The Diversity of Sexologies in Latin America: Emergence, Development, and Diversification

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents a comparative analysis of the major results of the international project “Sexuality, Science, and Profession in Latin America,” which looked at the situation of sexology in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. The analyses examined the process of the medicalization of sexology by highlighting three phases that characterized the development of these sexologies since the middle of the 1960s and that were marked in certain countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile, by the rise and fall of military dictatorships. Initially, there was a construction phase, based on family planning policies in Mexico and Colombia and the influence of psychoanalysis in Argentina and Brazil. Then, a consolidation phase featured the alliance between gynecologists and psychiatrists and focused on women sexuality and the well-being of the couple. The final phase was characterized by the increasing influence of the pharmaceutical industry, the development of sexual medicine, and a new interest in the treatment of male erectile problems/disorders. While in the first two phases, a process of diversification of these sexologies according to country-level specificities and particularly the political climate was observed, the last phase is characterized by a process of homogenization of discourse and practice, the establishment of international professional and ethical norms/standards, and the coming together of regional and international organizations. The perspective of sexual rights appeared in the margins of this mainstream sexology, in the feminist and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersexual movements and as a complementary alternative to the development of sexual medicine.