In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Rob Buffington Losjotos Contested Vision s of Homosexualit y in Moder n Mexic o hor late-nineteenth- an d early-twentieth-centur y Mexica n crimi nologists , sexual deviance of any kind was unnatural, antisocial, and linked to innat e criminality ; criminal s constitute d a n identifiabl e clas s with dis tinct trait s tha t include d atavisti c homosexua l tendencies. 1 Thus , i n th e criminological imagination, sexual deviance indicated criminality, which in turn threatene d nationa l political , economic , an d socia l development . Homosexuality i n particular undermined a nation's very existence by fos tering unfruitful sexua l unions in an era obsessed with national reproduc tion and the international "struggle for life."2 Either way, the perceived need to study the problem was urgent. The Mexican inmate subjects of criminological study had a much differ ent visio n o f homosexualit y tha n thei r professiona l observers . Priso n inmates di d indee d engag e in what criminologist s define d a s homosexua l activities, fairl y ofte n b y mos t accounts . Many , lik e thei r criminologis t counterparts, stigmatized the participants. Upon closer examination, however , the correspondence break s down . Som e sexual acts—especially me n taking the passive role with other men—were denigrated by criminologist s 118 * 8 Losjotos * 11 9 and inmates alike , although for very differen t reasons . Other behaviors — men taking the active role with othe r men—deepl y concerne d criminolo gists but bothered inmates hardly at all The link between sexual and criminal deviance thus proved mor e complex and more socially (a s opposed t o scientifically) constructe d than criminologists had supposed. Why this was so and what it meant are the subjects of this essay.3 The mos t exhaustive criminologica l investigatio n int o sexua l devianc e was conducted a t the turn o f the century by Porfirian criminologist , journalist , and litterateur Carlos Roumagnac.4 In the spirit of the era, he began with a dir e warnin g abou t nationa l degeneratio n conveye d throug h th e ubiquitous medical metaphor: What epidemic [is] more dangerous than that for which we know . .. n o hygienic measures with which to combat it and for which quarantines are useless because we carry it inside ourselves, infiltrated in our blood for years and years, and which we transmit to our descendants, passing on to them, without though t bu t not without guilt , the virus that soone r o r later will flower into the bitter blossoms of crime and transgression?5 The mixture of melodrama and medical science was not only typical of the period, it also presumed the criminologist/physician's right—as an agent of "social defense" agains t the contagion of crime—to gaz e frankly an d intimately int o th e bodie s an d live s of hi s (an d earl y Mexican criminologist s were all male) inmate patients. That sexual behavior, especially deviant sexual behavior, would appear as a leitmotiv—a recurring theme—in his study is thus hardly surprising . Se x was afte r al l the unspoken obsessio n o f th e Victorian age.6 Roumagnac's "scientific" method involved extensive case histories of his inmate subjects compiled in large part from personal interviews conducte d inside Mexic o City' s principa l jail , Belen , an d th e newl y buil t Federa l Penitentiary. Inmates were photographed, measured , inspected, and questioned about everything from their extended family's health history to their post prison plans. And, a t every opportunity, they were quizze d o n thei r sexual habits . No t surprisingly , give n hi s expectations , Roumagnac' s "observations" o f individua l inmate s establishe d a positiv e correlatio n between the criminal and sexual deviance of all his subjects: boys, women, and men. Because youth figuratively an d literally represented Mexico's future, th e boys' cas e wa s particularl y revealing . Althoug h Roumagna c acknowl edged —as th e previou s quotatio n indicates— a powerfu l lin k betwee n inherited traits and potential criminality, he also expressed great interest in the environmenta l (a s oppose d t o genetic ) factor s tha t eithe r cause d o r [3.141.202.187] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 15:33...

Share