Resumo

GARCIA PENA, Perla Luz. From Threatening Body to Desirable Body. Paradoxes Surrounding Males "Gone Bad": the Case of Transnational Cholos. Desacatos [online]. 2009, n.30, pp.59-74. ISSN 2448-5144.

In American and Latin-American cities, Cholos have been examined from a sociological, anthropological and criminal science standpoint, which labels them as a youth or counterculture movement, usually associated with juvenile delinquency. This paper explores some paradoxes in the depiction of the male subjects identified as Cholos in rural transnational social fields in Michoacán, using an ethnographic and historic reconstruction of their level of menace towards other males, with whom they relate and try to distinguish themselves. The author maintains that these young males pose a danger because of the differential appropriation of their bodies in relation to other males and women. However, they shouldn’t be considered a marginal group, nor are they isolated from the everyday and ritual life of their communities.

Palavras-chave : body; masculinity; cholos; immigration; Michoacán.