Good hosts as ideal citizens: crafting identity on Isla de Mujeres

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

GOOD HOSTS AS IDEAL CITIZENS: CRAFTING IDENTITY

ON ISLA DE MUJERES

by

Ilda Jimenez y West

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ANTHROPOLOGY)

August 2007

Copyright 2007 Ilda Jimenez y West

Dedication

¡Dedico esta dissertation a mis padres Jesús Jimenez y Angelita Valdez Jimenez
quienes me ensenaron a luchar y trabajar para lograr mis suenos!
¡A su salud! Su hija, ilda

To my life partner, Christopher, without your presence in my reality I would not
exist today! This is as much yours as mine. To my beloved son, Ea’sus you are the
reason for my perserverance. To my baby grrrrl, Hal’ia when I look into your eyes I
realize that the struggle is well worth it!

ii
Acknowledgements

Nancy Lutkehaus you are a true miracle worker without your belief in me I could not
have continued on and finished. You have been more than a chair and advisor; you
are my role model as a woman, mother, colleague, and friend. Cheers, Nancy- we
did it! George Sanchez, I had a mini breakdown during the dissertation workshop
when I realized this was doable and I would finish. You taught me to work through
the demons and that the light at the end of the tunnel is glorious. My cheerleader,
Roberto Lint Sagarena, seeing your journey as a faculty member and as a member of
my committee gives me such hope for Academe and faculty of color. You are such
an inspiration. Janet Hoskins, your insight into matters of ethnography and issues of
representation is unparalleled. I only hope I have lived up to such excellence. Andre
Simic, without your advocacy and support I would not have been a student in
Anthropology. Gracias, Senor! Arlease Woods, you have taught me how to pray and
trust in the metaphysical and God. Thanks for saving my A??! To my Comadres y
Doctoras Patricia Madrigal (editor extraordinaire), Martha Soto, (Mona Navarro),
Leonor Perez, Marisol Arredondo, and Cindy Hernandez you have made this journey
bearable, just trying to keep up with such beautiful and amazing women! Mi
hermana Maria, gracias por tu sacrifico y amistad y a mis hermanos José, Juvencio,
Gilberto, Gildardo, Jilibaldo, Juan José, y Joel---being your sister made me a
stronger woman. My nephews and nieces Celeste, Felipe Jr., Joshua, Suzy,
Sebastián, Jacob, Jonah, Mayra, Autumn, Dieja, Aubrey, and Analise, I am the first
but not the last. To my in-law family Earl, Kathleen, and Lauren thanks for your
understanding, support, and love. James, Lalo, and Laura affectionally known as my

iii
writing divas, our writing really helped push me forward. To my compadre Ben
Garbuio and my comadre Judi Biggs Garbuio, thank you for being such wonderful
mentors and friends. Funding from the following individuals and institutions made
this dissertation possible: el Señor Raul Vargas ex-officio Director of USC’s
Mexican American Alumni Association (MAAA), Dr. Al Camarillo at Stanford
University’s Department of History, the James Irvine Foundation Grant through
USC’s Program of American Studies and Ethnicity, the National Security Education
Program (NSEP), USC’s Provost Office, USC’s School of Religion, USC’s Writing
Program and USC’s Rossier School of Education Center for Urban Education
(CUE).

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication ii

Acknowledgements iii

List of Tables vi

List of Figures vii

Abstract viii

Chapter 1: Introduction: Good Hosts as Ideal Citizens 1

Chapter 2: What’s in a name: Isla de Mujeres 45

Chapter 3: Soul-Making on Isla de Mujeres 84

Chapter 4: Artifacts of Socialization 123

Chapter 5: Conclusion: Ideal Citizens: Tourism and Isla’s Ideology of 164
Cultural Cleanliness

References 171

Appendices 183
Appendix 1 Brief Description of Interviewees 183
Appendix 2 Mestizaje Terms 186

v
List of Tables

Table 1: State of Quintana Roo Tourism Numbers 5

Table 2: Total Population of Isla de Mujeres by Location and Gender 11

Table 3: Populations of 5 and more years of Age by Location and Sex 14
Reported to Speak an Indigenous Language in Quintana Roo

vi
List of Figures

Figure 1: Map of Mexican Caribbean 8

Figure 2: Map of Isla de Mujeres 9

Figure 3: Map of Downtown Isla de Mujeres 9

Figure 4: Gender Breakdown for Isla de Mujeres 10

Figure 5: Percentage of Employed Population in Quintana Roo and the 16
Urban Area of Cancún by Economic Activity from October to
December 2004

Figure 6: Mural #1 108

Figure 7: Mural #2 108

Figure 8: Mural #3 108

Figure 9: Mural #4 108

Figure 10: Mural #5 109

Figure 11: Mural #6 109

Figure 12: Mural #7 109

Figure 13: Tourist’s Expectation Quiz 114

Figure 14: Disney Pictures on Child Care Center Wall 121

Figure 15: Mexico Lindo y Querido 138

Figure 16: The “ABCs” of Touristic Culture 140

Figure 17: Childrens’ Drawings 149

Figure 18: Childrens’ Letters to President of Isla 156

Figure 19: Childrens’ Drawings of Tourists 158

vii
Abstract

The underlying discovery of this dissertation is the conscious, intentional political
project by Mexican government and tourism officials to promote an ideology of
cultural citizenship that encompasses the notion of a clean and tidy citizen as a good
host for tourists that visit Isla de Mujeres a small island located in the Mexican
Caribbean. The promotion of cleanliness at the national, regional, and local levels
by Mexican government officials and agencies translates into marketing campaigns
such as signs and murals designed for Isleños eyes only. This dissertation also
explores how this ideology is received and interpreted by the inhabitants of Isla de
Mujeres. What is underlined in the commentary of Isleños is the racialization of
cleanliness based on an ideology of a biological lineage having to do with a purity of
blood or limpieza de sangre “cleanliness of blood” brought to New Spain/Mexico by
Spanish conquistadores. The promotion of cleanliness at the national, regional, and
local levels by Mexican government officials and agencies translates into marketing
campaigns such as television and radio commercials, signs, murals, school
curriculum, and extracurricular activities such as community organizations geared
toward children. Cleanliness is not only valued and promoted because of
environmental concerns but also because of Isla’s main economic revenue source is
tourism, thus the island’s image is also at stake. Another discovery put forth in this
dissertation is how the term mestizo/mestiza is used in local and regional colloquia.
Mestiz@ is commonly defined to refer to an individual of mixed heritage in
Mexico’s case one with Spanish and indigenous blood. On the other hand, Islenos
appropriate the term to differentiate amongst themselves and point out class and

viii
social economic status, for example someone who is mostly indigenous and a
laborer.

ix
INTRODUCTION

Good Hosts as Ideal Citizens

Soy Anfitrión
Poema de Margarita Robleda

Bienvenido a mi casa visitante,
México es mi hogar.
¿Qué buscas?
¿Qué quieres?
Eso que sueñas,
lo vas a encontrar.

Tengo tanto que compartirte...
¡Naturaleza y treinta siglos
de rica herencia cultural!

Playas, desiertos, montañas, barrancas,
ciudades coloniales;
historias sin fin,
esculpidas como filigrana
en las piedras milenarias;
mercados, iglesias,
parques, museos,
pueblos y rancherías;
ciudades edificadas en la modernidad.
Música,
Deleites al paladar, cuentos y leyendas;
Tesoros en
Piezas únicas
Que surgen de las manos amorosas
de nuestros artesanos.

Y sobre todo
te invito a disfrutar
la calidez de mi gente,
su talento, su arte,
su gran generosidad.

Sé que pudiste haber elegido
Infinidad de lugares,
Pero decidiste venirme a visitar.
¡Estás en mi casa!
Soy tu anfitrión…
¡Bienvenido seas!

I am a Host
Poem written by Margarita Robleda

Welcome to my home, visitor
Mexico is my home.
What are you looking for?
What do you want?
That which you dream of,
you will find.

I have so much to share with you…
Natural beauty and thirty centuries of a
rich cultural heritage!

