“Usted no es hombre para esas cosas”: Masculinity and Disavowal in the Work of Carlos O. Bunge

Abstract

Better known as a sociologist and educator, as a turn-of-the-century dandy, the work of Carlos Octavio Bunge (1875-1918) has received little critica! engagement and even less for his approach to masculinity. This essay proposes to trace sorne of the ambivalent masculinities found in Bunge's writing in order to show that the diverse models that he proposes depend on an intimate relationship with man's capacity for violence. In addition, it interrogates the supposed crisis of modern masculinity by focusing on the disavowal of man's place within patriarchal society.