bars, gender, and virtue myth and practice in barcelona's barrio chino

8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino

1/16

Bars, Gender, and Virtue: Myth and Practice in Barcelona's "Barrio Chino"Author(s): Gary Wary McDonoghSource: Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), pp. 19-33Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3318095 .

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2/16

BARS,

GENDER,

AND VIRTUE:

MYTH

AND

PRACTICE

IN BARCELONA'S

BARRIO CHINO

GARY WRAY McDONOGH

New

College,

University

of

South Florida

The constitution

of

urban

culture

entails the

development,

interaction,

and

manipulation of

potentially

conflictive systems

of categorization

of

space,

class,

gender,

and

morality.

This

paper

examines

the

intersection

of

these

systems

in

the

social

organization

and

cultural

interpretation

of

bars in a

marginal

district

of

nineteenth and

twentieth-century

Barcelona.

It

highlights

the

confluence

of hegemonic

ideals that

affirm "good"

and

"bad,"

whether

referring

to

gender

roles, activities, classes,

or

neighborhoods.

At

the same

time

it

develops

the alternative models

and

everyday

resistance

apparent

in

bars,

gender,

and

virtue

in

zones excluded

from

urban

power. [Barcelona,

urban

culture,

space,

gender,

power]

When

you

see boards

guarding

a

facade

and work-

ers busy on the bottom floor of a house, you do

not

have

to

bother them to

ask

what

is

going

on.

It

means

they

are

establishing

a

cafe.

Or

a

bar.

There

is

no doubt. Each

day

the number

of cafes

and bars

grows

in an

extraordinary fashion.

There

are streets in which

every

other

building

has

a

bar.

There

are

streets where even this

accounting

is un-

just:

every

street has

a

bar. He who

wanders down

the Calle

Conde del

Asalto,

on

Calle San

Pablo,

on

the

Paralelo,

on the

Rondas,

on

Calle

Aribau,

on

the

Ramblas,

on

the Calle

Mayor

de

Graicia,

will be

convinced

of

it.

And

certainly

there are

few

streets,

even in

poor

neighborhoods,

in which

one

establishment

of

this

type

does

not exist

(Andrebs

Hurtado,

El Escaindalo 1926:

3).

The

culture

of

cities

is

characterized

y

continual

tensions

among

symbolicsystems

which

define so-

cial

space

and delimit social

groups

and

categories

through

time.

The

complexities

of cities thus not

only

reflectan

increased

density

of

peoples

and

ac-

tivities,

but also

derive from

the

emergent

social

and

cultural

processes

which

structureurban life.

Meaningful

urban

categories

take

shape

within

conflicts

over

ideology

as well as

political

power;

yet

the

classifications

f

dominant

groupsmay ap-

pear

to

transcend

heir form of

production

o

be-

come second

nature,

the common

sense of

"aver-

age"

citizens. Thus

the

problem

posed

to

urban

cultural

analysts

s not

only

to

delineate alient

cat-

egories

but also

to understand

heir social

forma-

tion as

mutually

onstitutive

lementsof urban

ife.

This

article

analyzes

he

ideological

ormation

of

capitalist

Barcelona

hrough

he

intersection

f

cultural

categories

and

power

relations n an am-

biguous

ocial-functional

lace-the

bar.The

inter-

pretation

of bars as

signifiers,

especially

n

refer-

ence to the lower-classneighborhoodn which I

have

worked,

relies

on

other

categorizing

ystems

of urban

culture: he

geography

f

power

and

the

construction f

gender.

Space, power,

and

gender

"meet

in

the bar" to

define the

hegemonically

proper-"virtuous"-as

well as

styles

and

cultures

of

resistance.'

I

interpret

urban

symbolic

systems through

close

examinationof elements which

have meta-

phoric

or

metonymic inkages.

Bars,

here

taken

as

a

loose

category

which

ncludes

not

only

establish-

ments

or

liquor

but

also

cabarets, hows,

and

other

amusements,

re

ubiquitous

n

Barcelona.Yet bars

as

signifiers

may

become,

n the

shared

public

m-

agery

of urban

culture,

a

defining

haracteristic f

a

single

neighborhood,

f a social

group,

or of a

set

of values.Nor

has

this

process

been

unique

o Bar-

celona: whether it

be

Harlem

in

New

York,

Montmartren

Paris,

Wai

Chai

in

Hong

Kong,

or

the BarrioChino n

Barcelona,

bars

can be mark-

ers

in

the

definitionof

zones of vice

for

the

city.

Furthermore,

his

designation

an be

generalized

o

the

characterizationf the

area

and,

more

impor-

tantly,

to its

inhabitants

(Siegel

1986;

Douglas

1987).

At the same

time bars

may

be seen as re-

producing

ocial

problems-taking

away

the

money

of the

working-class

amily

or

reinforcing

moral

decay

or

disease,

as

Rorabaugh

1979)

has

noted

n

a

reviewAmerican

emperance

iterature.

Yet

bars

may

also be

portrayed mong

other

groups

and

in

other zones as

intrinsic oci of urban

civilization,

relaxedand

literate

conversation,

nd

the social

in-

teractionwhich

defines aste and

civic virtue.The

interpretation

f

the

bar as

signifier

depends

upon

otherurbancultural

categories,

nd

yet

its

reading

appears

o

substantiate coherentand

rationalre-

19


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3/16

20

ANTHROPOLOGICAL

QUARTERLY

ality

whose

connections

eem to

transcendrather

than

deny logicalargument.

nstead,

suggest

that

connections

uch

as the

"localization"

f "vicious"

women

n

portside

bars

in

Barcelona,

which

imply

evil

neighborhoods

nd

citizens,

rely

on

mutually

constitutive

systems

which are

socially

repressive

and

which sustain

a

segmentation

of the

urban

population.

These

systems

serve

those who

control

urban

economic

and cultural

capital.

Three

interlocking

eferences

o

bars,

neigh-

borhoods,

nd

virtue

n

Barcelona's

arrio

chino

il-

lustrate the

interaction

of

representations

f

gen-

der,

place, space,

and

power.

The

term

barrio

chino

(Chinatown)

efers

to the

portside

treets

of

the

Raval,

an

area

of one

square

kilometer

utside

Barcelona'smedievalcore, althoughwithinthe fi-

nal set

of

walls which

have

defined

he traditional

downtown.?

he

Raval

emerged

as a

zone

of

urban

overflow,

whose

agricultural

nd monastic

charac-

ter

gave

way

to industrialization-

nd

workerhous-

ing

in the nineteenth

entury.

"Chinatown,"

ref-

erence

to the

mysterious

imagery

of

San

Francisco's

Chinese

quarter

rather

than to

any

Barcelona

Asian

population,

was

imposed

by

urban

authors

in the

twenties

to

romanticize

a

section

noted

for

prostitution,

lthough

hese streets

actu-

ally sharedmanysocial and demographicharac-

teristics

with the

more

"proper"

working-class

nd

petty

bourgeois

areas

of

the Raval

(McDonogh

1987, 1991).