Beaches, deserts, mountains, ravines,
colonial cities;
endless history,
carved like filigree
in stones of millenia;
markets, churches,
parks, museums,
towns and ranches;
cities built in contemporary times.
Music,
Palatable delights, stories and legends;
Treasures in
Unique pieces of art
That arise from the loving hands
of our craftsmen.

And above all
I invite you to enjoy
the warmth of my people,
their talent, their art,
their immense generosity.

I know that you could have chosen
An infinity of places,
But you decided to come visit me.
You are in my house!
I am your host...
You are welcome!

1

The poem titled, Soy Anfitrion, I am a Host, is featured on the Mexican
Ministry of Tourism’s website known as SECTUR
(http://www.sectur.gob.mx/wb2/sectur/sect_Cultura_Turistica). The poem’s tone
expresses the relationship between hosts and guests in a Mexican context. While the
tone of the poem is hospitable and welcoming, it also expresses the pride and dignity
many Mexicans feel about themselves and their country. Though the visitor is
embraced and welcomed, they are also warned to respect Mexico and its people.
Although, the poem describes Mexico as a nation many of Mexico’s qualities
referenced in the poem can be applied specifically to Isla de Mujeres such as its
“natural beauty and thirty centuries of a rich cultural heritage.” Many tourists are
attracted to Isla for its natural beauty manifested in the pristine water of its beaches
and they also enjoy learning about the Mayan goddess Ixchel. Another phrase
applicable to Isla and why tourists visit it is for its “Music, palatable delights, stories
and legends.” The stories and legends surrounding the name of Isla de Mujeres
attract the curiousity of many visitors.
Therefore, the underlying discovery of this dissertation is the conscious,
intentional political project by the Mexican government and tourism officials at the
national, regional and local levels to promote an ideology of cultural citizenship that
emphasizes the notion of a clean and tidy citizen as a good host for tourists that visit
Isla de Mujeres (also referred to as Isla). Anthropologists Aihwa Ong deconstructs
the concept of citizenship by defining cultural citizenship as a “set of cultural beliefs
and practices produced out of negotiating the often ambivalent and contested
relations with the state and its hegemonic forms that establish the criteria for

2
belonging within a national population and territory (1999:738).” She sees
subjectification as a cultural process that happens through surveillance, discipline,
control, and administration.
This dissertation also explores how the ideology of cultural cleanliness is
received and interpreted by the inhabitants of Isla de Mujeres. Isla de Mujeres is a
small island located about a 20 minute ferry or boat ride from Cancun in the state of
Quintana Roo which is part of the Mexican Caribbean. What is underlined in the
commentary of Isleños is the racialization of cleanliness based on an ideology of a
biological lineage having to do with a purity of blood or limpieza de sangre
(cleanliness of blood) brought to New Spain/Mexico by Spanish conquistadores. It
is what historian Maria Elena Martinez (2004) calls a religious-cum-racial Spanish
colonial ideology grounded in Spanish Old Christian blood. Racialization involves a
particularly virulent form of marginalization which often invokes physical
appearance to reinforce it. When an inhabitant of Isla appears dirty or unclean they
are marginalized and are considered less civilized and dirty. Both the categories of
uncivilized and dirty are usually associated with those who are indigenous or Indian,
and in the context of Isla such individuals are also referred to as Mestiz@. This
dissertation explores how tourism augments the need for Isleños to be “clean”, that
is, to present an appropriate cleanliness for the tourists who visit Isla de Mujeres.
In this chapter, Isla de Mujeres is briefly introduced, as well as the theoretical
foundations of this dissertation. A general description of each chapter is given as
well a description of this ethnographic study. In Chapter II, I explore Isla’s cultural
identity by unpacking the island’s name. In particular, I explore identity issues of

3
who can claim native Isleño status or an authentic Isleño identity and who cannot
claim such a status, such as recently-arrived migrants from various regions of the
Yucatan and tourists from abroad. The exploration of local Isleño identity focuses
on who can trace their heritage to the founders of Isla and who is considered
“civilized” enough to claim such a heritage. In other words, even though many
Isleños are bio-racially a mixture of indigenous and European/Spaniard blood, many
Isleños choose to acknowledge their European/Spaniard heritage and diminish or
deny their indigenous roots because of Mexico’s history of categorizing that which is
“Indian” as dirty, poor, uneducated, and uncivilized. The key word in these
stereotypes is the term dirty and how the racialization of cleanliness is deployed to
distinguish both pure racial heritage and upper social and economic class.
In Chapter III, I discuss the political project sponsored by institutions of the
state, such as local government agencies and the tourism office, to craft Isleños as
good hosts and ideal citizens. The Mexican government and tourist officials created
a marketing and educational campaign, such as murals that serve as billboards, radio
commercials, and a children’s school book, to educate Isleños about the importance
of being a good host as part of providing excellent service to visitors. I also explore
the role of the state and its institutions in promoting a cultural citizenship ideology
that being a good host is an ideal citizen. One of the critical components of this
ideology is to promote cleanliness as part of providing a responsible and ideal
service to tourists.
In Chapter IV the notion of cleanliness is further connected to the political
project and cultural citizenship ideology driven by providing the visitor a positive

4
image of the island and its inhabitants in order to increase the island’s economic
revenue through an increase in the number of tourists who visit Isla. This ideology is
utilized by youth groups such as Mi Planeta Azul (My Blue Planet) and La Patrulla
Verde (The Green Patrol) to teach youth about the importance of keeping their island
clean. Such groups sponsor art contests that speak to the island’s image and the
maintenance of its natural beauty through environmentalism.

Isla de Mujeres: A Brief Introduction
Due to the number of tourists visiting Mexico, in particular Isla de Mujeres,
the Mexican government has a vested interest in creating a touristic culture or
cultura turística. Table 1 demonstrates the increase of tourists to the Mexican
Caribbean from the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005.
TABLE 1. Quintana Roo State Tourism Numbers
Location Tourists
2004 2005
Destination
Jan- March Jan - March
CANCÚN 859,262 983,479
COZUMEL 122,395 134,642
CHETUMAL 46,641 63,918
ISLA MUJERES 52,874 58,848
RIVIERA MAYA 600,761 655,370
STATE TOTAL 1,681,933 1,896,257
Source: http://www.sectur.gob.mx/wb2/sectur. Accessed on 02/13/2006.
According to SECTUR, Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism, the definition of
cultura turística or touristic culture in the Mexican context translates as follows:
Es así que al hablar de la "Cultura Turística" estaremos
haciendo referencia a la participación de las personas en
la búsqueda de mejores condiciones para hacer posible la
actividad turística; lo que implica el compromiso de conocerla

5
para contribuir a su fortalecimiento y poder obtener de ella los
beneficios que es capaz de generar, dedicándole la atención
necesaria para convertirla en la actividad sustentable que
debe ser.

When we speak of the touristic culture we are making a
reference to the participation of people looking for possible
ways to generate more tourist activity; this implies the commitment
to learn about tourism in order to contribute to its growth and
in order to benefit from its amenities, dedicating the necessary
attention to develop tourism into the sustainable activity that
it should become.
SECTUR: http://www.sectur.gob.mx/wb2/sectur/sect_9070_breviario_de_cultura;
Accessed on 02/13/2006.

