Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family, and Nation in Argentina

Donna Guy is the foremost scholar on the history of (...), and the state in Latin American history. Guy begins with the premise that states are gendered and successfully reconstructs how the Argentine state, during a propitious moment in its history, was particularly gendered. In no way does this monograph demean men, or women for that matter. Although Guy focuses our attention to porteno working classes, and does a magnificent job of bringing the reader into their social and cultural worlds, the point of the book is to demonstrate how state officials and the Buenos Aires public understood, crafted, and acted upon prevailing gender ideologies.

This book, by the leading scholar of Latin American women's history, was one of the first works to look at sexuality in Latin America. It traces the history of the tango and links the development of the dance to prostitution.