Erotic Journeys: Mexican Immigrants and Their Sex Lives

5. Sex and the Immigrant Communities: Risky Opportunities, Opportune Risks

“This whole thing about el país de las oportunidades [the land of opportunities ] . . . I will change the name, I will change the version. I will call it el país de las enfermedades [the land of diseases] because you get sick for any reason at all.” Eugenio, a forty-three-year-old from Mexico City, spoke in a melodic Spanish rhythm as he described the various health problems he has suVered in the United States, including relapse and recovery from alcoholism and a pattern of addiction that sometimes made him behave in sexually risky ways. Diamantina, a thirty-one-year-old, also from Mexico City, complained: “I already told my husband that if he continues working here [in the United States], I better go back to Mexico, because I am just like a piece of furniture here.” Diamantina explained that her husband’s strenuous schedule made her feel emotionally devalued, and that the emotional and sexual intimacy of their marriage had deteriorated. Returning to Mexico would be one way to deal with her personal circumstances, but the fear of economic hardship if she went back made her tolerate her current dissatisfaction . For Eugenio and Diamantina, their incorporation into the labor force of an advanced industrialized economy has provided them with the opportunity to survive and improve their Wnancial situation. However, for them and for many of the study’s informants, becoming part of a highly urbanized capitalist society had also presented them with contradictions and challenges to their everyday survival, and these situations ultimately aVected their sex lives. This chapter examines how after migratC h a p t e r 5 Sex and the Immigrant Communities Risky Opportunities, Opportune Risks 131 ing and establishing a permanent life in Los Angeles, poverty, segregation, and incorporation into the labor market, among other forces, exposed these immigrants to hazards that would reshape their sex lives. These risks, along with the capitalist society and the fast-paced life found in the United States, would exacerbate an already existing culture of sexual fear, which would take new forms in Los Angeles. American Dreams, Mexican Realities Olga, a thirty-two-year-old woman from Mexico City, explained: “I do not know about Mexico, but here, life is screwed up. That is the truth, and more with children, the whole thing about rape of girls, and that kind of thing. And AIDS, as well. And also the whole thing about boys who hang out in gangs.” Olga’s words reXect the disenchantment and vulnerability that surrounds the migration experience of the overwhelming majority of the informants in this study. They also echo immigration studies that have described the inadequate health care Latino immigrants receive in the United States (Brown and Yu 2002; Freire 2002; HayesBautista 2002; E. Díaz et al. 2001) and the deterioration in mental and physical health they experience as they are assimilated into North American society (Portes and Rumbaut 1996; Scribner 1996; Rumbaut 1997).1 For the immigrants in this study, becoming part of American society did not necessarily improve their health and general lifestyle, and certainly not their sex lives. Most informants reported that living in the United States was more dangerous than living in Mexico. Some have witnessed shootings in their neighborhoods or felt threatened by gang activity, Wghts, police arrests of neighbors involved in drug traYcking, INS apprehensions, and drug dealing on the streets. They have witnessed or personally experimented with drugs and have faced language diYculties, xenophobic laws and racism, emotional isolation and loneliness, a lack of paid employment, crowded housing, homelessness, and prostitution.2 All of these conditions make them vulnerable, but informants also identiWed some as speciWcally inXuencing their sex lives. These included the additional risks associated with sexual violence against young girls, alcohol and drug use, gang activity, and sexually transmitted diseases (AIDS in particular). And these risks are not experienced in a social vacuum. Gender issues and the socioeconomics of their communities, both in Mexico and the United States, also shape the ways in which immigrants interpret, negotiate, and cope with their new lives. 132 SEX AND THE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES Sexual Abuse of Children The sexual abuse of children was of special concern for all of the women in this study. Regardless of their place of origin, women were more likely than men to be concerned that their children were more vulnerable to sexual abuse in the United States compared to Mexico...