Indigenous bodily ritual restriction and sexuality(s): a symmetrical an-thropology of Amazonian sexualities in transformation

Abstract

The paper looks at the crossing of indigenous and non-indigenous perceptions of the sexuality of the other in Peruvian Amazonia. It begins with the description of the regime of sexual consumption of indigenous bodies brought about by the extractive economy and the growth of cities since the rubber boom. Then, it focuses upon indigenous notions of sexuality and bodily restrictions that articulate genderizing processes of bodily production and their sociocosmological aspects. Finally, it examines the indigenous perceptions of the sexuality of non-indigenous city dwellers cosmologically associated to river dolphins. It sustains that the leaving aside of ritual restrictions is a turning point of current indigenous urbanization and transformation into mestizos.