Abstract

LUNA ELIZARRARAS, Sara Minerva. “Irregularities of conduct”: gender, sexuality and urban space. Mexico City in the mid-20th century. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2024, vol.45, n.177, pp.61-83.  Epub Apr 05, 2024. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v45i177.1070.

The work explores the category of behavioral irregularities used by the Juvenile Offenders Court to classify those who failed to comply with social norms and expectations of behavior without incurring crimes or regulatory offenses. Through the review of 65 files criminalized in this category between 1957 and 1970, the article shows the weight that gender and social class had in that classification, interwoven to evaluate the behavior of the minors, mostly women, and the prognosis of its proper development.

The analysis shows that, among the behaviors associated with this category, premarital sexual initiation and activity were the most frequent, and both this and others were closely linked to spatiality and its social significance. In this way, the family home was, in the first instance, the ideal place for the minors to stay. Although this suitability was influenced by the socio-spatial differences between the home and the neighborhood they lived in, as well as each minor's family dynamics, those elements could call this premise into question. Likewise, the records reveal the threat perceived in other urban places, mainly those where youth sociability took place. All this is in the context of an important urban transformation.

Keywords : Sexuality; Youth; Gender; Socio-spatial difference; Minor offenders.