A major part of Isla de Mujeres’s history involves the actual name, Island of
the Women, which is explored in more detail in Chapter II. Many versions of this
history begin with the Maya and how the island served as a sanctuary for the goddess
Ixchel, the Mayan Goddess of fertility, reason, medicine, and the moon. Ixchel’s
temple was located at the South point of the island and was also used as a lighthouse.
The light from torches was visible through holes in the walls, which could be seen by
the navigators at sea. The Mayans also migrated to the island to harvest salt from the
salt lagoons.
In March of the year 1517, Francisco Hernández Córdova discovered the
island. When the Spanish expedition landed, they found many female shaped idols
representing the goddess Ixchel, thus the name Isla de Mujeres.
During Lent of 1517 Francisco Hernandez de Cordova sailed
from Cuba with three ships to procure slaves for the mines...
(others say he sailed to discover new lands). He landed on Isla
de las Mujeres, to which he gave this name because the idols he
found there, of the goddesses of the country, "Ixchel" and her
daughters and daughter-in-laws "Ixchebeliax", "Ixhunie",
"Ixhunieta", only vestured from the girdled down, and having
the breast uncovered after the manner of the Indians. The building

6
was of stone, such as to astonish them, and they found certain
objects of gold which they took.
Friar Diego de Landa, 1516 (as cited in de las Casas, 1982)

For the next three centuries Isla de Mujeres was uninhabited. The only
visitors were passing fisherman and meandering pirates who used Isla as a refuge
and left their women on the island "for safekeeping" while they sailed the high seas.
Famous pirates such as Henry Morgan and Jean Lafitte walked the shores of Isla and
as legend proclaims, buried their stolen treasure under the white sands. After the
Independence of Mexico in 1821, a small village began in what is now downtown
Isla de Mujeres (see Figure 1). During the casta wars from 1847 to 1901 many
Mayans took refuge on islands off the coast, such as Cozumel and Holbox, as well as
Isla de Mujeres. Mayan fisherman found the waters around the island to be a
fisherman's paradise and the village slowly grew. In August of 1850, the governor of
the State of Yucatan, Don Miguel Barbacano, named the village Pueblo de Dolores.
This became the island’s official name until it was later changed to Isla de Mujeres.
Isla de Mujeres is situated in the easternmost point of Mexico. As is the
frontier of eastern Mexico, a Mexican Naval base was established there in 1949. The
bases’s presence on the island brings migrants from all over the Yucatan and other
regions of Mexico to island. In the mid 1970s, the Mexican government and private
investors, mostly bankers, began the development of a tourist destination named
Cancun. Long before Cancun became a popular tourist destination, Isla de Mujeres
extended its arms to tourists from around the world. Some older residents of the
island tell stories of tourists signaling from a make-shift dock near where Puerto

7
Juarez stands today. The sons of local fisherman would take small launches over to
the mainland and pick up visitors for their stay on the island. Eventually, Isla
established a regular ferry service, making runs to Puerto Juarez once or twice a day,
and in the last few years, every half hour.
Fishing was still the main source of income until the mid-1970s to early
1980s, when the tourism industry became the largest part of the island’s economy. In
1988 Hurricane Gilbert hit the island and partially destroyed the Mayan temple of
Ixchel on the south point. Tremendous improvements to the island took place during
the 1990s, including an extensive drainage and sewer system, electrical and phone
service to the various colonias (neighborhoods), paved streets that allow rainwater to
drain, and a high school. The people of Isla de Mujeres are proud of their history
and hold dear to their hearts the magic of their island and its promising future.
FIGURE 1. Map of Mexican Caribbean

8
FIGURE 2. Map of Isla de Mujeres

FIGURE 3. Map of Downtown Isla de Mujeres

Source: http://www.isla-mujeres.net/home.htm Accessed on February 07, 2007.

9
Isla’s Demographics
In 2005, 15,499 Isleños inhabited Isla de Mujeres, 8,125 males and 7,374
females, Isleños make up 1.3% of the state of Quintana Roo’s total population with
an annual growth of 4.95% (see Table 2). According to the state’s civil registry,
there were 319 registered births, 276 marriages, 20 divorces, and 20 deaths in Isla de
Mujeres in 2005. The gender breakdown of the island is 47.89% women and 62.42%
males, which ironically does not necessarily reflect the legend or myth of the island’s
name as island of the women (see Figure 2).
FIGURE 4. Gender Breakdown
MUJERES
47.58%
HOMBRES
52.42%

Source: Published in Demographic Population Projections 2004.

10

TABLE 2. Total Population of Isla de Mujeres
by Location (Colonias) and Gender
Area
Code
Location TOTAL Males Females
003 ISLA MUJERES 15.499 8124 7375
0001 ISLA MUJERES 13735 7097 6638
0118 BOCA IGLESIA 59 52 7
0258 BONSAI 12 8 4
0115 CABO CATOCHE 12 8 4
0054 CHACMOCHUK 5 4 1
0201 CRISTAL MAR 8 5 3
0062 FRACCIONAMIENTO LAGUNA MACAX 57 32 25
0352 FRANCISCO MAY 201 112 89
0219 GARRAFON DE CASTILLA 23 12 11
0191 HACIENDA PUNTA SAM 24 14 10
0197 HACIENDA GOMAR 13 10 3
0060 INDIO'S 25 14 11
0103 ISLA BLANCA 68 49 19
0373 JORGE PUERTO VALENCIA 28 16 12
0222 KILOMETRO CINCO PUNTO CINCO 19 8 11
0298 LOMA ISLA BONITA 23 11 12
0323 MANGLAR, EL 71 44 27
0221 MAR TURQUESA 54 27 27
0095 MECO, EL 12 7 5
0224 MUNDACA 47 25 22
0193 PLAYA MILE 19 14 5
0092 PUNTA SAM 244 122 122
0093 RANCHO VIEJO 21 14 7
0198 REFUGIO 5 4 1
0311 SAMUEL ROSALES 18 10 8
0277 ULTIMO SUSPIRO, EL 12 7 5
0286 ZONA URBANA EJIDO ISLA MUJERES 48 26 22
EN LOCALIDADES DE DOS VIVIENDAS 420 253 167
EN LOCALIDADES DE DOS VIVIENDAS 216 119 97

Source: Published in Proyecciones Demográficas del Consejo Estatal de Población 2005.

Due to Mexico’s dichotomous history of racial lineage where on one end of
the spectrum is the Spaniard and on the other end is the Indian and/or African, one
form of defining ethnicity is through the linguistic affiliation of predominantly

11
indigenous groups. On the Mexican census form, one is asked to identify if one
speaks Spanish or an indigenous language or both. Many scholars argue that this
indicator is misleading since many indigenous people refuse to acknowledge their
use of an indigenous language for fear of discrimination. Anthropologist Michael
Kearney (1996), states that ethnicity emerges in different forms in different
situations. One form is the romantic notion of nationhood and national identities
inscribed in language and folk culture. In the journal Latin America Perspectives
(1996) which focuses on the relationship between ethnicity and class, Kearney
defines ethnicity as a social identity that evolves in response to historical and
structural conditions. Thus a group can define itself as indigenous without practicing
traditional cultural traits merely by claiming such an identity and by being identified
as such by others.
While such progressive notions of ethnicity are emerging in academic
contexts, in the everyday lived Mexican context, ethnicity is still constructed in two
primary forms. One of the primary forms is the ethnic classification system based on
the Iberian and European concepts of ethnicity brought to Mexico by the Spaniard
conquistadores. The secondary form is a community-based orientation of ethnic
identity derived from a localized allegiance, and as a “result of a political structure
literally forced upon indigenous peoples combined with their own resistance to
outside force” (Nagengast & Kearney 1990:74). These outside forces include
regional, national and global factors that foster new and/or broader forms of ethnic
expression.

12
Given the multiple forms of defining ethnicity in a Mexican context, one
source that many scholars refer to is census data that is self reported. According to
the annual report for the state of Quintana Roo published by the Instituto Nacional
de Estadistica Geografia E Informatica (INEG) (National Institute of Geography and
Information, 2005), ethnicity is based on linguistic affiliation. Table 3 demonstrates
that out of a total population of 755,442 people in the state of Quintana Roo 173,592
speak an indigenous language. 1,578 of such individuals live on Isla de Mujeres. Of
the total population of 9,687 reported on Isla de Mujere in the 2000 Mexican census
about 15.2% speak an indigenous language. The figures from this source are lower
than the population figure of 15,499 stated from another source in Table 2. For
purposes of this dissertation, I make use of such figures to demonstrate that in the
state of Quintana Roo about one quarter of the state’s population reports speaking an
indigenous language on their census application. Out of the 9,687 reported
inhabitants of Isla de Mujeres who filed their census, 8,054 people do not speak an
indigenous language which means that 1, 633 Isleños either speak both Spanish and
indigenous language or chose to not specify if they speak an indigenous language.
This dichotomy of who speaks Spanish and who speaks an indigenous language
supports the first form of how ethnicity is constructed on Isla de Mujeres which asks
people to place themselves on the constrictive continuum of either identifying with
being Indian or Spanish or somewhere in between, a dichotomy that invokes a social
history tainted with issues of class as it relates to race. The monolingual Indian
continues to be categorized both racially and culturally as inferior to the Mexican

