discourses. In other words, women champion romanticism precisely because it embodies the prospect of a personal relationship that is loving and non-hierarchical, rather than one founded upon deceit, domination and violence.
Of course, the institution of patriarchy ensures that men do not feel the same need or interest to partake of a 'romantic' relationship of this sort. Not only do they derive personal benefit from women's subservience in the context of a marriage or common-law union (eg. through housekeeping, personal and sexual services), but dominant gender constructions are such that men tend to attach relatively little importance to interpersonal relations in their lives. However, this is not to say that men remain entirely unmoved in the face of romantic discourses. On the one hand, many are attracted by the warmth and emotional support that is inherent within a 'romantic' relationship. On the other, the fact that men have already internalized certain tenets of romanticism as part of their upbringing in a 'macho' cultural context (eg. that they must be willing to fight those who show disrespect for their girl-friend) makes them more likely to look upon it with favour than they otherwise would.
Finally, our research findings show that Villa del Mar youth tend to be considerably more enthusiastic in their support of romantic discourses than their counterparts in Villa del Sol. Needless to say, this is the product of several factors, of which one of the most significant is the dearth of opportunities for socio-economic advancement in this community. Given this state of affairs, local youth see romanticism as the only viable path towards personal fulfilment, a view that stands in sharp contrast to prevailing opinion in Villa del Sol, where young people place far more emphasis upon such issues as psychological compatibility and potential earning power when choosing a suitable mate.
Tracing its roots to nineteenth century Europe and North America, feminist discourse became increasingly influential in the decades following the end of the Second World War, when changing social realities prompted a growing number of women to mobilize in an effort to advance their personal, political and reproductive rights. Although the bulk of this activism continues to be centred in First World countries, other regions of the world have benefited as well, with Costa Rica being a notable example.
Without wishing to engage in gross over-simplification, one might nonetheless argue that, for much of its history, feminist ideology has drawn heavily upon liberal political theory, and particularly its concepts of reason and the public-private divide. How so? In the first instance, early feminist thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) sought to make use of the liberal notion that individuals enjoy certain inalienable rights founded upon their ability to reason, using it as a basis to challenge the palpable inequality of women and men in the societies in which they lived.
While this strategy did prove to be successful in a number of important respects, for example in garnering women the right to vote, it was not until the second half of the twentieth century that feminists began to make significant gains in women's day-to-day lives. Needless to say, this was an era of rapid welfare state expansion into a growing number of areas that would have previously been considered part of the private sphere (and hence areas into which the state could not legitimately penetrate), and feminists followed hard on the heels of state agents. Their purpose, as in the case of their predecessors in the nineteenth century, was to promote reform by pointing out contradictions between the rhetoric of equality and the reality of continued discrimination, using the courts and the political system as means of challenging the status quo and forcing the pace of change.
However, by the 1970s the limitations inherent within this 'gradualist' approach became increasingly obvious to a growing number of activists within the feminist camp, prompting some to forsake liberal feminism in favour of more radical theorizations of the roots of male domination. For this latter group, the liberal view that sexual equality can be achieved through such vehicles as greater political representation, enhanced educational opportunities and affirmative action in the workplace is essentially flawed, since it fails to take into account the fact that the institutions of society, like mainstream gender constructions themselves, are permeated by the ideology and practice of patriarchy. Thus, according to the radical perspective, women will only achieve true equality once all patriarchal structures (including marriage and obligatory heterosexuality) are fully dismantled.
Feminist discourses by gender and class
Within a Costa Rican context, there can be little doubt that feminism holds considerable appeal for a broad swathe of the country's female population. Thus, we were not surprised to learn that many of the young women whom we interviewed were strongly supportive of key elements within the feminist agenda, including an end to male violence; freedom to pursue an education or a career; full equality before the law; and an end to men's exploitation of their wives and girlfriends.
However, it should be noted that their support did not extend beyond the tenets of liberal feminism; for example, none of the participants was willing to call into question the institution of marriage or basic assumptions regarding women's nurturing role. Why is this the case? While there are undoubtedly any number of forces at work, it is clear that fear of the unknown and an inability to question existing norms feature prominently among the reasons why the feminism of most young women focuses merely upon the elimination of patriarchy's most offensive elements. Thus, as far as female research participants are concerned, the wholesale restructuring of gender roles and relations is simply not on the agenda. As Hilda put it, 'I don't know how the world could be otherwise. I can't even imagine us being different.'
As for the young men who were involved in the study, the majority were opposed to the feminist programme, while at the same time expressing strong support for the status quo. Again, one might argue that this is not particularly surprising; since men derive disproportionate benefit from the existing gender order, what stake do they have in changing it? However, by the same token it must be acknowledged that a significant number of male participants were prepared to make an exception for forms of feminist claims-making that might prove advantageous to them, for example in relation to women's right to an education or to a career.
Of course, it need hardly be added that gender is not the only variable at work in influencing participants' views on feminism; individuals' class background is also relevant in this regard. For example, low self-esteem and high rates of male joblessness in Villa del Mar have contributed to a situation in which men feel particularly threatened by the principles of liberal feminism, and thus are likely to condemn them in especially strong terms. In Villa del Sol by contrast, where men are more upwardly mobile and patriarchal gender discourses tend to be imposed in a less coercive fashion, there appears to be significantly less male resistance to feminist ideology and practice.