Representing Peru: Seeing the Female Sporting Body

Abstract

In the early twenty-first century, sports in Peru – as in many other countries – are a pervasive presence in the written and visual media, the subject of specialist magazines and television programmes and a significant part of all news programming. Over the course of recent decades, when male sporting success has been limited, most notably in football, public interest in female sporting figures has increased significantly since women have consistently enjoyed victories on the global stage. Leading exponents of various sports are public figures, leading high-profile marketing campaigns and serving to draw together diverse sectors of the nation when international successes are achieved, while a number of women have found a route into national politics via sport. As it is one of the most widely encountered modes of representation of the body, this article will consider the manner in which the female sporting body in Peru has come to constitute one of the dominant visual modes of women's corporeal presence in the country, and analyse the ways in which such representations may offer a route to agency as they conform to or contest contemporary political and cultural ideologies.

Notes

 1 In contrast to countries such as Mexico and Cuba, there is little sense of an indigenous sporting tradition that harks back to pre-Hispanic times. The closest approximation may be found in long-distance running, in which several of the country's top athletes come from the central Andes, echoing perhaps the figure of the Inca chasqui (messenger), chosen as the mascot for the 2004 Copa América held in Peru.

 2 The enduring public appeal of the sport, and of the success achieved in the 1980s, is evident in the production of the popular 2010 miniseries Matadoras (América Televisión) that based itself on the lives and achievements of the team from that era. The series culminated with a re-screening of the 1988 Olympic final.

 3 The women's volleyball team won 12 of the 15 South American Championships held between 1964 and 1993, a period that also saw them win 5 silver medals at the Pan American Games, silver and bronze medals at the World Championships and silver at the 1988 Olympic Games. By contrast, Peru's football team has not qualified for the World Cup Finals since 1982, and finished bottom of the South American Qualification Group for the 2010 World Cup. Moreover, the team has been hit by scandals surrounding players' preparations for key international matches and controversy around the President of the national federation, leading to temporary suspension from FIFA in 2008. In September 2009 Peru slipped to 91 in the FIFA rankings, its lowest ever placing.

 4 In the elections of April 2011, Cecilia Tait (Perú Posible), Gaby Pérez del Solar (Unidad Nacional), Cenaida Uribe (Unión por el Perú) and Leyla Chihuán (Fuerza 2011) were all elected to Peru's Congress as candidates in Lima. The first three were all stars of the team that reached the Olympic final in 1988, while Chihuán was a recent captain of the national team. Tait's popularity is reflected in her position as number one on Alejandro Toledo's Perú Posible list of candidates for the 2011 elections, having first been elected in 2000. Rosa García (Solidaridad Nacional) also stood for election, but was the only voleibolista not to become a congresista. All except Pérez del Solar are Afro-Peruvian women of relatively humble socio-economic origins.

 5 See the official rules governing equipment and clothing for Olympic beach volleyball at http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyBall/Competitions/Olympics/WATH2004/2004%20Specific%20Events%20Regulations.pdf, p.41 (accessed 19/9/2011).

 6 Beaches cannot be privately owned in Peru, but access to the land behind the most exclusive beaches is typically heavily controlled and subject to payment for entry.

 7 Peru was at the bottom of the South American women's beach volleyball rankings for the 2010–11 season as of March 2011 (http://www.peruvoley.com/foro/viewtopic.php?f = 3&t = 2315&start = 100), below land-locked Bolivia and Paraguay.

 8 For testimonies of some of the leading surfers of the 1960s, see ‘Peruvian Romances’ at http://files.legendarysurfers.com/surf/legends/lsc221_1965.html (accessed 19/9/11).

 9 See, for example, images available at http://www.olasperu.com/noticias/display_not.php?id = 30092009-2 (accessed 19/9/11).

10 The 1965 World Championships, held in Lima, featured tandem surfing, which can be watched at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = WfZk3jGHnAI (accessed 30/1/12). One Peruvian couple appears in the competition, but the winners were from the Long Beach team. The original music and commentary, which accompany the footage, indicate that heavily gendered discourses were not restricted to Peru.

11 For Mulanovich's website see http://www.sofiamulanovich.com/ (accessed 30/1/12).

12 A Google image search for Sofía Mulanovich returns over 80,000 images, with over 40,000 for Analí Gómez, as of early 2012.

13 Another exception that corresponds more clearly to the exhibitionism of the white female body that is stereotypically associated with surfing is the beauty contest, which enjoys a tradition of strong support in Peru.

14 Contemporary takes on the tapada as artistic inspiration often foreground the female figure even further. See, for example http://www.fotolog.com/el_decertor/54976083 (accessed 30/1/12).

15 Beach volleyball, of course, also highlights these features through its dress code, indicating that the construction of a sexualised female body in Peru has much in common with Western visions more generally.

16 USA Boxing recognized women's boxing in 1993, after losing a landmark court case, and the English ABA lifted its 116-year ban on women boxing in 1996 (http://www.womenboxing.com/historic.htm). Women's boxing is among the sports at the London Olympic Games in summer 2012, when it will become the last sport to include male and female competitors.

17 Many non-boxing images of Malpartida trade on the pose and look of the fashion model, and interviews in Peruvian media have asked about her potential modelling career (see, for example, an interview with Caretas at http://www.caretas.com.pe/Mobile.asp?idS = 74&idA = 30359).

18 Caretas 2111 (30 Dec 2009); http://www.caretas.com.pe/Main.asp?T = 3082&S = &id = 12&idE = 860&idSTo = 0&idA = 44216. In a subsequent interview with Caretas (No. 2135, 24 June 2010) she is asked if men are intimidated by her, and about her assumed future marriage.

19 Perú 21 (27 June 2010); http://blogs.peru21.pe/roundextra/2010/06/kina-malpartida-exploto-contra.html.