The

name "Chinatown"

oints

o

the

complex-

ities

of urban

symbolic

geography.

Prior

to

the

twenties

this

zone

was

occasionally

designated

as

Drassanes/Atarazanas,

after

a

nearby

military

complex,

but

was not

clearly

defined

by

outsiders.

Local

inhabitants

use

many

social

labels,

although

their

referents

may

be

vague.

Usage

also reflects

ongoingurbanchange;since the 1950s,urbanre-

newal

has eaten

away

at the

area;

and workers

have

followed

actories

o suburban

enters,

while

problems

ave

diffused

nto the

Raval

withina

gen-

eral

decay

of

the

older

urban

industrial

zone.

Meanwhile,

he

literary

and

journalistic

magery

of

the

barrio

chino

has

ranged

rom

tales

of

a

seduc-

tive

demimonde

t the

turn

of the

century,

o

cries

against pitiable

exploitation

n the

Republic,

to

portrayals

of

nostalgic

evil

in the

Franco

period.

Metaphors

and action

overlap

in

contemporary

planning,which has sought to "clean up" this

neighborhood

efore the

1992

Olympics.

Jos6

Maria

Carandell,

in his

Nueva

guta

secreta

de

Barcelona,

cites two

references

to the

Raval's

Caf6

de la

Alegria,

a musical bar

that

flourished t the end

of the nineteenth

entury.

The

chronicler

Lluis Almerichrecorded

popular

verses

that recalled:

"The Caf6 of

Happiness/

s a

place

of

perdition/where

lamenco/

is

danced to

perfec-

tion/

The worker's smock is not

permitted/

whatever he

excuse/

every

gentleman

who

enters/

wears

a hat"

(1982:

186).

These

stanzas dentified

the

bar as a locus of both vice

and

(foreign)

en-

tertainment.

Yet

they

associated

these mixed

pleasures

with the middle

class,

symbolizedby

a

hat,

rather han its

working-class

eighborhood

es-

idents

who wore smocks.

A

Catalan

novelist,

Josep

Maria de

Sagarra

(b. 1894),

described

a

subsequent

ncarnation f

this caf6

as

the

Eden

Concert,

requented

y

artists

including

Pablo Picasso

(see

Richardson 991: 67-

70):

The

Eden

was he

onlyprohibited

pot

hat

wascited n

theconversations

f timorous

ersons

nd

of which

very-

one,

moreor

less,

understood

he conditions.

hat

is,

when newantedo indicate

significar)

hata

person

f

the

worldwas

a

ne'er-do-well,

nesaid hat

he hadbeen

seen n the

Eden,

r he

frequented

he

Eden,

nd

nothing

else

was

necessary

Carandell

1982:

186).

In this

memory

rom an elite

observer,

he Eden

becamea signifierof the downfallof the bourgeois

male

who

would

spend

oo

much time

there

among

artists

and

singers,

often

female.

In

public

dis-

course

his

bar-and

its environs-took

on cultural

meanings

beyond

ocial

exchange

or entertainment.

A more

recent

rhetorical

inkage

of

neighbor-

hood,

bar,

and

moralityappeared

n

1989,

as the

gentrifying

working-class

one

of

Gricia

celebrated

its

festes

majors

(patronal

east),

a month

after the

limp

festivities

of the

barrio

chino.3

The

inaugura-

tor

of the

Gricia's

fair

proclaimed

hat

"civiliza-

tionbeginswherethereare streetswithbars."J.J.

Navarro

Arisa

commented

he

next

day

in El

Pais,

a

major

national

newspaper,

Perhaps

t

would

be better

o

say

that

civilization

n

Gricia

begins

where

hereare

streetswith

bars,

because

it would e difficult

o

qualify

s

civilizedhat

which

ap-

pens

n

some treets

with

btars

n

Lloret,

f

Sitges both

tourist

enters]

r

n

some

reas

f that

misnamed

arrio

chino

of Barcelona

15

August

1989:

13).

Here,

bars

in one

neighborhood

ontrast

withbars

in another.Whilebothzones are knownfor bars,

this

signifier

denigrates

he barrio

chino

vis-t-vis

other

settings.

Nonetheless,

he

causes

of the

dif-

ferences

remain

mplicit.

As in the

prefatory

ita-




4/16

BARS, GENDER,

AND VIRTUE

21

tion from

Hurtado,

which

lists streets

withoutever

naming

the

barrio

which holds most of

them,

ur-

ban

culture

appears

o

be

public,

commonknowl-

edge

shared

by

experts,

propagated

y

mass

media,

and apparentlyacceptedand understoodwithout

examination

y

the

"average"

eader-citizen.

The use of bars

as

signifiers

lso comments n

gender

n

relation

o

space

and class as

a

system

of

urban

classification,

as

the second

quote

implies.

Women

n a

"marginal"

rea become

defined

n re-

gard

to the same

landmarks

f

vice

that

play

a role

in

general

urban

imagery

of

their

neighborhood,

and

their

morality

becomes

a

touchstone

n turn

for

other

groups.

Barcelonans'

eneral

deas of

gender

reflect

a modernized

nd

primarily

middle-class

n-

terpretationof Mediterranean ualism in which

womenhave

been

ideally

conceived

f as maintain-

ing

domestic

virtue

and

culture while males have

been active

producers

n

the

public

arena

(Brandes

1980,

1981;

Corbin

and

Corbin

1988;

Bux6

Rey

1978;

Gilmore

1990b).

This urban

system

also has

incorporated

istinctionsbased on

class,

ethnicity,

and

virtue.One

of

the

clear

hegemonic

antinomies

of the

respectable

woman,

or

example,

s

the

pros-

titute,

who

publicly

erves he

private

needsof men

(Kendrick

1987).

Less

apparent,

but

equally

real

as an

opposing

role, has been the

presence

of the

working

womanwhose demands

challenge

the do-

mestic

complacency

f

the

bourgeois

ity

(Kaplan

1982;

Boatwright

and Da

Cal

1984;

McDonogh

1989)

or the

immigrant,

whether

Andalusian,

Fili-

pina,

or Moroccan. Even

though

most Raval

women

distinguish

heir

ives

from ocal

prostitutes,

they

shop

in

the same streetsand can be found n

the same bars. Thus

they

can

become associated

with

prostitutes-and distinguished

rom

proper

women-by

urban

media

because

of

imposed

val-

ues of cultural

geography:

ne woman

asked

about

a

newspaper hotograph

f

"prostitutes

n the bar-

rio":"And

if

I am

walking

down the

street,

to the

store,

when

they

take

the

picture,

what

happens?"

Similarly,

Mediterranean

male ideals

contrast

he

proper,productive

man with

both the male who is

unable o

provide

becauseof

poverty

or

unemploy-

ment)

and

the male who

in

some

way

does not act

as a

biological

male. Both

types

are

seen

as

less

powerful

and

less correct

(Brandes 1980, 1981;

Gilmore

1990a).

Through

reproduction

nd

interpretation

f

gender,

space,

and

power

nthe

bar, then,

political

economic

change

and

external influences

pervade

the

definition f the

barrio,

ts

people,

andits

bars.

