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a conference sponsored by:
- CT Latinas/os Achieving Rights and Opportunities
(CLARO)
- School of Family Studies
- Office of Multicultural and International
Affairs
- ORGULLO-Hispanic Health Council, Inc.
- Institute of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies
- Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural
Center
- Rainbow Center
- Social Science Research Council
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Marysol Asencio stands next
to 2005 Conference poster. |
Each year the University of Connecticut’s Institute of Puerto
Rican and Latino Studies hosts an annual conference designed to
support the various aspects of its mission statement. The 2005
Conference focused on “Latina/o Sexualities: Breaking Silences,
Creating Changes.”
According to our most recent Census,
the Latino/a population, nationally, is the largest "minority" group.
Latino/as currently represent approximately 12.5% of the total
U.S. population. Census figures for Latino/as in the U.S.
usually do not include the 3.8 million residents of Puerto Rico. Only four
nations, Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, and Peru, have more "Latina/os" than
the United States.[1] Latina/os in the U.S. are mostly comprised
of three major ethnic
groups, Mexicans (66.1%), Puerto Ricans (9.0%) and Cubans (4.0%). There is,
however, a significant Central and South American population
(14.0%) that is rapidly growing
and further diversifying the Latina/o population. In the 2000 U.S. Census,
it was reported that 39.1% of the Latina/o population was foreign
born. Of this
group, 43% entered the U.S. in the 1990's.[2] It is estimated that if the Latina/o
population continues to grow at the current projected rate, 1/4th of the residents
of the U.S. will be able to claim some Latino/a heritage within the next 40
years. While the Latino/a population continues to grow, the white
population has been
steadily decreasing as a percentage of the U.S. population. In 1990, the white
population made up 75.6% of all U.S. residents. By 1995, that percentage dropped
to 73.6% and by the beginning of 2000 the percentage was 67.5%.[3]
The pan-ethnic
or supra-ethnic label of Latina/o include people who have recently
arrived and those whose heritage of living in what is now the continental U.S.
stems over 500 years.[4] National origin, socioeconomic conditions, generational
status, geographical location, residence status (including citizenship), political
histories, racial identification, languages other than Spanish, dialects, religious
and spiritual affiliations, histories of discrimination/oppression, circular
migration, and level of transnationalism among other variables adds to this
population's complexity and diversity. Any study of Latina/o experience, including
sexualities,
in the U.S. is hampered by the limited amount of empirically based research
on Latina/os, a legacy of pathological theoretical construction of Latino/as
and
the homogenization of Latina/oismo.
For many of us involved in Latina/o Studies,
we are called upon to somehow articulate the experiences of Latino/as
in the United States with all its diversity
and
challenges. In recent years, Latina/o Studies has expanded disciplinary approaches
and topics undertaken in the study of Latino/as. Latino Studies, historically,
has been concerned with issues of multiple oppressions, mostly focused on
class, race, and gender. Sexuality as an area of research and a
focus of additional
oppression was normally not considered when discussing issues of multiple
oppressions. Latina/o Studies scholars have called for enlarging
our theoretical bases for
understanding Latino/a experience.[5] Feminist, post-colonial, race, globalization,
and queer theories have further challenged Latina/o Studies to incorporate
even more complex thinking in our understanding of Latino/a experience. In
much of
the past research and in some current research, Latino/as and sexuality are
presented as unproblematic, agreed upon concepts. Both are spoken about as
singular in
form, and experience. As we enter the 21st century, some scholars in both
Latino Studies and Sexuality Studies are challenging the simplistic,
rigid, and one-dimensional
portrayals of Latino/as and sexuality. We are beginning to speak of Latina/o
ethnicities, identities, femininities, masculinities and sexualities as multi-dimensional
and fluid concepts influenced by social contexts.
