No one can judge what is right or wrong. Male sexuality and sex between men in the crimes against military honor in the Argentine Navy, 1960-1980

Abstract

This article analyzes the construction of meaning and knowledge about sex between men and male sexuality in crimes against military honor in the Armada Argentina (1960-1980) in a context of increasing authoritarianism. In contrast to the escalating repression of the period, the success of the armed forces in building a hegemonic masculinity was far from being a reality in the decades of 1960s and 1970s. Instead of a well articulated discourse or device, the notions produced during military trials did not constitute an authoritative
knowledge (Jordan, 1991) on male sexuality. In methodological terms, the article echoes Guinzburg (1991), who argues that the “archives of repression” can serve both to build a history of repression and a study of subjective agency.