Categories

einforce

ach other

while

dividing

oci-

ety:

good

men take their leisure in

good

bars in

good

neighborhoods,

ossibly

with

good

women

(who

might

also be

at

home),

and

such men even

confirmtheirgoodness n transientexpeditionso

zones

where

men

and

women

are

intrinsically

ad,

as

their bars seem

to

illustrate.

In contrast

o such established

myths

of

urban

culture,

my

observations

emonstrate

much

more

complex

social

patterns

which

themselves

may

re-

volve around

a

different

use

of

the

bar

as

social

place,

or a multi-facetedand

ambiguous

set

of

neighborhood

ars

to serve

varied ocal needs. Lo-

cal

usage

may

nuance,mirror,

or

invertother ur-

ban

interpretations;lthough

t

may

also

become

fraughtwith contradictions.Thus, understanding

the networks f bars

in the

barrio n relation

o its

roles

in

the

city

demands

a

multi-level

geography

of social and

symbolic ategories.

This

essay

begins

with

an

analysis

of

the bar-

rio

chino

bar as

myth (signifier)

n

Barcelona ul-

ture. It then turns to an historical

ethnographic

analysis

of bars in the

barrio,

based

on

observa-

tions

I

have

made since 1975

(since

1985,

with

Gaspar

Maza

of

the

Centre

de Serveis

Socials

Erasme

de

Janer).

This

analysis

of

the

range

of

bars in the barrioallows us to disentangle atego-

ries of

gender,

social

function,

and urban

nterac-

tion that characterize he

barrio's nteractionwith

the

city;

the

depiction

of a

single

bar

over

the

last

fifteen

years

adds an

ethnohistorical

depth

to

changing

patterns.Finally,

I

reflect

upon

the

ten-

sions

among

symbols

of

gender,

space,

and

power

which

shape

he bar and the

neighborhood

s

living

communities

nd as

components

f

urban

culture.

Bars

and the Barrio

Chino: The

Nature

of

the

Myth

Various

media have

createdand

disseminated he

myth

of bars

in the barrio

chino. "Stories"

about

highly publicized

ites or

incidents

permeate

con-

versations

with residents n

other

areas,

an

oral tra-

ditionof urban

geography.Literary

works,

newspa-

per reports,

and

anthropological

nd

sociological

analyses

also

legitimate

shared cultural

assump-

tions.To characterize

he

myth

of thebarrio

chino,

however, focuson AlfonsoPaquer'sHistoriadel

barrio chino de Barcelona

(1962).

This

already

nostalgic

text,

from a

publisher

specializing

in

scandalous itles within the moral controls

of the

Franco

period,

distilled the

major

themes-and




5/16

22

ANTHROPOLOGICAL

QUARTERL

Y

bars-of

classic

barriochino

imagery

within

a nar-

rative

mixing styles

of

literature,

memoir,

history,

and

alarmist

reporting.'

Paquer

began

his

representation

ith the am-

bience

of the

barrio.

His historicization

llowed

him

to

posit

a barriochinodenatured

by

the

1950s

closure

of the black

market

and other

"typical"

sites;

this

sense of

the

barrio

decaying

from

its

ideal continues

o

pervade

both oral

and

literary

representation.

By

contrast,

his introduction

pro-

vided a

vivid

yet

judgmental

portrait:

How

much

gnomy,

owmuch

hamefulnd

haming

u-

manity,

ow

many

italdefects

had heir

naturaleat

n

that

abyrinth

f darkandnarrow

treets

Gamblers

nd

freeandundaunted

omen,

imps

nd

hieves,

odomites

andcriminalsf everyclass,exploiters

nd

exploited,

made

of that

zone

of the

city

ts authentic

arren.

hat

neighborhood

ecame,

within

Barcelona,

n

authentic

and

almost

rremovable

itadel

of vice and

degeneracy,

the

spiritual

bscurity

hose averns

rresistibly

ttracted

the

vulgar

entimentalism

f certain

persons

s

chic as

they

are

imited

n

mentalityPaquer

962:

-7)..

Paquer

inked

people

to

space

and

structuration

n

the barrio:

Those

ittle

cafes and

taverns,

hose

brothels

nd

those

ophisticated

nests

f

Art" onstituted

he

vitalal-

phaandomega f anentirehumanitymorally nderde-

veloped.

ot

only

was

viceembraced

ith he unanimous

complicity

f

the

barrio,

ut t

wasborn

here:

n the

in-

nocent

lesh

tself

n that

ambience

f infected

uman

c-

cumulation

(1962:7).6

This

passage

remains

pregnant

n both

language

and

imagery.

The

author

employed

an

evocative

vocabulary

gleaned

from

literature

and

street

slang.

His characters

defined

a

spectrum

f stereo-

typic

deviants:

amblers

and

delinquents

re

paired

with

"sodomites"

and

"free and

easy

women."

Moreover,

he barrio tself wastakenas

self-repro-

ducing,

a

malign

womb

within

the

city

rather

han

a

result

of

other

urban

forces.For

Paquer,

as

for

others

describing

he

barrio,

bars

were central

to

the barrio's

reproduction.

Paquer

did

not

follow

any

chronology

n

his

historia,

although

he

framed

his text

by

the

inter-

national

discovery

of the

barrio

in the

late

1910s

and

the

introduction

of

major

changes

such

as

drugs

(in

the

thirties).

Instead,

he historia

roamed

through

ocial

and

physical

pace,

depicting

cenes,

characters,streetscapes,and events. In his early

sketches

Paquer

detailed-bars

and

brothels

inked

to crime

and

sex.

He includedstreet

scenes

of all

generations

s

well as

a

chapter

avagely

critiquing

transvestite

males: "la

ildtima

escala de

la

degradacibn"

the

last

stage

of

degradation).6

Later,

bars

formed

predominant

odesof the

tale,

with

depictions

combining

physical presentation

with an

analysis

of clientele

and

events.

Paquer

presented

ach

as if it could be

expected

o be

fa-

miliar,

by

nameat

least,

to the

reader:"La

Mina,"

a

worker's

avern

portrayed

s a center or

criminal

planning

pp.

14-16);

"La

Criolla"

and "Cal Sac-

ristin"

(pp.

61-64);

"Villa Rosa"and other

Anda-

lusian lamenco

hows

(pp.

93-98);

the showsof fe-

male

impersonators

at

"Gambrinus"

and

"Barcelona

e Noche"

(pp.

109-114);

and the "Bo-

dega

Bohemia"

pp.

137-140),

a

cabaret.

His

por-

trait of Gambrinus

xemplifies

his

style

and

gaze:

About

2

AM,

the cabarets

nd

spectacles

ame

o life.

Gambrinus

ad,

at that

time,

contracted

figure

who

would oon

become

opular

nd

was

ought

ver ater

by

locales utside

he barrio.