13
who speaks Spanish exclusively. Thus, ethnicity continues to demarcate issues of
class and social status in modern day Mexico.
TABLE 3. Population of 5 and More Years of Age by Location and Sex
Reported to Speak an Indigenous Language in Quintana Roo

Speaks an Indigenous Language
Location
& Sex

Total
Speaks
Spanis
h
Does Not
Speak
Spanish
Does Not
Specify
Does Not
Speak
Indigenous
Language
Does
Not
Specify
Language
STATE TOTAL 755 442 159 170 12 713 1 709 578 548 3 302
HOMBRES 386 927 87 602 4 742 647 292 219 1 717
MUJERES 368 515 71 568 7 971 1 062 286 329 1 585

BENITO JUÁREZ 362 738 53 792 316 587 306 139 1 904
HOMBRES 186 090 29 673 93 200 155 137 987
MUJERES 176 648 24 119 223 387 151 002 917

COZUMEL 52 083 9 106 43 138 42 582 214
HOMBRES 26 926 5 189 15 41 21 577 104
MUJERES 25 157 3 917 28 97 21 005 110

FELIPE
CARRILLO
PUERTO 51 661 31 212 7 422 137 12 749 141
HOMBRES 26 096 16 849 2 774 49 6 349 75
MUJERES 25 565 14 363 4 648 88 6 400 66

ISLA MUJERES 9 687 1 537 10 31 8 054 55
HOMBRES 5 103 882 4 10 4 176 31
MUJERES 4 584 655 6 21 3 878 24

JOSÉ MARÍA
MORELOS 26 564 16 388 1 635 105 8 316 120
HOMBRES 13 685 8 755 684 49 4 132 65
MUJERES 12 879 7 633 951 56 4 184 55

LÁZARO
CÁRDENAS 17 546 9 133 935 86 7 335 57
HOMBRES 9 155 5 022 319 30 3 754 30
MUJERES 8 391 4 111 616 56 3 581 27

OTHÓN P.
BLANCO 182 048 23 962 595 400 156 547 544
HOMBRES 90 876 12 912 189 156 77 343 276
MUJERES 91 172 11 050 406 244 79 204 268

SOLIDARIDAD 53 115 14 040 1 757 225 36 826 267
HOMBRES 28 996 8 320 664 112 19 751 149
MUJERES 24 119 5 720 1 093 113 17 075 118

14
Source: INEGI. Quintan Roo, XII Censo General, Anuario Estatdistico, 2005

On Isla de Mujeres, issues of race, class and ethnicity are augmented by the
views of the tourists. Tourism influences issues of identity as it relates to ethnicity
by demarcating a line between native Isleños and those who have migrated to the
island from other parts of the state of Quintana Roo or its neighboring state of the
Yucatan to work in the tourism industry on the island and in Cancun. Isleños who
consider themselves and claim a native identity consider these migrants as more
Indian because of their educational level, darker skin, and their ability to speak an
indigenous language. The opportunity to earn a living as a tourist worker or in a
service capacity working in a hotel, restaurant, or tourist commerce attracts such
individuals to the island.
According to Figure 5, the largest occupational industries in the state of
Quintana Roo and the urban area of Cancun are commerce, hotel,
restaurants, and diverse services. These categories support the thesis that most
people are employed in occupations that directly and indirectly cater to tourists and a
tourist infrastructure. Therefore, the image of a clean, friendly, and civilized
population is important for a thriving tourism industry which needs to employ
service workers in commerce, hotels, and restaurants. This point was substantiated
by conducting the ethnographic project on Isla de Mujeres that is described in the
following section

15
Figure 5. Percentage of Employed Population in Quintana Roo and the Urban
Area of Cancun by Economic Activity from October to December
2004.

Source: INEG Quintana Roo, XII Censo General Anuario Estasdistico, 2005

16
Methodology
My experience with Isla Mujeres began with a trip there in 2000 on a “second
honeymoon” with my partner. At this time I was exploring where to conduct my
fieldwork as well as applying for grants to fund ethnographic research. After
successfully receiving funding, my first formal fieldwork experience lasted eight
months. This first research was followed by another six month stay in 2002 and
several two-week visits to Isla de Mujeres throughout the years of 2002 to 2005. In
total I have accumulated approximately two years of directed fieldwork exploring the
impact of tourism and the relationship between hosts and guests on Isla de Mujeres.
I conducted seventy four formal interviews with forty-two adults including
parents, teachers, administrators, tourist industry employees and government
officials that total approximately 111 hours. I also conducted thirty-two interviews
with children and youths from ages 5 to 17 years old. Aside from conducting
interviews that ranged in format from open-ended, structured and semi-structured
and living on Isla de Mujeres, other methodologies used in this research project are
content and semiotic analyses of various types of data including billboards,
childrens’ artwork, and a children’s school book. The focus of this ethnography is
both on the emic perspective of how Isleños perceive their world and their identity in
this world as well as the emic perspective which is reflected to Isleños by the tourists
who visit and the impressions of Isleños that they take with them. The etic
perspectives are the government official’s ideology and the analytical categories I
employ in this dissertation. Based on the information gathered about both emic and
etic perspectives, a major part of the analysis focuses on tacit knowledge and I argue

17
that Isleños’ perceptions of cleanliness in hygiene and their island is grounded on
their conscious ideology of race founded on a historical legacy of colonization by
Euro-Spaniards of the indigenous population of Mexico.

Who Am I, “Halfie” and/or a Native Ethnographer?
The first time I was introduced to Isla de Mujeres was via a postcard mailed
to me by a female friend who had visited the island while on vacation. When I saw
that there was an island named after women in a Mexican territory I was thrilled and
in some bizarre manner I felt empowered as a Mexican woman to have an island
named after my gender.
The second instance was on a honeymoon trip to Cuba in the spring of 1999.
While on our honeymoon, once our Cuban hosts discovered that I was Mexican, they
would speak so highly of their sister island since Isla de Mujeres is just an hour and
half boat ride away from Cuba. By sharing their positive thoughts about the island
of women they expressed an affinity toward me that I had not expected, yet one that
made me feel proud once again about being a Mexican woman.
At this time, I also became interested in the impact of tourism on a particular
community. My partner and I were advised to stay within a tourist district area
where our five-star hotel was located. This area was dedicated solely to tourists and
there were plenty of restaurants, stores with modern clothes and groceries from all
over the world that reflected the origins of theinternational tourists who visited Cuba.
The currency of choice was the U.S. dollar and the exchange rate was quite a bit
higher compared to when we ventured out of this tourist district, which once again

18
was not advised by hotel officials. As we did not want to feel sequestered in one
particular area, we decided to explore other areas of the island. The first major
difference that I noticed between the area that catered exclusively to tourists and
those that did not was the economic disparity between the two. Cubans had fewer
options and less access to food, clothing, and other materials which were mostly
rationed and quite limited. One of our Cuban hosts explained that if they as taxi
drivers, restaurant owners, etc. were caught providing a service to a tourist without a
legal permit, they would get fined or their business and/or goods would be
confiscated. The monitoring or implementation of such a policy varied and it was
not clear what criteria were used. For example, we observed that taxi drivers driving
an older car, such as a 1950s model, rarely stopped to pick us up; instead, taxi drivers
driving recent model cars or luxury vehicles such as a Mercedes Benz, would offer
their services.
One interaction in particular made me quite curious about issues of tourism
and the relationship between tourist/guest and host. My partner and I were standing
at a bus stop waiting to board the bus with other Cuban nationals and I started a
conversation with a Cuban woman who was also waiting for the bus. Our
conversation led me to ask her how she could tell that I was a “Latina” and why my
husband as an “African American” and I could not pass for locals or people living in
Cuba, but instead appeared as tourists or foreigners. The woman simply replied that
we “smelled” differently or foreign. She added that not many tourists would choose
to ride the bus because they could easily afford other means of transportation. So
just by the mere fact that we were trying to pass as locals by riding the bus as most

