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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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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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-
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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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
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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
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6/16
8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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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
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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
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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,
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino
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.
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8/9/2019 Bars, Gender, And Virtue Myth and Practice in Barcelona's Barrio Chino