Thiswas

"theGreat

Gilbert,"

mitator

f the

stars,

job

he didso

well

hat

only

at

theendof

the

act,

whenhe

hadrecovered

is real

aspect

nd went

out to

greet

he

audience

ould he

spectators

e convincedhat he

per-

son

acting

before hem

wasa

man.

In the midstof

such

vulgarity

encanallamiento),

there was

dignity

n

the

representations

f the

Great

Gilbert.

...

.

.

. Fora bottle

f

champagne

f

poorquality

ne

paid priceo farabovets value hatnocomparisonas

possible.

he

tango-dancers

sked

permission

o sit

with

you,

with heir

ecently

dopted

omportment.

But f

the

game

began,

hesemanners

ere

orgotten

and Anita

or

Lucy,

retroceding,

ecame

La

Gravada"

or "La

Mora"of

yesteryear

1962:

109,

111).

Paquer,

here,

captured

a

complex

ayering,

doub-

ling,

and

even

mystifying

nature

of

gender

and

rep-

resentation.

The Great

Gilbert,

a

man,

imitated

women

who

were

already

dubious

n

reputation

nd

thus

in

the

essence

of

their

gender

role,

by

their

presence

n the barrio.The new call

girls repre-

sented

thinly-disguised

masks,

with

a veneer

of ed-

ucation

or talent

and

perhaps

a

foreign

name,

hid-

ing

an

older

genealogy

of

prostitution.

The bar

itself

participated

n its

spectacle,

a

process

which

continues

n the

contemporary

arrio.

Meanwhile,

Paquer

used

gender,

deviance,

alcohol,

and

vulgar-

ity

to

characterize

he

bars,

to insinuate

heir

set-

ting

and

to establish

a

culturally-complicit

nowl-

edge

with

his reader.

Paquer

made scant mention

of

the

impover-

ishedworking amiliesof the barrio.Mostmenof

the

barrio

were

portrayed

as

thieves

and drunk-

ards;

male

homosexuals

and

transvestites,

n his

work,

may

have

come from the

outside,

into

the




6/16


7/16

24 ANTHROPOLOGICAL

QUARTERLY

when

television,

cards,

and

neighborhood

ossip

again

take

over. Carandell's

guide

refers to the

"strongest

tmosphere

mas

cargada)

n

Barcelona,

where

he most

unexpected

eingsplay,

drink, alk,

smoke,

hut

up"(1972: 184);

a recent

novel

depicts

the

lives of

the older women

of the bar and

hotel

(Pottocher

1985),

yet

ownersand

regulars

of

the

bar

were

unaware

of

this book

when I

introduced

them

to it

in

the

late 1980s.

The

people

of

the

bar,

within

ts

fin-de-siecle

decor,

are

transformednto

the

spectacle,

although

hey

also

comment

on

and

profit

rom

the tourists

and others:

ome

regularly

save me

news

clippings

on the barrio

n which

they

appear.

The

Marsella,

n the

1990s,

appears

orn

between

cleaning

and

appeal

for more

tourists

and

the needs and

image

of

its

strong

ocal

clientele.

Spectacle

bars,

as a

single

facet of

the bar life

of

the barrio

chino,

embody

an

ambiguous

pace

within various

frameworks

of urban

culture.

To

outsiders,

hey typify

the

entire

neighborhood

nd

its inhabitants

as

fascinatingly

inful;

to

insiders,

they may

be

odd,

foreign,

and

even

evil.

Through

these

bars,

the

myth

of

the barrio

chinohas

linked

space,

class, virtue,

and

gender

in the

same

way

that

the themes

of

Paquer's

narrative

reinforce

each

other

by juxtaposition

nd

association

ather

than

by logicalanalysis

of

the

neighborhood

r

the

city.

As Geertz

has said of

common

sense,

with a

striking

relevance

o urban

cultural

knowledge,

t

must

"affirm

hat

its tenets

are

immediate

deliver-

ances

of

experience,

not deliberate

eflections

pon

it"

(1983:

75).

To

deconstruct

he

historicalnature

of such

mythology,

we must

look

at other

aspects

of

gender,

class,

and

virtue

n the

neighborhood

s

well.

Bars

and

the Uses

of

Social

Space

In

fieldwork

n

the barrio

since

the

1970s,

Gaspar

Maza and

I have

found

a

complex

system

to be

necessary

n

mapping

and

understanding

ars.

Be-

sides

spectacle

bars

(1),

we

have

differentiated

three

other

types

among

the

hundreds f

bars

that

have

played

a role

in the

Raval

since the

turn of

the

century.

These

types

are

distinguishable

n

their

ambience,

historical

origin,

clientele,

admis-

sion

criteria,

hours,

and

theirinteraction

with bar-

rio and

city.

We

categorize

hese

types

as

(2)

busi-

nessbars(baresde negocio),entailingprostitution

and

drugs,

(3)

special

interest

bars/clubs,

and

(4)

neighborhood

ars."

Only

the

businessbar

appears

with

any

frequency

alongside

spectacles

in mass

media

depictions

f

the

barrio;

pecial

nterestbars

occasionally

lay

a

corollary

ole

as markers

n

po-

litical

discourse bout

mmigrants,

eftists,

or

racial

groups.

Yet all can

only

be understoodwithin

a

network of

social use and cultural

meaning

in

which

the

neighborhood

ars

predominate.

Bars,

Prostitution,

nd

Drugs

Although

prostitution

as been associatedwith the

barrio chino since

the

fourteenth

century, legal

brothels

contained

prostitution

until the 1950s.

Many

brothelswere located

in

the barrio

chino,

serving

ransients

n

the harbordistrictas well as

the rest of

the

city.

When brothelswere

closed,

prostitution

moved o the streetand the bar.One of

the

bar-types

hat

appeared

n

this

period

earned

the

name barra americana

Americanbar)

in

an

alternate dentification

f

geography

nd vice.

Such

barsresemble

dimly-lit

cavernous

unnelswith bare

counters

where

prostitutes

wait clients.Prostitutes

generally

make

some

agreement

with bar

owners,

who also

profit

from sales

to male clients.

Unlike

spectacle

bars,

in

which commercial

ex

may

be

available

or

implicit,

these bars

evidently

offer

nothing

else,

no

ambiguities

whichcould otherwise

explain

a client's

presence.

In the

past

few

years

many

have

been closed

by municipal

action,

al-

though prostitution

n

other zones

is

tolerated

and

even

graphically

dvertised

n

city

newspapers.

Even

so,

these bars

of

the barrio chino

have

attracted

a

literary

and

journalistic

gaze.

Nobel-

prize

winner Camilo

Jose

Cela

(1964)

described

the sad and

weary

urban

prostitutes

n the 1950s

and 1960s

in much

the same

way

that

they

ap-

peared

until

recent

campaigns.

Others

have

identi-

fied them

street

by

street,

such

as

the older

(mid-

fifties)

prostitutes

along

the Carrerde les

Tapirs,

whose

very

name

suggested

a

particular

ype

in

a

1980s

dramatic

monologue,

Dolca

de

les

Tapies

(Valls

1984;

see

Draper

Miralles

1982;

Carendell

1982).