19
Cubans do made us stand apart to a greater degree since it was rare for tourists to
ride the bus. Ironically, our attempt and intent to fit in with local practices made us
stand out even more so as tourists or foreigners.
This brief conversation made me aware of some assumptions I hold as a
Mexican who immigrated to the United States at the age of four. I feel privileged to
carry a U.S. passport as a citizen of a first world country and I also feel privileged to
speak Spanish and claim my Mexican identity. Due to this hybrid identity, I
assumed I could use my Spanish language and my Latina appearance and fit in with
my Cuban hosts. My experience in Cuba proved me wrong as the Cuban woman at
the bus stop pointed out the differences between the two of us. My conversation
with her, as well as our overall experience as honeymooners in Cuba, left a mark on
my psyche about the issues of power, access, and privilege between those who can
travel abroad (tourists) and those who for whatever reason can not travel abroad or
have to travel by less desirable means within their own community.
Therefore, on our second honeymoon trip we decided to visit Isla de Mujeres
and explore the positive comments about the island that were shared by our Cuban
hosts. Our first trip to Isla was in the Spring of 2000. We were there as official
honeymooners on a honeymoon all inclusive package, in other words, as typical
tourists. We stayed in a four-star hotel, rented a moped, and frequented the tourist
sites. As part of our daily expeditions by moped around the island, my eye caught
sight of some murals that served the purpose of billboards directed towards the
citizens of Isla. All of the seven murals we saw included some form of promoting
both the benefits of tourism and the importance of cleanliness. Therefore these

20
murals were suggesting that if the locals were clean and maintained a clean and tidy
island then the tourist would want to return and would spread a positive impression
of the island abroad. Then even more tourists would visit and more economic
revenue would be generated by the tourist industry. Through tourism, Isleños and
their island would prosper. I discuss this in more detail in Chapter III. During this
visit I also met with the island’s archivist and curator, Fidel Villanueva Madrid and
briefly discussed the possibility of conducting an ethnographic project on Isla. He
welcomed the idea and eventually he became one of my main informants and
friends.
The messages on the murals were intended only for the locals of Isla de
Mujeres. They were written in Spanish and placed on walls in the colonias or
neighborhoods outside of the avenues that tourists would frequent. A tourist would
have to go “off the beaten path” in order to see one of the murals and if you did you
would not necessarily pay attention to them since they were clearly designed to
attract the local’s attention. In other words, they were not selling any product or
featuring an icon per se that a foreigner would be familiar with. But as a tourist
trying to have an authentic local experience I was quite intrigued by the murals and
their messages. I consider myself a Mexican American woman heavily informed by
my immigrant experience; my Mexican side affords me some intuitive insight, yet as
an American citizen with a U.S. passport when traveling in Mexican territory I am
perceived as having an entitlement and priviliges. What differentiates me from
Islenos is that I am from a small rural village in the state of Jalisco which is not near
an ocean but in the center of the country. Jalisco is known amongst Mexicans and

21
abroad for its Mariachi music, tequila and the people from this state are known for
the shape of their eyes as wider, and rounder. Amongst Mexicans familiar with these
regional differences there is an understanding of disimiliarities and familiarities
based on geography, climate, and localisms. Thus my hope and intent in this
dissertation is to balance the fine line between participant researcher and academic
scholar in a manner that does not categorize, stereotype, or speak for all Isleños
living on Isla de Mujeres, nor as a representation of Mexico or the Mexican people.
I will own my observations as mine, the producer of a mixed or “halfie” identity and
contribute to the discussion about identity, race, class, and empire as consequences
of a global phenomenon such as tourism.
According to Anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod (1991), people whose national
or cultural identity is mixed by virtue of migration, overseas education, or parentage
are considered “halfies”. Her description of the insider/outsider position is useful in
expressing a sentiment of divided loyalties and beliefs. Yet, the term “halfie”
reinforces the idea that cultures are static and separate, and overlooks the blurring of
cultural boundaries both intrinsic and extrinsic. Am I a halfie because I was born in
a small village in Mexico, yet brought to the U.S. by my parents who sought the
American Dream and a better future for their nine children? The term halfie
suggests a pull between two cultures that are distinct and separate. Yet, in light of
modern forces such as media, commerce, and tourism that enforce cultural
interaction and pollination, such a term does not connotate the blurring of
distinctions and demarcation of separateness.

22
I also grapple with my identity as a native ethnographer positioned between
different and sometimes antagonistic worldviews. As ethnographer and media
scholar Marwan Kraidy elaborates, “Native ethnographers articulate this intimate
native knowledge with global discourses by enacting a hybrid posture and as an
enunciative modality”. Moreover, “native ethnography is able to show that hybridity
is not a contradiction of identity, but its quotidian, inevitable, systematic condition”
(2002:337). As a scholar of color conducting research in a familiar yet unfamiliar
place, I am less concerned with labels and definition of terms, and more interested in
how who I represent to others influences the production of knowledge. In the
Methodology of the Oppressed, Chela Sandoval (2000) urges researchers to look for
lines of affinity between different posthumanist and postcolonial scholarship in order
to contribute to a redefined decolonizing theory and method. How can I as a “halfie”
or native ethnographer conducting “home” work re-imagine research in an
international, transnational context where “home” is not a geographical place of land
but a place of mind, heart, and soul? As anthropologist Ruth Behar asks, “how far
can one go between shuttling back and forth across these borders without losing
everything in translation” (1993:339)?
I see myself as tearing down dualisms and dwelling in a place of perpetual
ambiguity. I embrace this ambiguity as a praxis or research method in the
production of knowledge. I identify with a poststructuralist approach to discussing
identity which argues that individuals have not one single, fixed essence, but that
they construct multiple identities in a process of refining and reworking values,
beliefs and ways of seeing the world. I am conscious of constructing my multiple

23
identities in relation to different environments and contexts. As a multicultural
individual my definition of multiculturalism is the consciousness of how identities
are influenced by culture and socialization driven by a choice to construct an actively
intercultural and anti-racist role. This activist awareness gave me the insight to
uncover that Isleños choose to associate class with ethnicity as a way to differentiate
bio-racial lineage.
My critical reflexivity is what I term a referential consciousness that I define
as a point of reference that taps a component of my identity on demand. As a
Mexican American woman who lives the immigrant experience in the US, I have
multiple and complex points of reference. My referential consciousness as a woman
born into a traditional Mexican Catholic family serves to build an affinity or
solidarity with Isleños based on lineage and kinship. As an U.S. educated woman I
am aware of formal and informal practices of oppression that build on this
ethnic/political solidarity, yet it also works alongside complex forms of intersecting
oppressions and power in ethnographic research. How is solidarity created within
the myriad forms of domination inherent in the fieldwork experience? One of the
limitations of my referential consciousness is that I cannot control how systems of
domination operate within my ethnographic project. However, through rigorous
reflexivity while conducting and producing research I am called to task to use my
privilege and heightened awareness to connect across both domination and solidarity.
Another inherent limitation in conducting anthropological research on tourism is
being perceived simply as a guest with privileges, rather than a participant observer.

24
Anthropologist as Tourist
Was I a closet ethnographer on tour, or a closet tourist doing ethnography?
Was Sidney Mintz correct, that 'we are all tourist (1977:59) the ambiguity
of it all was upsetting.
Bruner, 1995:211
Another component of doing research on tourism is the inherent position of
ethnographer as tourist. In this case, although I am Mexican and speak Spanish,
because of my privilege of carrying a U.S. passport, and my educational capital, I
was perceived as a “tourist conducting research.” Even though I was intuitively able
to perceive situations from an “insider’s perspective” I was not accepted as an
insider. Since I was involved in many activities that the typical tourist to Isla would
undertake, I was perceived by the locals as a tourist conducting fieldwork.