The Institute for Puerto
Rican and Latino Studies at the University of Connecticut, in
commemorating the 10th anniversary of the creation of Institute,
is proud
to sponsor this conference to promote the importance of sexuality scholarship
to our understanding of Latina/o experience. Sexuality provides another
lens for exploring and furthering our understanding of Latina/o
experiences. This
conference hopes to break some of the silences (invisibilities, omissions,
and myths) that are still present in the behavioral and social science
research in
regard to Latina/o sexualities as well as to create a venue for disseminating
knowledge. In addition to bringing together leading scholars in this emerging
field to discuss things we have learned as well as things we need to know
about Latina/os sexualities, we have also invited leading community educators
working
on sexuality-related programming with Latina/o populations who use research
to guide their work and who can provide lessons from the field that may
guide future
research.
[1] Singer, Merrill, Candida Flores, Lani Davidson,
Georgine Burke, Zaida Castillo, Kelley Scanlon and Migdalia Rivera.
1990. SIDA: The Economic, Social, and Cultural Context of AIDS
among Latinos. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 4(1):72-114.
[2] US Census Bureau. 2000. The Hispanic Population: Census 2000
Brief. Washington DC: U.S Department of Commerce.
[3] Aguirre-Molina, Marilyn and Carlos Molina (1994) Latino Populations:
Who are they? Latino Health in the U.S.: A Growing Challenge. eds.
Aguirre-Molina, Marilyn and Carlos Molina. Washington DC: American
Public Health Association.
[4] del Pinal, Jorge, and Audrey Singer. 1997. Generations of Diversity:
Latinos in the United States. Population Bulletin 52(3): 1-48.
[5]Flores, Juan. 1997. Latino Studies: New Contexts, New Concepts.
Harvard Educational Review 67(2):208-221.
MODERATOR: Marysol Asencio, Assoc. Prof.
of Family Studies & Puerto Rican/Latino
Studies, University of Connecticut
Prof. Asencio received her MPH,
DrPH from Columbia Univ. Her interests include gender; sexuality;
migration; race/ethnicity; urban and community
health;
and social inequities/human rights. She was the 2004 recipient of the
Social Science
Research Council Sexuality Research Fellowship. She authored the book “Sex
and Sexuality Among New York’s Puerto Rican Youth” and
is working on a second book based on data she is collecting for her
project “Migrant
Puerto Rican Sexual Minorities, Space, and the Negotiation of Ethnic
and Sexual Identity.”
Tomas Almaguer, Prof. of Ethnic Studies & former
Dean, Coll. of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State Univ. Currently
Visiting Scholar,
Ctr. for Latino Policy
Research and the Comparative Ethnic Studies Dept., UC-Berkeley
Prof.
Almaguer earned his Master’s and PhD in Sociology from
UC Berkeley. He is a leading scholar on racial information in
the
U.S. and recipient of the
Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship at the Univ. of Michigan for outstanding
undergraduate teaching. He authored the book "Racial Fault
Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California" and
is currently working on a book "Border
Men: Constructions of Gender and Sexuality among Chicano Gay Men" which
explores the way Latino gay men reconcile their ethnic and sexual
identities.
Félix E. Gardón, Education and Training
Coordinator for SAGE
Mr. Gardón worked as Program Coordinator
Specialist for the New Jersey AIDS Education and Training Program,
specializing in cultural competency, sexual
health and prevention case management education and training.
He has 14 years of experience as a trainer and writer in sexuality
and cultural competence issues,
including the development of bilingual (Spanish-English) sexuality
education resources for teachers and parents. He continues this
work as part of the Spanish
review board of SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council
of the U.S.). Mr. Gardón has conducted Training of Trainers
workshops nationally on issues of diversity and sexual health
and is a language and LGBT advocate. He
is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of St. John's Episcopal
Church in Union City, NJ and the Chair of Queers for Economic
Justice. He is an artist and a
poet.
Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez, Asst. Prof. of Sociology and Faculty
Assoc.-Ctr for Mexican American Studies, Univ. of Texas-Austin
Prof.
