Articulations of eroticism and race: Domestic service in Latin America. (August 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wade, Peter
• Is Part Of: Feminist theory. Volume 14:Number 2(2013)
• Page Start: 187
• Page End: 202
• Publication Date: 2013-08
• Subjects: Colombia -- domestic service -- eroticism -- gender -- Latin America -- race -- sexuality; Feminist theory -- Periodicals; 305.4205
• DOI: 10.1177/1464700113483248
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1464-7001

Abstract

'Service', particularly 'domestic service', operates as a specific articulation or intersection of processes of race, class, gender and age that reiterates images of the sexual desirability of some women racially marked by blackness or indigeneity in Latin America. The sexualisation of racially subordinated people has been linked to the exercise of power. This article focuses on an aspect of subordination related to the condition of being a servant, and the 'domestication' and 'acculturation' that domestic service implies in societies where black and indigenous people are often linked to 'backwardness'. Perceived racial otherness, class subordination, gender, age and domesticated servitude together reinforce an erotic image of sexual availability, particularly in younger women.