Mestizaje, a significant process of identity formation in Latin America based on presumed race mixture, rests on certain sustaining ideologies about race, class, gender, and sexuality that are specific to Latin America. This essay attempts a preliminary discussion of how mestizaje has affected marriage and gender relations in several Latin American regions as the marital/kinship pattern, together with its sustaining ideologies, changed over time. Questions are asked about differences in beliefs held by different kinds of individuals (mestizos and “whites,” lower classes and elites, women and men) about mestizaje and the sexual and/or kinship relations appropriate between different races and classes. Examination of a few well documented historical cases suggests that what lower‐class mestizos believe about race, class, gender, and sexuality involves resistance to as well as acceptance of elite beliefs about them. It appears that there are also significant differences in beliefs held by mestizo women and men about appropriate female and male sexuality, though we have less information about this.
The symbolics of blood: Mestizaje in the Americas
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.