Ironically,

Tapirs

almost

acked

many

bars

and

even

buildings, xcept

for a

hotel which

served

as a

house

of

assignation

nd social

center

for the

community

f

prostitutes

who work

the street.

Today,

most

prostitution

ars

concentrate

n

three or

four

streets

in the

north

of the

barrio

chino

and in clubs

having

access to the

Rambles,

the majordowntown horoughfare.n the 1980s

the narrow

passage

of

Carrer

d'En

Robadorwas

linedwith one

barafter

another,

hotels,

and

clinics,

with the

prostitutes

moving

outside

on warmer

days




8/16

BARS,

GENDER,

AND VIRTUE

25

to

draw

n

clients.

Male

prostitution

was

prohibited

under

Franco,

but some transvestite

prostitutes

concentrated

ear

the

Rambles

during

he late

af-

ternoon

and

evening.9

These bars

tend to follow

the

hours of the

spectacle

bars,

built around

nighttime

activities,

al-

though

some

prostitutes

nd

bars workfrom

early

morning

on. These bars

specialize

n

hard

liquor

and

rely

on

prostitutes'

arnings

and

inflated

prices

to

survive.

An

indicationof the

spatial specializa-

tion of such

bars s

evident

n

the

activitiesof

pros-

titutes

outside heir

working

hours,

who eat and

re-

lax in

neighborhood

ars,

where

hey

may

talk with

friends and

neighbors,

or

joke

about

the

day's

tricks.

Such

offstage

activities

wouldnot

be

allowed

in workingbars.

Prostitutes

may

or

may

not live in

the

barrio,

although

he

latter case

seems more

common rom

scattereddata I

have

obtained.

The

clientele

gener-

ally

comesfrom

outside

he

barrio.

Despite egends

of

the

bourgeois

patron,

especially

n

the

days

of

the

brothels,

most of

their clients

seem

to be

work-

ing

class and

immigrants

Draper

Miralles

1982).10

Indeed,

the

origin

of

the

clientele s

often

difficult

to

define-Robadors is

famous

for its

mirones

(men

who

stand

outside

the bar and

stare,

or win-

dowshop rombar to bar for hours),Tapirsfor its

retired

men

on limited

pensions.

Generallyprosti-

tutes in

this

area

are

perceived

o be

older and in

poorer

physical

hape

and to

charge

ess

than

those

in

more

elegant

zones

of the

city.

Urban

knowledge

f

working

prostitutes,

male

or

female,

belongs

primarily

o males

outsideof

the

barrio.

Nonetheless,

n

1990,

I

was

taken

aback

by

a

startling

comment

from an

elite

woman in

her

fifties:"En

Robadorshad

prostitutes

hat

were

not

available

anywhere

else in

Spain."

This

remark

was not, however,basedon first-handknowledge,

but

on

conversations nd

reading,

reflecting

an in-

verse

pride

in

urban

ife.

Inside the

barrio

males

and

females

may

know

prostitutes

as

neighbors,

within

social

limits

already

mentioned.

Prostitution s

a

gender-related

ervicehas in

recent

years

been

linked n

mass

media to

another

publicly-labelled

ice:

drugs.

There

are

mentions f

cocaine

trafficking

n

the

barrio

between 1910

and

the

1930s

(Paquer

1962:

85-89;

Boatwright

nd

Da

Cal

1984;

Romani

1982),

but few

reliable

tatistics

exist.The imageryof cocainethenwas thatof the

enticement

of

upper-class

women

into a

world of

depravity.

Cocaine

and

heroin

reappeared

n

Barce-

lona in

the

1980s,

however,

with

visible traffic

again

localized

n

part

n the barrio

chino,

within

a

more

complex

European

rade.

Newspapers,

elevi-

sion,

and

police

singled

out bars

as zones

of

sale

and

other

activities,

pitomized

n the

image

of

the

hooker-junkie.

In

newspaperreports

and

political

rhetoric,

moreover,

he

critique

of

drugs

and action

against

them

often have

merged

with

a new discussion

of

race

and

immigration.

Drug

trafficking

s

associ-

ated

in the

press

and the

public

mindwith

Arab

and African

mmigrants,

many

of them

llegal,

who

have concentrated

n

the Raval.Even

bars

thatre-

mained"clean"

were

heavilypoliced

f their

clien-

tele included

black

or Arab

males." The

associa-

tion of

race and

drugs

also

permeated

some

commentsby barrioresidentswho rejectedthese

immigrants

s

harbingers

f

problems,

while

com-

menting

on

the

"young

middle-class

women"

who

frequent

hem

as

companions

nd

clients.

As

noted,

not all

prostitutions

nvolve

male

and female

relations.

Yet the

interpretations

f

a

transvestite

ar and

a

famous

emale

mpersonators

show

in the area

again

reflectclass

patterns.

The

most

elegant

transvestite

rostitution

n

Barcelona

in the

1970s

operated

n the

bourgeois

Rambla

Catalana/Diagonal

rea,

next to

a

zone of

young

malehustling.Muchof thistodayhasmoved o an-

othersuburban

area

near the

University

campus.

Yet the

public

dentification

f

male

transvestites,

whatever

heir

sexual

orientation,

ften

focuses

on

the barriochino.

Public ear

of

AIDS and

its

iden-

tification

with "illicit"

exuality

and

drugs

has

also

medicalized

isions

of

gender,

drugs,

and

deviance

in reference

o

the

barrio.

It is

important

o

note,

however,

hat

the

bar-

rio chino

apparently

acks

any

male

and/or

female

gay

bars,

although

hereare

gay

book/sex

shops

nearby.Gay centers are also more likely to be

found

in moremiddle-class

reas

such

as

Gracia.

This, too,

seems

to

reinforce

negative

rather

than

merely

difficult

male

gender

roles:

n

the

Mediter-

ranean,

a

male

who

adopts

an

active

role

in

homo-

sexual

iaisons

proves

more

acceptable

ocially

han

a

passive

or

feminized

male

(Brandes

1981).

Both

the resources

and

political

consciousness

f

the

middleclass

may

also

facilitate

gay

identity

n

ar-

eas where

bars will

escape

other

negative

attributes.'2

Prostitution,

drugs,

and transvestitesn bars

serve to

justify

images

of the

barrio

chino

as a

problem

one

for

many

outsiders.

For

those in

the

neighborhood,

hese

bars are

workplaces

which




9/16

26

ANTHROPOLOGICAL

QUARTERLY

may

elicit ambivalent

responses,

specially

n

the

case of

drugs

which

are

increasingly erceived

s

a

problempermeating

he entire

neighborhood.

ike

spectacle

bars, then,

these

bars and their

workers

are

integrated

nto barrio

society

with

difficulty

e-

spite

the

generalizations

rawn

by

outsiders.

Special

InterestBars

A third

major

set

of bars with

a

long

historical

presence

n

the

neighborhood

ncompasses

stab-

lishments

built

around

neighborhood

voluntary

groups.

At

the turn of the

century

hese bars

were

particularly

ssociated

with

political

and

workers'

groups,

which

gave

the barrio

a

reputation

or rad-

icalism as well as vice (Fabreand Huertas1977).