Metaphor continues to be employed within anthropology and tourism studies
to compare and contrast the role of the ethnographer/researcher/scholar with that of
the tourist and traveler. Witness the following excerpts from various anthropologists
and their comparisons between anthropology and tourism:
Anthropologists and tourists seem to have a lot in common. Both spend
Time exploring the cultural productions and rituals of society, and both
carry the status of outsider as they make forays into the lives of others. Though as
anthropologists we may loath to admit any relationship to the sandal-footed,
camera-toting legions in our midst, the truth is that tourism can be an ideal context
for studying issues of political economy, social change and development, natural
resource management, and cultural identity and expression. Indeed, many of the
major questions that concern cultural anthropologists appear in the study of tourism.
Stronza, 2001, p.262

In formal terms, the tourist and sociocultural anthropologist
share a common filiation, one that includes the explorer, the
crusader, the missionary, and the trader (Fussell, 1980, p. 39; Smith, 1989b).
The spatiotemporal strategy of 'extopy,' to employ Bakhtin's term is
common to them all: to leave a bounded region designed as 'home,'
to come into contact with a cultural other, and to return with some
sign of gain (or loss) reflecting the experience (Bakhtin, 1981; Harkin, 1988).
What remains fundamentally distinct to each enterprise is especially
evident in Xenology---the conventional ideological structure placed

25
as a frame on all experience of the other---specific to each modality
of encountering the other (Harbsmeier, 1985). This realm offers a rich
area of comparison and contrast between anthropology and tourism.
Harkin, 1995, pp. 650-651

We have also problematized the role of the tourist (Amirou, 1995), but
where we have done the least in tourism studies is to analyze the identity
of those who study tourism, the researchers. We study voyeurism of
the tourist but not the voyeurism of the researcher studying
tourists (Walkerdine, 1986). In many fields, including anthropology, we
no longer regard the research scientist as a politically detached objective observer
who studies other people from a neutral position. …Rather than factor out the
personal from the scientific, recent ethnographers have celebrated it (Narayan,
1989; Lavie, 1990; Kondo, 1990).
Bruner, 1995, p. 205

Edward M. Bruner (1995) focuses on the differences between the
ethnographer and tourist, even when he himself uses the metaphor of the
ethnographer as tourist guide and says that this role and the occupying of multiple
roles in studying tourism as ethnographer, as tourist, and as a tour guide gives him a
vantage point in discussing the differences between ethnographer and tourist. Bruner
acknowledges the challenge of avoiding the obvious differences that "…
ethnography is science, authentic, and work, whereas tourism is commercial,
inauthentic, and play” (1995:217). It is important to articulate such differences
between ethnographer and tourist because of the task at hand in establishing the
credibility of this ethnographic project.
Devaluating the tourist’s experience as inauthentic is based on
anthropologists regarding social science ethnography as the only kind of work by
which culture can adequately be interpreted. Fieldwork that requires dwelling
among the Other differentiates the scholarly trained ethnographer from a tourist.
Clifford (1997) questions such fixity of fieldwork because it disguises the travel
aspect of an anthropologist’s work. On the other hand, Bruner stipulates that the

26
main difference between the tourist and ethnographer is the different modes of
understanding based predominantly on fieldwork or "hanging out" which implies
more time in the presence of those visited than the temporal and immediate
experience of the tourist; "For us being there is just the start of a long process of
taking field notes, analyzing, writing, revising, and presenting” (Bruner, 1995, p.
218). Thus, the question of authenticity also applies to the researcher not, just
her/his subject.
According to Bruner, “tourism is primarily visual, ethnography verbal:
tourists surrender, ethnographer’s stuggle (1995:210).” Anthropologists also have a
political responsibility to the people they visit or the accounts they produce. Based
on his fieldwork experience in Indonesia, Bruner concludes by exploring the fine line
between what is performed for outsiders as part of a tourist spectacle and what is
performed for themselves that eventually blurs the line between what is entirely
touristic and what is ethnographic. He states that, “Balinese culture---the stuff of
ethnography---is itself becoming contaminated with the touristic predicament”
(Bruner, 1995:215).
This predicament of what constitutes a touristic culture---tourism’s influence
over local culture (Picard, 1996:129) versus authentic culture can also apply to the
influence that the researcher/ethnographer has on a culture solely by her/his presence
in the field. Ellen Strain (1996) suggests that there is an inherent “touristic viewing”
in the development of anthropology. She tracks the evolution of tourism and
anthropology along parallel lines. She compares the “ethnographic gaze” of the
Western scientist to the “tourist gaze” of predominantly Western tourists/travelers

27
noting that in each there is a “power” dynamic at play as to who can gaze and who
cannot. Urry (1990) states, “tourism results from a basic binary division between the
ordinary/everyday and the extraordinary” (p.11). In order to make a particular
experience function as a tourist experience there must be something extraordinary to
gaze upon.
Unlike in the past when the habitus of fieldwork was defined against
that of travel, today, for reasons related to the postmodern concern
with the dissolving of boundaries between the personal and the professional, self
and Other, theory and experience the boundary between literary travel and academic
fieldwork, as well as between academic analysis and travel narrative, is
renegotiated. It is acknowledged that both travel and fieldwork-as-travel have had
to grapple with many similar problems like strangeness, privilege,
miscomprehension, and stereotyping. Overall, as the postmodern world because of
travel and mobility is undergoing continuous readjustment of cultural geographies,
the formerly stable distinctions between the familiar and the foreign, the self and
Other, as well as conventional views about the ‘field’ where anthropological
research takes place, have been undermined. A reaction to these conditions is an
increasing reorientation of the ethnographer’s gaze towards the self, as the
appropriate place for interpreting
cultural experience.
Galani-Moutafi, 2000, pp. 216-217

As Galani-Moutafi (2000) suggests above, there is a trend for ethnographers
to practice reflexivity and acknowledge the self’s agenda in researching the other
that is now at the forefront of academic scholarship instead of as an afterthought.
Within the social sciences, scholars have acknowledged their role and begun to
question, if not celebrate, it:
The similarities between tourism and ethnography have been explored with irony
and insight by Crick (1995). Both tourists and ethnographers travel to foreign areas,
reside there temporarily, observe native peoples, and return with accounts and
stories of their observations. Tourism and ethnography (and colonialism) are
relatives (Graburn, 1983), as they arise from the same social formation and are
different forms of expansion into the Third World. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1987, p.
59) regards ‘tourism as a species of ethnographic discourse’.
Bruner, 1995:211
The intimate relationship between gazer---whether an ethnographer or tourist---and
the gazee questions the role of the “native’s gaze” and how the native’s perception of

28
self provides insight into the complex nature of conducting research on the impact of
tourism. Literary scholar Mary Louise Pratt suggests that ethnographers have used
the term “transculturation” to describe how “subordinated groups select and invent
from materials transmitted to them by a dominant or metropolitan culture. While
subjugated peoples cannot readily control what emanates from the dominant culture,
they do determine to varying extents what they absorb into their own and what they
use it for (Pratt, 1992). Anthropologist Quetzil Castaneda holds cultural
anthropologists accountable in the production of knowledge as a scriptural truth as
well as the Mayans themselves for contributing to the “re” invention of the Maya as
the ever-present and eternalized indigenous other. In his book, In the Musuem of
Maya Culture: Touring Chichen Itza (1996), he suggests that within the history of
Mexican politics and Yucatec regionalism, the interplay between the local Maya
society, tourism, and anthropology has invented the Maya and embodied in this
invention is the ancient city of Chichen Itza.
Tourism as Praxis: Theoretical Foundations
Tourism and its impact on a place, people, and overall environment is
currently being conceptualized as not having a “totalizing” impact on a culture, but
instead as being a dialectical process that involves complicated interactions between
hosts and guests. Geographer and tourism scholar, Tim Oakes, (1999) asks us to
think about “tourism’s consumption of places as not just a globalizing force bearing
down upon a once-isolated community, but also the dynamic ways local cultural
meanings—which are themselves products of a dialogue between local and extra-

