A vulgar folklore: the pornographic fantasies of pornocorridos

Abstract

This article examines the vulgar folklore of pornocorridos, sexually explicit ballads that have circulated Mexican popular culture since the 1970s. Current literature on pornocorridos argues that the subgenre is misogynistic and a violation of women's bodies. These anti-pornographic critiques resemble the feminists debates of the 1970s and 1980s, which argued that pornography was destructive and an expression of woman-hatred. This article argues that a perverse reading of pornocorridos shows us that this music genre transgressed normative ideas about sexuality and that contemporary Mexican performers reimagine this vulgar folkloric practice to explore semi-sadomasochistic sex and lesbian sexual desires. The subgenre of pornocorridos has the potential to create sonic spaces that imagine, challenge, and create fantasies of brown sexual pleasures.

KEYWORDS:

• Pornocorridos
• vulgar folklore
• erotic ballads
• music fandom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Grupo Marrano. ‘Aviso de Restriccion (Entrada)’. Episodio 1. Pornocorridos y mas. Album published in 2003. All translations are the author’s own.

2 ‘Obscene, Indecent, and Profane Broadcasts’. Federal Communication Commission, 13 January 2021. https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts.

3 ‘Obscene, Indecent, and Profane Broadcasts’. Federal Communication Commission, 13 January 2021. https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts.

4 ‘Mexican Press Outraged Over Censorship’. UPI Archives, 8 December 1982. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/12/09/Mexican-press-outraged-over-censorship/4519408258000/.

5 ‘Censorship Law Takes Effect in Mexico’. UPI Archives, 27 November 1982. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/11/27/Censorship-law-takes-effect-in-Mexico/4768407221200/.

6 ‘Mexico Revokes Anti-Obscenity Law’. UPI Archives, 11 December 1982. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/12/11/Mexico-revokes-anti-obscenity-law/7557408430800/. The earlier production of Picardia Mexicana, bawdy cultural productions that appeared as films, comics, and forms of folklore, had already created a cultural moment of more liberated sexual expression. Fichera cinema, for instance, was known as a ‘proto-pornographic’ film genre that revolved around cabarets and brothels, and it made up one-third of the films produced in this era (De la Mora 2006; Venkatesh 2016).

7 MusicBoxVinyl. ‘Los Pelados Del Norte – Vol. 15 ((CASSETTE COMPLETO))’. YouTube, 27 January 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmZ9EbfOaqk&t=627s.

8 Natalie B. Compton. ‘Your Mezal Might Literally Be Made with Love’. Vice, 21 March 2017. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ez88kw/your-mezcal-might-literally-be-made-with-love.

9 Chicano Enamorado. ‘T.N.T. “Me Cai de La Nube”’. YouTube, 28 October 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRs9_BO-9jA

10 Sodelaro, comment on Chicano Enamorado. ‘T.N.T. – “El Guarache Pachon” (XXX)’. YouTube, 28 October 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0gr6c5ngbA.

11 Serch Zume, comment on Chicano Enamorado. ‘T.N.T. – “El Pato” (XXX)’. YouTube, 28 October 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLN0D60UmrE.

12 Rodrigo Muñoz Nava, comment on Space Guard Ghost Man. ‘Los Pelados del Norte Domino’. YouTube, 26 March 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RubjRvjQEA. Accessed January 2020.

13 Armando Montiel, comment on Chicano Enamorado. ‘T.N.T. – “El Mono De Alambre” (XXX)’. YouTube, 28 October 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txhynx_E5Oo.

14 Pinche Vieja Resbalosa by Los Razos is a contemporary song that references the woman protagonist as ‘guanga’.

15 ‘Billboard Hits of the World’. Billboard: The International Music-Record Newsweekly, 29 April 1967, 56. https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1967/Billboard%201967-04-29.pdf

16 Grita Radio Rock. ‘Grupo Marrano Ofrece Concierto Sexual en La Plataforma Streamtime’. Grit Radio, 7 May 2020. https://gritaradio.com/grupo-marrano-ofrece-concierto-sexual-en-la-plataforma-streamtime/; and Melisa Garza. ‘Noche irreverente con Grupo Marrano en Streamline’. Monterrey Live Music, 6 July 2020. https://monterreylive.com/2020/07/noche-irreverente-con-grupo-marrano-en-streamtime/.

17 Grupo Marrano has 295,785 monthly listeners. ‘El Ansioso’ has 16,116,015 plays, and compared to the rest of the songs is the most listened to song on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Bxd65U2Ar7gDO23XuyFad.

18 Maria Fernanda Aguirre. ‘Retiro del Grupo Marrano de la Industria Musical Mexicana’. Change.org. https://www.change.org/p/comisión-nacional-para-prevenir-y-erradicar-la-violencia-en-méxico-retiro-del-grupo-marrano-de-la-industria-musical-mexicana.

19 Lunitaa, comment on Grupo Marrano. ‘Grupo Marrano – El Ansioso (Lyric Video)’. YouTube, 20 August 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVI57YIDJbE.

20 //MIgueLlo54//, comment on Calibre50. ‘Calibre 50 – El Tierno se Fue’. YouTube, 18 February 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPBERIbz-jk.

21 Rebecca Inez Saunders has shown the ways that online sites like Pornhub use paratextual pornographic techniques on their site.

22 Las Reinas Chulas. ‘El Pornocorrido (Por un buen wawis) – La Banda de las Recodas’. YouTube, 13 May 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P183ZI-H0Es.

23 The reference to domestic chores is found in minute 2:55–3:10 of the song.