Today,

these

bars

may

be associated

with

specific

interest

groups,

such as

choral

societies,

although

political

projects

also endure.Other

bars

serve

eth-

nic interests.These

included

primarily

Andalusian

bars in

the

early

waves of

immigration

o the

city

and,

in recent

years,

bars

that cater to Arabs

and

Blacks,

who

will form an exclusive

f

negatively-

stereotyped

clientele.

Still other

bars

articulate

neighborhood roups,

such as soccer

teams,

within

league

relationships.

Most of these bars are dominated

by

older

men,

although

women

may join

them for social oc-

casions.

Political centers like

the anarchistbar

in

the Raval

(a

few

blocks

west

of

the

barrio

chino),

have

a

younger,

mixed clientele.

Exclusive emale

reunions

in the barrio

traditionally

have taken

place

outside

of the

bars,

n

such centers

or

public

domestic

activity

as

washhouses, tores,

and dairies

(Kaplan

1982).

In

contrastto

bourgeoispatterns,

the

Roman

Catholic

parishes

re not

viewed

ocally

as

social

centers;

schoolyards

now seem to

serve

such functions or manymothers.

Such

bars

lack shared

patterns

of

time

or

space

use. Choral

society

and

club bars

remain

open

after

working

hours

and

may

provideactivity

zones

around

a

pool

table or

an office

as well as

storage

for

paraphernalia.

olitical

bars also

open

during

the

day,

but

close earlier

than commercial

bars.

These bars

also

include

officeand

propaganda

space.

Ethnic

bars

represent

specialization

f

cli-

entele

rather

than

setting; they

tend to look

like

other

neighborhood

ars

(from

which

they may

have sprung)and are open throughout he day.

Nonetheless,

some

bars

have been

marked

(and

marketed)

as

specifically

Andalusian enters

n

the

past,

bordering

on

spectacle

bars.

An African

center

n

the

1980s

played

Africanand

Caribbean

music

as

well as

serving

occasional

ethnic food

items.

Here,

the

ownerhimself

was an African

who

wantedthe

bar to be

a social

center

despite

police

hostility.

These

bars

are not

numerous,

although

in

their

widestsense

they

may

be as

commonas

bars

specializing

n

prostitution,

nd

they

are

certainly

more

prevalent

han the

spectacle

bars. Yet

they

rarely figure

in

the

image

of

the

barrio,

unless

evoked

n

times

of

political

crisis

becauseof their

apparently

losed

character.After riots n

the

early

century,

or

example,

or

in

more

recent

periods

of

changing

attitudes

towards

sub-Saharan

efugees,

these

barshave been

investigated

nd

controlled

y

urban

media and

administrators. n most

cases,

however,

he

symbolic

value of

such centers n ur-

ban culture s

limited,

an

oversight

which

also fa-

cilitates the discussion

f

fragmentation

r

anomie

in

the barrio.

Such bars

may

be

integrated

nto

the

barrio,

although

associatedwith

specialgroups

or interests

who

are exclusivist

n

their

use;

in

the case cited

below,

a

bar

has

alternatedbetween

generalneigh-

borhood

tructureand ethnic

exclusivism.

n

this

sense

special

interest bars also mark a

processual

continuity

n the

neighborhood

opulation

ot asso-

ciated with

spectacle

or

prostitution

ars.This con-

tinuity

ncludesan affirmation f local

gender

roles

(with

clear

public

male

dominance)

and nuclei of

community olidarity.

Neighborhood

Bars

The

preponderant

ategoryamong

bars

in

the

bar-

rio chino

and

Raval,

as

in

most

of

Spain,

comprises

multi-service

bars familiar from the

ethnographic

literature n ruraland urbanSpain(Hansen1977;

Brandes

1980;

Collier

1986;

Corbin and Corbin

1987;

Gilmore

1987;

Heiberg

1989).

These

bars

originated

n

pre-industrial

averns,

and

tend

to

specialize

in

wine

and

beer,

although appetizers

(tapas)

and often

complete

meals are served

(Al-

merich

1945).

The

remaining

bodegas,

wine stores

that also sell

drinks n a limited

space, represent

the most traditional

orm

of this

establishment,

et

the

neighborhood

ar has

typically expanded

ar

beyond

such

humble

beginnings.

These establishments enteron both the bar

and the

kitchen,

wherea

couple

or

a

family

take

responsibility

for

multiple

services,

replicating

traditional

gender

divisions

of labor in

a

public




10/16

BARS,

GENDER,

AND VIRTUE

27

area.

Such

bars

vary

widely,

however,

in size

and

offerings

as well as clientele.

Hours are

similarly

complex.

The

largest

bars

may

follow

multiple

rhythms

in

order

to serve

the

widest

possible

range

of clients, from cleaning women and night workers

returning

home

in

the

early

morning

to

those

who

stop by

after

late

night

jobs.

Others are more

spe-

cialized:

in

the wholesale

distribution

areas

around

Carrer

Uni6/Marqu6s

de

Barbara,

for

example,

some

bars

open

at

6 - 7 a.m. and close at

9

p.m.-early

for

Spanish

bars-after

workers

have

left

the area.

Other bars

specialize

in

the

lunch and

after-lunch

trade,

although

almost all are

open

mornings.

Clients

vary

through

the

day

as

well

as over

time. Working women and men congregate in the

early

morning-a phenomenon

my

students

and

I

have

noted

throughout

the

city.

Mornings

later are

punctuated

by

work

breaks,

with

activity picking

up

before

the

main

mid-day

meal.

Here,

the

clients

are

primarily

male,

although

women and

children

also

may

wander

into

bars before

lunch. Coffee and

liqueurs

follow

the

mid-day

meal,

again

inviting

both

males

and

females.

Late afternoons

usage

re-

sponds

to

breaks

among

those

around

the

area,

with a

concentrated

population

again growing

as

afternoon work winds down (8 - 10 p.m.). While

many

evening

clients

are

male,

women

and

chil-

dren also

may

become

involved

in

the social

life of

the

bar,

often

in

relationship

to the women

and

children

of the

proprietorial

family.

For

poor

fami-

lies

in

cheap

rooms or

cramped

and

crowded

apart-

ments,

the bar

and street

provide

a

welcome

recre-

ational

space.

After

midnight

the clientele becomes

predominantly

male,

since most barrio residents

still value

domesticity

for

females,

especially

young

and

unmarried women.

The presence of women and children during

the

day,

or even of

apparently

stigmatized

clients

such

as

prostitutes,

transvestites,

the homeless or

serious

alcoholics,

makes sense

in

terms of the re-

sources of the

neighborhood,

with

a

history

of mini-

mal

open

space

or

community

resources and the ac-

tive construction

of

a social network

that makes

any

bar

a success. As

Maza

and

I

have

repeatedly

observed,

the most marked

category

of

persons

for

such

a bar is

the outsider who

is

unknown to

regu-

lars

and

owners. For

others,

bars

may

be

living-

room, mailbox, playground, and social club.

