Sexuality In Gil Cuadros City Of God

The regulated and heteronormative sexuality embedded in Mexican culture is not a secret, nor is it a rarity. It is, however, exclusionary for nominating a style of heterosexual sex as the ideal sexuality. On Mexican culture and this ideal, in “Queer Aztlán: Re-formation of the Tribe,” Cherrie Moraga notes, “Since lesbians and gay men have often been forced out of our blood families…. we are in a critical position to address those areas within our cultural that needs to change” (232). Gil Cuadros’ City of God addresses the problem areas in Mexican culture that Moraga mentions. In the first part of the collection, Cuadros presents short stories that highlight the fault in historic and traditional views on sexuality held by older Mexican generations,

through their contrast and effect on young characters who do not align with the idealized heteronormative. This is exemplified in the stories, “Indulgences” and “Reynaldo.”
“Indulgences” kicks off the collection by setting a precedence for an intolerance intrinsic in older Mexican generations, to what is deemed as sexual deviance. Evelyn has become the black sheep of the young narrator’s family after she receives preferential treatment from the narrator’s grandfather, Papa. The older generations in the narrator’s family blame Evelyn for Papa’s death and coat their insults to her with sexual motifs, such as, “…what a tramp, a slut Evelyn had become… she slept with black men, white men” (Cuadros, 7). The young narrator is witness to how Evelyn’s supposedly abundant sexual appetite is demonized, yet he harbors a form of perceived sexual anomaly of his own. His mother urges him to find a girlfriend, claiming that it’s only “natural” (7). However, the narrator is romantically disinterested in women and instead finds his male bullies attractive, noting, “My body would grow warm and my heart would pound when they put their hands on my chest and shoulders” (7). Through being subject to his family members who berate Evelyn for her sexuality, there is an implication that the narrator will also be made vulnerable to harassment for being homosexual.
Furthermore, Evelyn’s sexuality comes under fire most explicitly when the entirety of the narrator’s family plots a surprise assault after Papa’s funeral. During the attack, the narrator comments that “…the headlights bore through to flesh, bounced off the black Qiana dress as if it were made of white” (13). The glare from the rest of the family renders Evelyn naked, in reference to her sexual activity, and her dress is observed as being like translucent white, in reference to her innocence in the murder of Papa. Emphasis on Evelyn’s sexuality is furthered during the attack when the narrator includes specifically that the family members kick Evelyn in areas that have been popularly sexualized: “…the stomach, the ass, her breast” (13). The aftermath of the assault on Evelyn is perhaps the most revealing of her innocence because the narrator’s mother feels guilt and doubts Evelyn’s part in Papa’s death. Though the narrator does not participate whatsoever in hurting Evelyn, his mother urges him to pray. The narrator prays and therefore pays for the transgressions of his mother and his elders like he will continue to do in years to come as he battles culturally-ingrained notions of a heteronormative society.
On his way home, the narrator notes that the farm rows of, “grapevines, tomato furrows, cotton, all lined up in parallel paths… designed like manifest destiny” (14).

This makes reference to the logic that allowed Anglo-Americans to justify the absorption of Mexican land. In this reference, Cuadros intimates a sense of historic lingering within the Mexican community. Deep-rooted like the rows of vegetables are the scars of manifest destiny and hindering notions of an ideal sexuality. Like an effigy for the stubbornness of Mexican wounds, amongst the crops stands a scarecrow with “dry weeds for hair” and “a flimsy brown dress,” like the narrator had seen on Evelyn during their first meeting (14). Cuadros not only implicates Evelyn as an innocent within the specific storyline but he also grants pardon to all sexuality that is deviant from the sexual regulation in Mexican culture, specifically to the young gay narrator. The narrator has not yet experienced overt homophobia directed at himself, though the seeds of intolerance have been implanted through his family members, who are proprietors of an established tradition of

homophobia.
Moreover, in “Reynaldo,” Cuadros delves deeper into the delineation between older Mexican generations and contemporary Mexican gay men. “Reynaldo” focuses on the life and decline of Reynaldo, a gay male, who is afflicted with HIV/AIDS. The story’s narration switches between a third party who narrates a visit young Reynaldo has at his grandmother’s house, Reynaldo’s own voice in journal entries that chronicles the death of his grandmother and his succumbing to AIDs, and letters sent to his grandfather from a gay lover. As Reynaldo’s journal narration progresses, it becomes obvious that his parents are ashamed of his sexuality, even at the expense of comforting him as his health is incrementally diminished by AIDS.
After he abandons his grandmother’s bedside for a short time to attend to his own health, Reynaldo notes, “No one…said a word to me, except to tell me I had lost too much weight… My aunt was upset that I left my grandmother ‘at this hour’” (24). The negligent and accusatory response from Reynaldo’s family when they are presented evidence of his declining health communicates that his sickness is less valid than that of his grandmother’s. Reynaldo’s AIDS is stigmatized by the homosexual interaction involved, which Cuadros aptly hints at: “There was an actor, an AIDS victim, that was his title in the credit… My own family didn’t show up to my last lover’s funeral” (30). Similarly, to the person in the film credits, Reynaldo’s humanity is reduced to and defined by his illness. His family’s discomfort is even further corroborated by his mother explicitly who, “…tells her friends and relatives…that I have inoperable cancer. It makes it easier for her, she says” (33).
Interestingly, Cuadros separates Reynaldo from his parents and elder generation’s peddling of homophobic thought, while also binding his character to a cyclical repetition of suffering as a direct consequence of the traditional ideologies that he is separated from. When his grandfather’s lover’s ghost sings in Spanish, the unknown narrator says, “My love, was all that Reynaldo could understand” (24). Likewise, when Reynaldo is approached in a bar by a man, his journal deems the man as, “…this authentic-looking Mexican guy” (24). Reynaldo is disconnected somewhat from his Mexican heritage for not speaking Spanish and identifies himself as more assimilated compared to the man in the bar. This detachment is highlighted by Cuadros to underline his isolation from the generations before him.
However, Reynaldo is drawn back into Mexicanidad in the letter his grandmother writes to his grandfather’s lover, stating about his grandfather, “Cancer attacked his legs first… I have always known of your special friendship with my husband” (35).

Their “special friendship” is a euphemism for their romantic attachment but the more compelling part of this statement is his grandfather’s cancer. Just sentences before, Reynaldo’s mom is said to say that Reynaldo has cancer as well and their close proximity is likely not a coincidence. It can be inferred that Reynaldo’s grandfather also had AIDS, whether anyone knew it or not, due to the fact that AIDS cases were undocumented and few until the 1980s

outbreak.
Reynaldo sacrifices the love of his parents to be openly gay, while his grandfather sacrifices the life with his lover to co-exist in a traditional Mexican family sphere. The connection between the two is evident and is additionally accentuated when Reynaldo’s grandmother admits that Reynaldo is named after his grandfather’s lover. Cuadros presents a cycle of unrequited love and turmoil due to the pressure in adhering to Mexican views on sexuality, propagated by older generations. The tumultuous results of this cycle serve as a warning by Cuadros of the toxicity in sexually repressive and homophobic ideologies that are upheld in Mexican culture.
“Indulgences” sheds light on the harmful groundwork that is often laid down by older Mexican generations that subsequently affects younger generations in a venomous way, as seen in “Reynaldo.” Therefore, “Indulgences” can be somewhat viewed as “Reynaldo” ’s prequel. Cuadros maintains this call and answer throughout City of God, interweaving a flow of conversation on sexuality between older and younger Mexican generations, to ultimately warn his readers of the looming and dangerous presence of traditional notions.