Abstract
Taking into account the political and social change brought by the Franco regime, this paper attempts to define the concept of «sexual norm» imparted by the producers of official discourse and to examine whether it influenced the sexual behaviour of individuals. The, study concentrates on the first ten years of the regime and attempts to determine the types of sexual behaviour which were permitted by law and by the prevailing moral code. I shall first examine the reforms in discourse, law and institutions which promoted the public discussion of sexual matters which ocurred in the 1920s and culminated in the Second Republic. Although it is generally argued that the public discussion of sexual matters disappeared with the arrival of the Franco regime, in fact it continued to exist, albeit at a different level. There follows an analysis of the nature of official discourse in the 1940s which was traditionalist and defined the «normal couple» as the married couple with children. I shall then show how only by being engaged to be married could a couple enjoy a sexual relationship before marriage. There follows a comparison between the intimate practices permitted by official discourse and those which occurred in everyday life. The study emphasises the complexity of sexual practices in the early years of francoism and outlines the investigation which still remains to be done.
Highlights
Taking into account the political and social change brought by the Franco régime, this paper attempts to define the concept of «sexual norm» imparted by the producers of official discourse and to examine whether it influenced the sexual behaviour of individuals
It is generally argued that the public discussion of sexual matters disappeared with the arrival of the Franco régime, it continued to exist, albeit at a different level
There follows an analysis of the nature of official discourse in the 1940s which was traditionalist and defined the «normal couple» as the married couple with children
Summary
A partir de los años veinte, muchos médicos e intelectuales impusieron una nueva concepción de la sexualidad e intentaron romper con la antigua moral sexual, tradicional y rígida, despertando un gran interés. Las reformas republicanas pretendían ensanchar las libertades individuales, disminuyendo por lo tanto el poder de la Iglesia católica sobre las instituciones y, mediante ello, el que tenía sobre las mentalidades y los comportamientos cotidianos. Los productores del discurso oficial de los años cuarenta veían en la Segunda República y en sus partidarios la causa de todos los males que sufría España, y particularmente de la guerra civil misma. La laicidad constituía, según ellos, el mayor «delito» cometido por la Segunda República, y explicaba la «decadencia» política y social que reinaría en España antes de la llegada del nuevo régimen. El discurso sobre la sexualidad transmitido durante el Franquismo se inspiraba de hecho en todas las teorías, los modelos y los códigos contra los cuales intentó luchar la Segunda República. Pues, necesario preguntarse si el primer franquismo fue realmente un periodo de retraimiento discursivo sobre el sexo en comparación con el periodo republicano —durante el cual se produjo un verdadero auge de las publicaciones relativas a la sexualidad, movimiento que pudo calificarse entonces como «marcha triunfal del sexo»5—, y si llegó al paroxismo la «represión sexual»
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