29
local cultural systems—wrap the tourism experience in an envelope of local meaning
(1999, 124).”
On Isla de Mujeres tourism is wrapped in an envelope of the importance of
cleanliness in promoting an appetizing image for tourists to enjoy. Islenos have
different persceptions of the tourists who visit their island. From the tourism,
government, hotel owner perspective they would prefer a high caliber tourist to visit
their island but they acknowledge that this is not the case. As Lilia Robles, the
owner of NaBalam a hotel that caters to tourists who want to escape the modern
world to a more bohemian hotel with no television sets in their room, states:
“The ideal tourist is the high paying tourist who values and pays for this beautiful
place. But the cheaper tourist is looking for a cheaper experience. (Personal
Interview, May 28, 2002).” This same informant stresses how the common tourist
such as Spring Breakers negatively influence the youth on the island who start to
imitiate the college students behavior and appearance such as sporting ear piercings,
tattoos, etc… She continues, “Luckily the Spring Breakers have been quartered to a
certain part of the island and mostly in Cancun so that they don’t have much contact
with our youth (Lilia Robles, Personal Interview May, 28, 2002).” One can argue
that this perception of Spring Breakers or the common tourist is unwarranted but this
sentiment was shared amongs tourist and government officials, teachers and the
youth who I interviewed. A former elementary school teacher who now serves as the
Secretary General in the President’s Office and oversees cultural and educational
policy on the island, David Avalos agrees with Lilia the hotel owner. While he
supports and sees the benefits that tourism generates he also speaks to parents,

30
children and youth asking them not to model the negative behavior that tourists bring
with them to the island such as drinking, smoking, walking around naked and doing
what they would do or wouldn’t do in their own backyard on Isla. Hugo Mendez,
the marketing manager for Cancun sees the ideal tourist for Isla would be
honeymooners looking for a romantic getaway. Although, he does not live on Isla
and is only responsible for marketing the benefits of tourism on Cancun he thinks
that Isla can do more to market to honeymooners as an “Isla de Amor” or “Island of
Love” (Personal Interview, June 21, 2002).
From a child’s perspective such as Frida Columba Molina Hernandez, a 9
year-old whose parents both work in the tourism sector as a souvenir shop vendor
and as a woman who braids hair on the beach, tourists are generally nice but
sometime they are unclean and throw their trash such as empty soda cans and
discarded chip bags on the ground versus into a trash can. She prefers tourists who
are “Gabauchos” or English-speaking versus domestic tourists from other parts of
Mexico because the “Gabauchos” buy stuff from her dad (Personal Interview
Janaury 26, 2004). Another elementary aged Isleno Rene Jesus Carrillo Torres sees
tourists mostly at the ferry carrying a lot of luggage and looking tired. He likes for
tourists to visit especially families with kids because he gets to play with the kids
(Personal Interview January 30, 2004).
The Spanish term limpieza or “cleanliness” structures the theoretical
foundations of this dissertation in two forms. The first form denotes the purity of
blood or limpieza de sangre and its racial connotations of a social class hierarchy
that still permeates Mexican society today based on claiming a Euro/Spaniard

31
biological heritage. The second form this term takes is its literal meaning of
cleanliness or hygiene as it pertains to an image or impression of an individual or
place. The major contribution of this dissertation is to analyze how the two are
interwoven to produce a racialization of cleanliness by which those that appear more
European in their appearance or in their biological lineage are perceived as cleaner or
more civilized than those whose complexion is darker and are perceived to be at the
bottom of the social class hierarchy. These latter individuals include lo indio (the
Indian), or in Isla’s case the Mestizo/a that is used interchangeably with Indian. This
aspect of the interchangeability of terms is further discussed in Chapter II of this
dissertation.
Related to the analysis of the racialization of cleanliness is the ideology of
“whiteness” and how it relates to colonization and modern day consequences of such
colonization. Feminist scholar Yancy explains, “Whiteness assumes to think and
speak for the entire world… Despite postmodernist and deconstructionist emphasis
on locating meaning within a system of differences, whiteness attempts to transcend
differences… By constituting itself as center, non-white voices are Othered,
marginalized and rendered voiceless. Whiteness creates a binary relationship of self-
other, subject-object, dominator-dominated, center-margin, universal-particular”
(Yancy 2000:157). Tourists who visit the island practice whiteness when they seek
out the primitive and exotic other to enjoy. At the national and regional level,
Mexican government officials practice whiteness by creating and promoting
campaigns of cleanliness that ascribe to a Euro-centric ideal of civilization based on
cleanliness. And at the local level, Isleños’ idea of whiteness is to differentiate

32
themselves from that which is Indio or Indian and appear modern, civilized, and
clean. Despite a postructuralist approach to discussing identity which argues that
individuals have not a single, fixed essence but that they construct multiple identites
in a process of refining and reworking values, beliefs and ways of seeing the world,
inhabitants of Isla continue to uphold the ideology of whitness brought over by the
Spaniards.
In the 16
th
century, the Spaniards brought their ideology of a limpieza de
sangre or a purity of blood in which the absence of Jewish or Muslim blood defined
an honorable Christian with them to Mexico. The Christian crusades against Islam
and Moorish Africa gave birth to the notion of limpieza de sangre, and was the
premise for the Spanish Inquisition. The Castilian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula
and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims created the seed of this ideology and the
justification for genocide of Jews, Muslims, never experienced before in Spain, but
also in New Spain the genocide of Native Americans (de las Casas, 1992). Based
on this ideology of the purity of blood, Spain organized a highly hierarchical society
in Mexico, or the New World as it was known at the time. This racist ideology of
white supremacy gave the conquistadores, Spanish priests and colonizers the right to
confiscate land and riches from the indigenous inhabitants of Mexico. It created a
class and social hierarchy based on skin color, thus allowing even the lowest class of
Spaniards in Spain to claim a higher position than the indigenous inhabitants of New
Spain. The Christian Spaniard could identify with the virtues of nobility even if it
was not in his blood. As noted by Alexander von Humboldt (1972) when referring
to Mexico, “any white person, although he rides his horse barefoot, imagines himself

33
to be the nobility of the country (p. 90)”. Historian Maria Elena Martines suggests
that New Spain’s race or caste system was inspired by the Spanish concept of
limpieza de sangre, referring to the status of having unsullied “Old Christian”
ancestry (2004:481).
The caste system, mostly explored through an analysis of paintings depicting
social categories such as mestizo, mulato, and zambo, was based on notions of race
and skin color. The mestizo was categorized as the racial mixture of Spaniard and
indigenous blood. The mulatto was distinguished as the mixture of Spanish and
Black/African descent. Lastly, the zambo were a mixture of Black and Indian.
These categories were not appearant in ordinary communication or everyday
interactions but instead were inherent in the social milleu of the time based on the
principal that grounded the theory of the racialization of cleanliness based on skin
color and appearance. These ideologies further suggested that Spanish or white
individuals were redeemable in the eyes of God as opposed to Blacks or Africans. In
other words, the purity of Spanish blood was inextricably linked to the idea of
“civilization” and conversely, Black blood bore the stigma of slavery, which
connoted atavism and degeneracy. Although, the application of the term race shifted
during Mexico’s colonial period, sometimes to denote biological ethnicity and
cultural alliances, it was inevitably used to identify distinctions between social and
economic class as well as the civilized and non-civilized. One counter example of
how the indigenous was represented and embraced by popular culture icons such as
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo during the early 1900s was the “Mexicanidad”

34
movement which consisted of Mexican intellectuals and artists “rediscovering
indigenous cultural values” for the sake of revolution (Weinbaum 1999:171).
In her book, Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial
Contest, historian Ann McClintock (1995) coins the term, “the poetics of
cleanliness” by which she means a poetics of social discipline in which the English
colonizers of the New World used myths and legends of native idleness, lassitude
and filth to succeed in expanding their empire. In other words, such categorizations
and stereotyping of the dirty native who needs to be washed in order to become a
part of a civilized society, promotes the consumption of Western commodities such
as soap. “Civilization is born at the moment of first contact with the Western
commodity (McClintock 1995).”
In her discussion of how English soap production serves as an allegory for
the whitewashing of empire, McClintock (1995) further argues that soap and
cleanliness offered the promise of spiritual salvation and regeneration through
commodity consumption, a regime of domestic hygiene that could restore and
maintain the imperial body politic and the white race (p. 211). Cleanliness
maintained a social order and boundaries through a fetishistic ritual that was
threatened by slums, smoke pollution, social and economic upheaval, imperial
competition, and anti-colonial resistance. For the English colonizers, the ideology of
cleanliness was grounded in the puritan religious belief that only the clean and
civilized deserved salvation. Furthermore, it was their Christian duty to clean and
civilize the dirty and sinful Native American.

