Graduate Studies
The Sexual Trauma of the Female Body: Violence against Women in Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Cultures
Copyright 2024, Lara Armenteros Garrido. Used by permission
Abstract
This dissertation focuses on the idea that women’s bodies have a sexual stigma attached to them as a consequence of different forms of heteropatriarcal violence inflicted on them. From violence in public spaces, such as street harassment or the sexual exploitation of women, to the intimacy of the relationship, like intimate partner violence or the orgasm gap, it becomes increasingly difficult for women to escape violence. Through the analysis of films, documentaries, narratives, and the testimonies of women from Spain and Latin America, I argue there is still a lack of adequate sexual and emotional knowledge to help complete agency over their bodies. To create the sociocultural frame that explains the nature of women’s sexual violence, I follow the theories of Sayak Valencia, Beatriz Espejo, Jeff Hearn, and Gabriela Wiener, among others. The arguments within feminism to find the root of this problem spun from abolitionist solutions proposed by Ana de Miguel and Mabel Lozano to sex-positive approaches supported by Itziar Ziga and Diana J. Torres. This dissertation also points to the need to acknowledge that violence can be perpetuated by the immediate circle or the community where the perpetrator is exerting power to dominate the body of a woman with impunity. The interiorization of this power dynamic reflects how patriarchy is passed from one generation to the next.
Advisor: Iker González-Allende