Easy Women: Sex And Gender In Modern Mexican Fiction

Addresses the topic of prostitution and “easy women” in Mexican literature. The figure of the prostitute or sexually liberated woman not only permeates Mexican folk songs and popular movies but stands at the crossroads of its national literary culture. In Easy Women, Debra A. Castillo focuses on the prostitute, or the woman perceived as such, in order to ask why this character exerts such a hold on the Mexican imagination. Combining early twentieth-century novels, current best-selling pulp fiction, and testimonial narratives, Castillo explores how Mexican writers have positioned the “easy woman” in their works. In each example the transgressive woman—marked by an active sexuality—serves a crucial narrative function, one that both promotes and challenges myths about women on the continuum of sexual promiscuity. Ending with a discussion based on a series of in-depth interviews with sex workers in Tijuana, Castillo highlights the complexities and ambiguities of these women’s professional and personal lives. As opposed to a traditional view of these women as symbols of evil or metaphors of contagion, Castillo gives voice and agency to the silenced figure of the “easy woman,” unsettling conventional notions and opening up a freer space within which gender and sexuality can be rethought. Bridging Latin American literary and cultural criticism, gender studies, and studies of Mexican society, Easy Women provides a sophisticated and groundbreaking examination of the place of the sexually liberated woman in contemporary Mexican culture.
ASIN: 0816631131
VSKU: BVV.0816631131.A
Condition: Acceptable
Author/Artist:Castillo, Debra A.
Binding: Paperback
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.