Sexual Culture and Transition to Democracy in Argentina: A History of the Reconstruction of Society

SPEAKER: Natalia Milanesio, University of Houston

DATE: 8 March 2024

ACTIVITY: CEDLA LECTURE

How did the restoration of democracy in 1983, after years of repression and censorship, transform sexuality and representations and ideas about sexuality? This talk answers this question by examining the unparalleled sexualization of Argentine culture and society after the fall of the last military dictatorship that contemporaries called the destape. Omnipresent, sex was not only about fantasies and indulgence, but was also imbued with a myriad of social, political, and cultural positive meanings—including citizenship, social progress, national development, and modernity. These meanings made sexual culture into a powerful metaphor for democracy and the reconstruction of Argentine society.