The

ambiguity

of such bars as

signifiers

can be

seen

by

returning

to

Paquer's description

of

the

only

"famous"

working-class

bar in the classic bar-

rio,

La

Mina,

torn

down

after the

Civil War:

Entering

n the

right,

back

o the

windows

as he

counter

or

drinks,

where

wo

ads,

hirtsleeves

olled

p,

served

ndless

lasses

f

wineand

pirits

n thick

lasses.

On the leftwasa windowlosing smalldoorway,

in

which woman old

cod

fritters,

ardines

nd

pickled

fish

escabeche).

At the

tables,

men

gave

hemselvesver o

various

duties.

While some

played

cards,

others n a corner

planned

ome

ood

ambit,

with

drinksrom heir

lagon,

mutewitnesso

the

scene.

At another

able,

ome

ook

apart

igar

butts

hat

they

had

picked

p

n the streets.

Reconverted

nto

ciga-

rettes,

hat

dirty

nd

bespittled

obacco

as

used o

make

packets

old

o the

official

obacco

ealers.

...

Scarcely

would

dispute

ome

up,

over

a

game

or

simply rovoked

y

an

"outsider"

forastero)

n the

place

andknives-withwhichheclientelewasgenerally uite

dexterous-would

e stained

with he

rage

of their rimi-

nal minds

which

alcohol

ad

made

more

violent

1962:

24).

Most

of

the activities

described

are

those

of

a

neighborhood

eating-house,

which

is

how older lo-

cal residents

recall the bar.

Indeed,

the

presence

of

marginal

work

(food

sales,

tobacco

gathering)

over-

shadows leisure

or scandal for the critical reader.

Even knives served

multiple

functions to

dockworkers

and laborers.

Paquer recognizes,

moreover,

"that

there

was a

code,

tacitly

estab-

lished,

that

they

always respected" (p.

25).

None-

theless,

to fit the

mythic interpretation,

criminal

atmosphere

is

imposed, including

the

implicit

inter-

pretation

of a

relatively

closed

social structureas

xenophobic

or

dangerous.

The

construction of

the social life

of all

Span-

ish bars entails

changing

strategies

to stabilize a

clientele

and make

money,

which

may

move

bars

into

other

specialized

categories.

This

change

is

ap-

parent

in

the

history

of a

bar

which

I

know to

have

been

a

neighborhood

bar when

I

arrived in

Barce-

lona

in

1975. A

long-term

analysis

of

this

bar,

which

I

will

refer to

pseudonymously

as

the

Bar

Gallart,

illustrates the

complex

interactions of

bar,

gender,

and virtue

in

everyday

life

in

the "modern"

barrio

chino.

Bar Gallart

was

founded

by

a

couple

who had

immigrated

separately

from

the South of

Spain

in

the

1920s

and met and

married

in

Barcelona,

where

they

worked. After the war

they

invested in

a small bar which

they

used as a

stepping-stone

to

the

larger

establishment which

they

have run as a

family

since the 1960s. In the

mid-1970s,

this

bar

operated

from six in the

morning

until 2:30

at

night

without

a

day

of vacation. This

rigorous




11/16

28

ANTHROPOLOGICAL

UARTERLY

schedule,

designed

to serve

all

elements

in

the

neighborhood,

emanded he workof

both

parents,

their four

children,

and the children's

pouses.

The

father

opened

the bar

in

the

morning

and

the

motherclosed

it at

night-roles they

maintain o-

day

in strict controlof the financial

affairs

of the

business.In the 1980s the father handled he bar

alone

or with the

passing help

of an

unoccupied

child

in

mornings.

Two

daughters

and one son-in-

law

worked

n

the kitchenat

mid-day,

when clients

packed

n,

and

prepared ppetizers

s

well

as meals

at

any

hour.

The othersons

and another on-in-law

have

tended bar.

All lived in a

nearbyapartment,

increasingly

rowded

by

grandchildren.

The

bar

provided

living

for fifteen

people

as

well as a centerin which workersand residentsof

the

neighborhood

mingled.

It

maintaineda soccer

team

and

frequent

otteries

as well as

parties

for

seasonalor

family

events.

Its clientele

n

the 1970s

included

both males and

females,

although

he for-

mer

predominated

s

regulars.

Women

appeared

n

the

early

morning

before

or after

work,

and at

night,

generally

in

the

company

of

regular

male

partners.

Single

women,

like

foreigners,

were un-

usual,

although

prostitutes,

male and

female,

were

tolerated

when

they

came

for a break.Several

ma-

jor prostitution ars functionednearby.

In

the mid-1980s

this bar

became linked to

new

illegal

immigrants,

especially

Arabs,

and to

hard

drugs.

After the

departure

f

the

early

morn-

ing

workers,

Arab

males became

more

numerous

throughout

he

day

and

night.

Most ran

up

tabs

to

be

settled

ate at

night,

including

drinks,

cigarettes,

and food.

Some

wives

and families

appeared

as

well as

a handful of

older

regulars.

Drugs

were

sold,

but

the

owvners

ehemently

nsisted that

all

transactions

and

use took

place

outside

the

bar,

publiclyand perhaps egally defendingtheir own

virtue

by

a

new

spatialization

of

evil. The bath-

roomwas

closed

with a

lock,

the

only key

to which

was

available

rom

the

bartender,

n orderto

pre-

vent

drug

use,

a

policy supported

y

detailedanec-

dotes

of overdosed

orpses

found

in

nearby

bars.

Young

males and females

with

drug

problems

bought

sandwiches

and even

received

charity,

al-

thoughthey

were

criticized

or

their weaknessand

watched

for

any problems

hat

they

might

cause.

Yet the street

was

only antagonistically

eparated

fromthe bar: sidewalksand a smallnearbyplaza

were

dominated

by drug

dealers

who used the bar

as their

social center.

Increased

police

control

around the

neighborhood

was also evident: after

ten

years

without

questions

n

the

barrio,

I was

stopped

hree

times

by

the

police

within

the first

days

of

my

return n 1987.

The bar

was no

longer

secured

by

neighbor-

hood

or

family

anchors.

Most of the

customers

had known n

the 1970s

had shifted

their

business

to

other,

less

flamboyant

ars-where

I

would

go

with

members f the owners'

amily

when

they

had

time off. Both

sons-in-law ad

left,

one

by

divorce

and

the other

by taking

an outside

ob

and

moving

out with his

wife,

who

continued o work in

the

bar. One of the

sons had been

divorced;

distant

relativefrom the

mother'shome had

moved

n

to

help

with

cooking.

While older

neighbors

were

clear n

their

disapproval,

he

family

memberswere

ambivalent-living from the money of the bar

while

trying

to

avoid

any

tangible

associationwith

the

drug

trade.

On

my

return

in

January

1989

I

found the

Arab

population

f the bar

replacedby

blackAfri-

cans.

Essentially,

his did

not

change

the economic

or social status of the

bar,

although amily

mem-

bers

commentedhat Africans

proved

o be a more

tranquilpopulation.

