Abstract

LUNA ELIZARRARAS, Sara Minerva. Heterotopias of Decency. Sex Hotels in Mexico City in the Mid-20th Century (1952-1966). Secuencia [online]. 2022, n.114, e1995.  Epub Sep 22, 2022. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i114.1995.

The article reviews the configuration of the unofficial category of “sex hotel” for establishments providing lodging that were predominantly or exclusively used for sex in a context marked by recurrent expressions of moral panic and “moralizing” actions promoted by the Federal District Department, led by the Sonoran Ernesto P. Uruchurtu (1952-1966). The text shows that the establishments identified in this category created tensions between authorities and neighbors that were crossed by socio-spatial difference. By characterizing them as antitheses and therefore heterotopias of what is decent, the complainants sought to affirm their social difference and ratify the normative prescriptions regarding the family and female sexuality. The article thereby contributes to urban and gender historiography, as well as the cartographies of sexuality in the Mexican capital.

Keywords : Mexico City; socio-spatial difference; history of hotels; decency; moral panic.