Infidelities: Morality, Revolution, and Sexuality in Left-Wing Guerrilla Organizations in 1960s and 1970s Argentina

Abstract

In the 1970s, left-wing guerrilla organizations in Argentina penalized infidelity, glorified monogamy and condemned sexual freedom as a petit-bourgeois deviation that delayed the revolution. This reveals the limited scope of the changes in sexual morality proposed by these revolutionary groups, as pointed out in various studies. Instead of elaborating on these studies, this article will take a different approach. Infidelity will be seen here as a particularly significant node representing the connection between the private and political worlds and between sentimental and political loyalties, a node where conflicting ways of understanding morals, relationships and sexuality converged. To do that, the debate on infidelity will be reconsidered from two perspectives: within revolutionary organizations and outside them. The analysis will shed light on the dilemmas that armed groups and their activists faced with respect to infidelity against a backdrop of redefining moral duplicity, family values and gender differences in Argentine society.