Buenos Aires β Argentina patriciosimonetto gmail. The goal of this article is to analyze the meanings and androcentric practices employed by generals and colonels in the Argentine army in their complaints about the abolition of regulated prostitution.
To this end, they proposed installing brothels near barracks. Based on the analysis of reports, letters and interviews, this article studies the production of masculinity in institutional settings from a historical perspective. Para ello propusieron instalar burdeles cercanos a los cuarteles. In , the law of social prophylaxis abolished the legal listing of prostitutes on municipal registers, seeing them as a focus of contagion for venereal diseases Biernat, ; Guy, After this change, high-ranking military officers positioned themselves as representatives of paid sex and questioned a ruling that they believed limited their right to heterosexual intercourse.
In , parliament formally withdrew its authorization of brothels near regiments, with the ratification of the United Nations convention Argentina, 16 jul. However, some months later, some congressmen complained that the military brothels were still open Merrero, 25 ago.
Historiography has focused on studying the links between sexuality, health and prostitution policies. The demands made by high-ranking military officers reveal tensions between their adherence to the precept of caring for male sexuality as the center of the national imaginary, and their defense of an institutionalized double standard that in their view ought to guarantee paid sexual intercourse for men.
This line of inquiry also contributes to Peronism studies. The relevance of a transformation in political, erotic, sexual and romantic relations under the Peronist state has been stressed. Thus, the letters from generals and colonels help shed light on the process whereby networks of political loyalty were articulated.