Gonzalez-Lopez has a Ph.D. in Sociology (USC) and a Master's
in Marital and Family Therapy. She conducts research on gender
and sexuality
related
issues with Mexican immigrant women and men. She has published
articles and book chapters
on different topics examining sexuality, women's experiences
of migration, men and masculinity, and mothers and fathers
and the
sex education
of their daughters
in the U.S. Her forthcoming book "Erotic Journeys: Mexican
Immigrants and their Sex Lives" is in press (Univ. of
California Press). After migrating from Mexico in 1986, she
worked as a
psychotherapist, teacher and sex educator
at community based agencies serving Latino immigrant families
in Texas and California. She was a 2002 Social Science Research
Council Fellow.
Matthew Gutmann, Assoc. Prof. of Anthropology,
Brown University
Prof. Gutmann earned his PhD from UC-Berkeley.
He studies change in a variety of contexts, with special emphasis
on gender/sexuality,
ethnicity-race-nationalism,
and health in the Americas, especially Mexico, and among
Latinos in the
U.S. His current research, in Oaxaca, explores negotiating
men's reproductive health and sexuality through ethnographic
fieldwork
in two vasectomy
clinics
and the
government AIDS clinic. The major conclusions of this study
revolve around issues of choice in reproductive health and
sexuality,
and the relationship
between
culture and the medicalization of reproduction and sexuality.
He is editor of the book “Changing Men and Masculinities
in Latin America.”
Miguel Laboy-Munoz, Assoc. Research
Scientist, Dept. of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University
Dr.
Laboy-Munoz earned a DrPH from Columbia University, an MPH from
UConn and BS from the Univ. of Puerto Rico. His
work focuses
on sexuality,
masculinity, and culture. He is currently working on an
ethnographic project that explores
the relationship between Hip Hop culture and ideologies
of masculinity, and how this relationship shapes the sexuality
and racial ethnic
identity of
young
men.
Another focal area is the analysis of sexual desire and
sexual diversity and its relationship to sexual health. He works
primarily with young
and adult
Latino men in New York and collaborates on projects in
Brazil
such as
a study analyzing
the responses of religious organizations to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic there.
Monica Rodriguez, Vice President for Education
and Training, Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S.
(SIECUS)
Ms. Rodriguez earned a BS from Penn State and is currently
a MS candidate in non-profit management at New School
University. She
works with
SIECUS' President
and Board on issues related to overall organizational
management, vision and programmatic direction and is the agency's
primary
spokesperson on sexuality education issues. During her
more than
ten years at
SIECUS,
she has provided
speeches, workshops, training, and technical assistance
related to HIV
prevention and sexuality education to thousands of education
and health professionals,
decision-makers, and parents. Prior to joining SIECUS,
Ms. Rodriguez was a
sexuality educator
at the Center for Family Life Education, Planned Parenthood
of Greater Northern New Jersey.
Marysol Asencio, Assoc. Professor, Inst. of
Puerto Rican and Latino Studies & School
of Family Studies
Dr. Ronald L. Taylor,
Vice Provost
Office of Multicultural and International Affairs
Introductions - Marysol Asencio, Moderator
“ Mexican Masculinity and the Construction
of Heterosexuality”
Matthew Gutmann
“The Sex Lives of Mexican Immigrant Women" Gloria
Gonzalez-Lopez
“Sex Education with Latino Parents
and Children”
Monica Rodriguez
Questions and Answers
Lunch Break
Introductions - Marysol Asencio, Moderator
"Latino Gay Sexuality and Its Discontents" Tomas
Almaguer
“Bisexuality among Latino Men” Miguel
Munoz-Laboy
“HIV/AIDS Prevention with Latino Men
Who Have Sex With Men”
Felix Gardon
Questions and Answers
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2006
Annual Conference: Latino Strategies: Media and the Public Good
2005
Annual Conference: Latino/s and Sexualities: Breaking Silences,
Creating Changes
2004
Annual Conference:
Ariel's Wake:
A Conference on Diasporas, Aesthetics, and Human Rights
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