Amazon.com Silvana Paternostro， born into a well-to-do Colombian family， was taught to be a traditional， virginal， obedient Latina. Sent to the United States to be educated， Paternostro has since remained， tied to her Colombian family but unwilling to fall in step with her culture's expectations. Now a widely published journalist and fellow at the World Policy Institute， Paternostro has revisited Colombia and several other Latin cultures to boldly uncover the quietly damaging sexual contradictions of the Latin world she left behind. Here， where well-bred women must be virgins before marriage， monied young men are ritually deflowered by prostitutes at their fathers' expense and often continue to frequent brothels while courting their future wives. While married women are discouraged from educating themselves about sex and birth control， many husbands at every class level secretly pay for sex with women， boys， men， and transvestites. The consequences for traditional Latin American women， Paternostro discovers， are grim: married monogamous women are at far greater risk of being HIV-positive than female prostitutes， who can at least insist on condoms with their clients. Women in Latin America have， on average， more abortions than women in the United States， frequently at risk of their lives. Paternostro condemns not only the deceit fueling these epidemics but the larger culture that keeps many Latin women obedient and powerless. This devastating， important first book concludes with an investigation into the relationships of Latin American men and women who are being raised in the United States， with the author's hope that this "new world" might offer a boost to the condition of fellow Latin women. --Maria Dolan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly In an elegantly written， sophisticated analysis of Latin American cultureAfrom Bogot to New YorkAPaternostro illuminates intersecting debates over gender， sexuality， Catholicism， Latin tradition， law and AIDS. In her world， law and Church conspire: poor women perform their own "abortions" with Coca-Cola bottles， papaya stalks or wire， while young ladies of the elite have secret surgeries in Europe or the U.S. followed by hymen reconstruction， considered a routine "cosmetic" surgery. Paternostro， a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute who has written for the Washington Post and the Nation， also interviewed transvestite prostitutes (who "service average men" in a culture where bisexuality is common but hidden) to understand Latin male reliance on machismo ("having sex with a man is the uttermost expression of manhood，" but only for the "active" partner) and their blindness to the dangers inherent in their behavior. Racism， homophobia and chauvinism intertwine， she finds， to keep women， gay men and darker Latins at bay. Throughout， Paternostro deftly and provocatively draws on her own experience. A daughter of Colombian elites who describes herself as "white" (but later revises this to "cafe con leche") and who takes inspiration from Machiavelli， Paternostro aims to educate women and to inspire their political activism， to transform "empowerment" into more than "words in academic papers." Spanish colloquialisms flow smoothly in and out of the narrative， which is written in English (because， as the U.S.-educated Paternostro explains， it is "easier to talk about sex" in English). In whatever language， hers is a beautifully written and astute analysis of complex matters. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews