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Masculinity & Rodeo During Chile’s Independence Festivities

By Andres Kogan Valderrama

HAVANA TIMES – Every September 18 in Chile, rodeo returns as a symbol of “what is ours” during the country’s Independence Day celebrations. Horses, cowboys, folklore, flags, and an idea of tradition that seems to require few questions. But I find it increasingly difficult to watch rodeo without also asking myself about the kind of masculinity we are celebrating.

Because the huaso (cowboy) is not merely a folkloric figure. He also represents an ideal of manhood: strong, brave, resilient, competitive, skilled, and, above all, capable of controlling whatever is in front of him.

In rodeo, that ability to control becomes a spectacle. The man demonstrates his skill by controlling the horse and steering the steer. There is........

© Havana Times