Troubling Gender Youth and Cumbiain Argentina's Music Scene

"Troubling Gender is a thorough lesson in pop semiotics. Meanings are complex and require the analyst to consider the interdependence between intention and reception of symbols. Moreover, popular youth culture is historical and the authors do well to contextualize cumbia villera's emergence in Argentina... [W]hat is refreshing about this book is that the authors clearly and artfully argue exactly what most people do not want to hear: pop culture is not literal nor is it empty." Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, July 2012 "The book looks into the complex gender relations of Argentine teenagers: the sexual liberation of female youth and the affirmation of masculine sexuality through cumbia villera." NACLA Report on the Americas "Vila and Seman offer insights into how cumbia villera lyrics and dance practices are highly gendered and sexualized, and how these young men and women grapple with sexual experiences that change how they relate to each other. Summing Up: Highly recommended." Choice, March 2012 "Troubling Gender is a refreshingly honest exploration of gender relations as articulated through the performance and reception of cumbia villera in Argentina. The authors acknowledge the complexity of human beings, cumbieros, and academic researchers alike, and their multiple subject positions. This book opens the door for further discussion of gender politics in a world where gender norms have experienced drastic shifts in a relatively short amount of time." The Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 44, 2012