Peruvian Context
We can take as a reference the following graph on the Peruvian population and the ratio of participants who identify themselves as heterosexual and non-heterosexual to imagine the size of the population that actively or passively, are part of our queer community:
Likewise, according to the II National Survey on Human Rights published in 2019 by the Ministry of Justice, 71% of Peruvians believe that homosexual, bisexual and transgender people are discriminated or very discriminated. Moreover, according to Ipsos 2022, when compared to other vulnerable groups, the LGTBIQA+ population is the one perceived as the most discriminated against.
Here are some of the stereotypes that potentially result in the rejection of the queer (or LGTBIQA+) community given the lack of education and understanding of gender:
These stereotypes are generalizations without argument based on popular constructs and beliefs of rejection or dissociation. Not only is there a lack of argument, but they are assertions that are not validated by experts such as Judith Butler, who in her book, Gender Trouble (1990) explains why and asserts that the roles of masculinity and femininity are not biologically fixed but socially constructed. The phrases in the last graph are actually myths, not stereotypes, corresponding in several cases to important topics in gender theory that are missing in Peruvian education. Moreover, if those myths were positive in nature, the impact of ignorance would not manifest itself in such a counterproductive way. Unpacking a little more, statistics show that Peruvians recognize the existence of homophobia and the following results show that they "recognize" its origin:
Systematized Homophobia
Systematized homophobia is a type of systematized discrimination. Usually these types of discrimination are not apparent and tend to be more complex to identify since they are passively integrated into society. In addition, although its integration is institutional in nature, it can unfold in both institutional and non-institutional spaces, making it even more difficult to identify and confront. For example, revisiting the last chart and Gender Trouble (1990) by Judith Butler, we can identify a gap, potentially of the education system in gender theory, which allows as a popular belief that 33% of Peruvians recognize homophobia and affirm an instinctive nature.
Why do we believe that homophobia is systematic in Peru?
In Peru, the words Marica and Maricón are used mainly by the heterosexual population and popularly in a derogatory manner. The indirect relationship of these words with their collective queer representation is counterproductive because it denotes a negative reality. Present in the colloquial Peruvian language, when the words Marica or Maricón are used negatively in a group of people, even outside the queer context, collective constructs and norms of disassociation are generated. Generating a social hostility of disinvitation on any member of the queer community present, whether open or discreet with their sexuality. For example, following the theory of classical conditioning(Neuroscience of Pablovian Conditioning by Aguado. L, 2003), if every time a member of the community who is discreet about their sexuality hears the word Marica or Maricón it is with a negative connotation, then, the comfort of association with their collective is disrupted. And following the same example on a larger scale, the new generations of Maricas and Maricones slow down their freedom by understanding that the representation of it is negative.
We identified that this homophobia is systematic by the nature that is rooted in the Peruvian language, institutionalized under the Spanish language. The following is a screenshot of the meaning on the word Marica according to Real Academia Española, translation on red:
As we can see in definitions 2 and 3, the word marica is an adjective that means both lacking in courage/pusillanimous and homosexual man. Moreover, the word in almost all its meanings is classified as despective or derogatory; as well as an insult.
Concluding that, if we analyze the meanings under a simple theoretical cross-sectional framework, we can deduce the following results:
If:
Marica = Despect. "Lacking in Courage."
2. Marica = Despect. "Homosexual Man."
Then:
M = (-) LC
M = (-) HM
(-) LC = (-) HM
LC = HM
"Lacking Courage" = "Homosexual Man"
Reappropriation strategy
Marica Formal's main strategy is based on reclaiming the words Marica and Maricón within Peruvian colloquial communication codes. Our hypothesis states that if the local queer population begins to openly use the word Marica, then it will stop being used derogatorily by outsiders.
In the recent past we can find cases of linguistic reappropriation that have been socially accepted and studied by the media. We present as a main reference the "N Word" case of the global Black Lives Matters movement, where through the Rap and Hip-Hop music scenes, influential figures and opinion leaders reclaim the word "niggar", popularly used by the white population in the United States since the slavery era, to stop using it. Today, its use is politically accepted within African-American communities but not by the white population and its derogatory use is considered discriminatory.
Contemporary scholars such as Adam Galinsky, Professor of Social Psychology at Harvard University and currently Chair of the Columbia Business School, write and analyze in publications such as The Reappropriation of Stigmatizing Labels: The Reciprocal Relationship between Power and Self Labelling (2013).
