Milonguitas: Tango, Gender and Consumption in Buenos Aires (1920-1940)

This paper examines gender representations conveyed in tango, showing that its lyrics targeted consumption desire as one of the main causes for the reprehensible behavior of milonguitas (cabaret women). While the literature has emphasized the criticism that tango lyrics made of the changing sexual m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Tossounian, Cecilia Anahid
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/72978
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/72978
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:GENDER
WOMEN
CONSUMPTION
TANGO
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6
Descripción
Sumario:This paper examines gender representations conveyed in tango, showing that its lyrics targeted consumption desire as one of the main causes for the reprehensible behavior of milonguitas (cabaret women). While the literature has emphasized the criticism that tango lyrics made of the changing sexual mores and the social ascendancy phenomenon that characterized Buenos Aires of the 1920’s and 1930’s, the paper sheds light on the less explored fantasies of easy wealth that milonguitas embodied. Tango lyrics depicted them as women who aspired to a prosperous life and used their sexuality to fulfill their materialistic ambitions. Examining gender representations conveyed in tango lyrics, as well as the few voices left by some actual tango women, this paper aims to understand better the role of consumption when defining womanhood, thus contributing to a growing historiography interested in analyzing the gendered dimension of consumption from a socio-cultural perspective.