The sexual erotic market as an analytical framework for understanding erotic-affective exchanges in interracial sexually intimate and affective relationships

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which erotic-affective exchanges in interracial relationships have been analysed in Latin America. It considers how race, gender and class operate within a market of values such that erotic, affective and economic status are shaped by racial, gender and class hierarchies. In this paper I analyse historical and social arrangements that embody the region's political economy of race and sex. Such a perspective allows me to address the simultaneous co-existence of socio-racial exclusion and inclusion and the repressive and productive effects of power, attraction and anxiety as aspects of lived experiences in relation to sexuality. From there, I outline an analytical framework that references an erotic or pleasure-based market in which capital and other resources are exchanged from a structural perspective stressing relationship alliances. I conclude by identifying the scope and limits of such an approach.

El presente artículo examina la manera en que, en América Latina, han sido analizados los intercambios erótico-afectivos que tienen lugar en las relaciones interraciales. En este sentido, analiza cómo operan la raza, el género y la clase en un mercado de valores en el que los estados eróticos, afectivos y económicos son determinados por las jerarquías de género y de clase. Asimismo, la autora estudia cómo las estructuras histórico-sociales encarnan la economía política de raza y de sexo en la región. Tal perspectiva permite abordar la existencia simultánea de exclusión y de inclusión socio-racial, así como los efectos represivos y productivos del poder, de la atracción y de la ansiedad en tanto aspectos presentes en las vivencias en torno a la sexualidad. A partir de lo mencionado, la autora esboza un marco analítico que abarca un mercado basado en el erotismo o en el placer, en el que el capital y otros recursos son intercambiados desde una perspectiva estructural centrada en las alianzas a nivel de las relaciones. Las conclusiones identifican el alcance y las limitantes del enfoque utilizado.

Cet article examine comment les échanges érotico-affectifs au sein des relations interraciales ont été analysés en Amérique Latine. Il tient compte de la manière selon laquelle la race, le genre et la classe sociale opèrent au sein d'un marché de valeurs pour que les statuts érotiques, affectifs et économiques soient déterminés par les hiérarchies de race, de genre et de classe sociale. Dans cet article, j'analyse comment les arrangements historiques et sociaux incarnent l'économie politique de la race et du sexe au plan régional. Une telle perspective m'autorise à aborder l'existence simultanée de l'exclusion et de l'inclusion socio-raciales et les effets répressifs et productifs du pouvoir, de l'attraction et de l'anxiété en tant qu'expériences vécues, relativement à la sexualité. À partir de là, je mets l'accent sur un cadre analytique qui renvoie à un marché érotique ou fondé sur le plaisir, au sein duquel le capital et d'autres ressources sont échangés dans une perspective structurelle qui met en avant les alliances basées sur les relations. Je conclus l'article en identifiant le champ d'application et les limites d'une telle approche.

Keywords::

• sexual eroticism
• markets
• Latin America
• interracial sex
• intersectionality

Notes

^1. The term ‘white-mestizo’ or ‘white-mestiza’ classifies light skinned men and women, respectively, as categories of people whose light complexion provides them with social and symbolic privileges in Colombia's racial order.

^2. Note that in Colombia there are two contradictory situations: on one hand there is a set of actors who discriminate through acts of violence and even threaten the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and, on the other hand, a quite progressive law exists for same-sex couples. For example, as a cumulative result of several judgments by the Constitutional Court (Judgment C-029 in 2009, Judgment C-577 in 2011), gay couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples. A constitutional review concerning the universality of marriage and the issue of adoption was underway at the time of writing. There is also a substantial body of law that reinforces non-discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation.

^3. Anne Fausto-Sterling (2006) has described the Möbius as a flat strip twisted once and then glued on the ends to form a twisted loop surface. She goes on to state, ‘Let's imagine an ant moving along the surface. At the beginning of this circular trip, the ant is clearly on the outside of the tape, but as it travels, without leaving the surface at any time, it ends up on the inside’ (40).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the CALL FOR RESEARCH Orlando Fals Borda – 2012 – Faculty of Human Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.