ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes the meanings and practices of masculinities in the court cases of infanticide committed by males in the province of Buenos Aires between 1886 and 1921. During the 35 years examined, the criminal court cases documentation demonstrated that more than 120 women were arrested for infanticide in the province, while only 3 men were accused of the same crime. The different meanings of masculinities and the gender and family relationships in these cases have been analyzed. Moreover, the way in which the judges reacted when the men were accused of a crime considered by criminologists and jurists as “typical feminine crime” is also addressed in this paper.
Keywords:
masculinities; patriarchal authority; infanticides; Argentina