Yet

changing

attitudes oward

immigration

s well

as a

latent racism

riggeredby

new ethnic

groups

was also

turning

he

society

as a

wholeagainstsuch locales.

Thus,

by my

return

to

Barcelona

n

summer

1989 and

1990,

bar ownershad

joined

with

police

to reconvert he bar to a

neighborhood

ocale.

Po-

lice situated a mobile station for

days

at the en-

trance to the street

and,

ratherthan

complaining,

the

sons

lauded the

effort-"Pues,

Gary,

has visto

como

se ha

puesto

esto. Es

mejor.

Asi

no viene el

hampa"

Well,

Gary,you

have seen what has

hap-

pened.

This is better.The trash won't

come).

The

hours

remained

he

same,

but

usage

corresponded

to a moreworking-classattern,and hoursandcli-

entele familiarfrom a decade

ago,

with

peaks

at

earlymorning,mid-day,

and late at

night,although

the bar

now closes

by

2:00

a.m..

The core

family

working

taff has

diminished,

while the next

gener-

ation

begins

to

look

for

other

opportunities.

Through

the

1980s

this bar has

joined

for

many

activities

with another

more

clearly

stable

neighborhood

ar severalblocks

away.

In

1989 on

the

important

Catalan

neighborhood

east

of Saint

Joan,

regulars

ossed fireworks

romthe

bar,

con-

trollingthe trafficand occupationof the street.

Core

clients/neighbors,

malesand

females,

stayed

on for

closing

and

cleaning

before

adjourning

o a

verbena

party)

at

another

nearby

bar. This

bar,




12/16

BARS,

GENDER,

AND VIRTUE

29

whose clientele

was

strictly

drawn

from

and con-

trolled

by neighborhood

ocial

ties,

sponsored

a

street

party

to benefit its soccer team.

Ironically,

most of Bar

Gallart's

amily

were

reunitedat this

all-nightparty.

It

is

questionable

whetherBar Gallart

will

in

fact be

able

to

regain

ts status as a

neighborhood

bar and

to

survive

conomically.

Yet

while the sons

as

well

as

the

grandchildren

alk

longingly

at

times

about

leaving

the

neighborhood,

he bar

remains

their

social center and

their livelihood.

Bar Gallartas a

community hrough

ime

has

been

shapedby continuingprocesses

f social cate-

gorization-including

the active

ignoring

of

racial

or criminal

ategories-in

a constantand

changing

relation o the neighborhoodround t. For fifteen

years family

members

have

publicly portrayed

themselves

as

virtuousand

ultimately

as

orderly,

despite

the

imagery

of

the barrioand

the realities

of

the

bar.

Yet

they

have

been

aware that

such

a

claim

wouldbe dismissed

utside

he

barrio,

ust

as

I

evoked

a

certain

ethnographic

candal

among

bourgeois

nformantswith

my

use

of

the bar as a

command enter.

Recently

his

scandalhas

intensi-

fied with

any

indication hat I

would ive and work

in

the

neighborhood

ith

my

wife. The

family

of-

fers us a placeto live withsecurity,but to outsid-

ers,

I

seem

to

be

risking my

wife's

reputation

as

well

as

her

safety.

Thus,

the life

of Bar

Gallart

epitomizes

he

complex

meanings

of bars in

the

barrio

itself,

formed

by daily

contact and

nuanced

by personal

ties,

but

subject

o

externalevaluation nd

control.

At

times,

residentsof

the

barrio

use

a

commonur-

ban

discourseabout

particular

bars or

cabaretsor

even

particulargroups,

such

as

drug-dealers

or

Arabs.

Yet

they

see these bars or

groups

as

exter-

nal to the barrio,thus changingthe signification

process

of

the urban

myth

of the barrio.

Spectacle

or

working

bars

define

a kind

of urban

bourgeois

vice

for

them,

against

which

local

gender

and vir-

tue

may

be measured.

To

barrio

residents,

bars

are centersof

living

society

as

well as

timeless

signifiers.

Workers n

shows or

prostitutes

may

become

regulars

who

share

in

neighborhood

dentity

while

in

the

bar's

social

world.

Outsiders,

by

being

structured nto

the

spatial

and

temporal ategories

of

a

neighbor-

hood bar, lose their dangerous tatus,whetheras

drug-dealers

r

anthropologists.

hey

become

per-

sons,

rather han

categories,

lthough

he

process

s

hardly

articulated

by

residentsas such.

These

differencesof

experience,

use,

and

mythologization,

owever,

are subordinated

o

the

timeless

and detached

categorizations

f

dominant

groups

who have

the

right

to

categorize

for

the

city,

to create

and

impose

a

generalizingmyth

dis-

associatedfrom

quotidian

realities.

Through

his

process,

resistance,

domination,

personal

nuance,

and

historical

hange

are hidden.

Conclusion:

Bars

as Social

Zones,

Bars

as

Signifiers

Bars exist

as

both

services

and

symbols hroughout

Spanish

and Catalan

ife. In

general,

bars

act

as

arenas of

drinking,eating,

and social

interaction

which reflect the social structure,economic ife,

and cultural

values

of

the

communities

n

which

they

are situated.In urban

centerssuch as

Barce-

lona,

complex

networks f

bars

servesocial

groups

or

categories

defined

by neighborhood,

class,

ethnicity, gender,

interest, race,

profession,

and

style

and

their

ntersections. ars

are also

arenas n

which social and

cultural

change

is

enacted,

as

Jane Collier

(1986)

has

described or

women

in

Southern

Spain.

Similar

phenomena

can

be ob-

served

n

the

transformationf

tourist

areas or

the

bar fashionswhichhaveswept

through

metropoli-

tan

centers.Yet as

urbanites alk

about

bars,

these

establishments

re often

treatedas

secondary

nd

loaded

signifiers

hrough

which

the

play

of

other

urban values is

discussed

or

concealed.

That

is,

quite

apart

rom

he socialor

economic

tructure f

any

bar,

it is

open

to

symbolic

interpretations

which

subsumeother

phenomena

nd

make

wider

connections f

meaning.

The

barrio

chinoof

Barcelonan

the

twentieth

century

has

been

characterized

y

a

dominant

ur-

banculturalportrayal f its bars as centersof de-

pravity

and

vice. This

attack has

not

been on

the

general

unctions

of

the

bar-certainly

not

alcohol

use or

recreation-nor

on

the

presence

of bars

per

se. Nor does

this

attack

encompass

he actual so-

cial

formationof

the

neighborhood

r

the

percep-

tions

and

actions of

those

who

inhabit t.

Rather,

the

"myth"

of

the bars

of

the

barrio

chino

has be-

come

part

of

the

interplay

of

cultural

stereotypes

which

confirm

he

political,

economic,

and

social

marginalization

f

the area and its

inhabitants

while apparentlynot entailingcauses. Indeed,as

landmarks

n the

human

symbolic

geography

of

Barcelona,

barrio chino bars

appear

to

become

causes

rather han

attributesof

marginality.



bars, gender, and virtue myth and practice in barcelona's barrio chino

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