35
Sigmund Freud (1975) demonstrated that myths and legends about the
absence of cleanliness and hygiene created an anxiety about contracting disease and
infections that might lead to one’s demise or in the case of culture and society to the
“dirtying” of one’s blood line or the “darkening” or disappearance of a lineage.
According to Freud (1975), the three requirements for a civilized society are
cleanliness, order, and beauty (p. 47). Hygiene and cleanliness are not only
necessities for a healthy composition but also as the aesthetic ideal. The appearance
of cleanliness not only attributed to the inhabitants of Isla but to the island itself is at
the forefront of tourist and government officials to portray to tourists. Such officials
believe that tourists who visit Mexico want to consume a sanitzed version of ther
experience of the exotic vacation or locale.
The conscious investment of Mexican government and tourism officials in
the education and socialization of its constituencies and their transformation into
civilized citizens for the purpose of economic prosperity through touris is further
explored in several marketing campaigns mostly geared towards children. These
campaigns are artifacts of popular culture that give us insight into the hegemonic
practices at hand. As stated by the director of the National School of Anthropology
and History in Mexico, Nestor Garcia Canclini, “Popular culture is an instrument to
understand, reproduce, and transform the social system in order to elaborate and
construct the hegemony of each class” (1984:17). Garcia Canclini focuses on the
production of crafts produced by Mexican artists and artisans who are mostly Indian
as hybrid products that demonstrate the intrusions of power characteristic of the
present local and global conjuncture. At the national level the Mexican state

36
promotes rural crafts production to limit rural to urban migration and encourages
tourism and trade in order to uplift the country’s economic level. The nation-state
urges marketing of artisan’s work as genuine Mexican crafts while suppressing the
plurality of its diverse ethnic communities as well as concealing the hardships and
history of such artisan workers (Garcia Canclini 1993:64).
Similar to Garcia Canclini’s study and arguments, this research dissertation
unpacks the ideology of cleanliness to promote tourism and economic development
by the Mexican government to expose issues of power, issues of inequity due to the
legacy of whiteness and colonization that are obscured by the rhetoric and semiotics
of a clean image and island as part of being an ideal host.

Semiotics of Being a Good Host
Irene Portis-Winner categorizes anthropologists as semiotic practitioners
“through structural anthropology (Levi-Strauss), interpretive anthropology that
captures descriptive ethnography (Eric Wolf, Benedict Anderson, Clifford Geertz),
and performance anthropology which captures the cultural values through the
native's inner point of view (Victor Turner, Clifford Geertz) (2002:42-43).”
Anthropologists who utilize the semiotics approach know that communication
implies a minimum of two interacting units, but that messages do not exclude auto-
communication and can be deduced from indirect and non-verbal signals such as
intonation, facial expression, and general bodily language (Portis-Winner, 2002:45).
Portis-Winner uses the interpretation of signs as her method of investigation to
uncover the meaning or semiotics of culture (2002:73):

37
A world of signs has constantly imbedded within it potential
power functions, implicit or explicit, subtle or obvious. But
we must avoid the trap of reducing signs to one function… It
is high time, then, for an investigation of how ideas, ideology,
and power intermesh, and how the many codes signify multiple
messages, implied or clear.

Semiotics is concerned with examining a system of signs in order to uncover the
recurring patterns and the various layers of meaning (Culler 1988:54-155).
Semiotics is the study of signs and sign systems. Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss
linguist, and Charles Sanders Peirce, an American philosopher, are considered the
founders of the field of semiotics (Echtner 2000: 48). Saussure characterized the
relationship between signifier (word) and the signified (object/concept) in the
following equation: Sign = Signifier ↔ Signified. Peirce not only applied the term
semiotics to verbal or language communication but also to nonverbal systems of
signification.
For example, a sign might consist of a physical object, such as
a sandy shoreline (signified), plus the associated signifier, the word ‘beach’
(or playa, strand, plage depending on the language spoken). Saussure
pointed out that meaning is generated and communicated through the
association between signifier and signified in the sign system.
Echtner 2000:48

Signs are things that stand for other things in our consciousness and behavior
as well as in the world of meaning that is shared through communication. In the life
of signs, signs are individual entities as they operate within larger groups that make
up codes, and as codes in turn operate within cultures. Signs generate messages
about one-self and interpret messages that others send about themselves in language,
myths, art works, rituals and related theatrical performances, artifacts, body-centered

38
displays such as hairstyles, facial expressions, dance, and other meaningful
expressions of what constitutes social life. Thus, the semiotic approach to social
phenomena encourages deeper insight or interpretation beyond the obvious, direct
and intentional levels to reveal the obscure, indirect and unintentional
communication of meaning. In addition to identifying the importance of patterns and
structures, such an approach stipulates that language is not only used in a literal
sense but also in a symbolic, figurative or metaphorical way.
"Semiotics has formed the basis for the study of signs and symbols in numerous
fields, including psychology (psychoanalysis) (Freud 1973; Jung 1956), sociology
(symbolic interactionist theory) (Kinch, 1967; Rose 1962), anthropology (Mead,
1934; Levi-Strauss, 1963), cultural studies (Hall, 1997; Hall 1980), and even
biology/zoology (Deely, 1990). It has been used extensively in marketing (Mick,
1986), especially in the examination of the sign systems used in advertising (Berger,
1986; Bertrand, 1988; Durgee & Stuart, 1987; Henny, 1986; Kaushik & Sen, 1990;
Umiker-Sebeok, 1987; Zakia, 1986; Zakia & Nadin, 1987) and in understanding the
symbolic nature of consumption (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1993; Kehret-Ward,
1988; Leigh & Gabel, 1992; Levy, 1959; Mick et al., 1992; Solomon, 1983;
Solomon & Assael, 1987). These studies have repeatedly demonstrated the
usefulness of the semiotic approach. For understanding the role of structure in
influencing human behaviour."
Echtner, 2000:50

Various social scientists have applied a semiotics approach to the study of
tourism. For example, MacCannell (1983) addresses the semiotics of tourism
through his analysis of the ethnosemiotics of tourist attractions. He advocated that,
"the domain of ethnosemiotics is the study of interpretations that are generated by
cultural differentiation” (1983, p. 72). Ethnosemiotics combines ethnographic
concern for the realm of the everyday with the semiotic understanding of culture as a
system of signs and symbols. A tourist attraction has to have three components: the
tourist, a marker, and a sight (site). Markers are the pivotal component and vary in
prominence. Although in semiotic theory the relationship between signifier (marker)

39
and signified (sight) are arbitrary, MacCannell (1976) suggests that a sign can both
signify and be signified. The difference between “signifiers and signifieds is the
result of the superimposition of a system of social values” (MacCannell, 1976,
p.119). Thus, a signifier acquires its meaning by direct representation of what it
signifies. A marker can refer to more than one sight or convey more than one
meaning and becomes a sign of authenticity. Based on a semiotic system a sign
marks the object as authentic both with respect to the markers themselves and to the
outside world.

Anthropologist Queztil E. Castaneda (1996) positions the dialectical
relationship within the discipline of anthropology as dialogical anthropology, where
the metaphorical use of the concept of the tour exemplifies subjective and
intersubjective knowledge motivated and produced in experience as experience. In
this case, the anthropological practice of ethnography is metaphorically described as
touring or the creation of a guidebook. Thus, Castaneda equates cultural
anthropology with tourism and ethnography as a map or a:
“model of totalized and totalizing knowledge based on the primacy or premise of an
all-seeing, objectivist eye and a summary composite of multiple
sources/experiences; as such, maps exemplify and are a critical tool of scientific
knowledge since they are representations of the known that exhibit accumulated and
objectified knowledge derived from individual tours, whether quotidian or
scientific.”
Castaneda, 1996:3-4
In the following chapters, I unpack the dialectical relationship between Isleños, their
environment, and how they interpret messages and make meaning of these messages
conveyed by both local institutions and the global phenomenon of tourism.

40
Conclusion
This dissertation builds on research conducted on Isla de Mujeres by scholars
from various disciplines. In the discipline of anthropology, Kathi R. Kitner (1998)
wrote a Masters thesis titled, The Fisherman of Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo:
Stability and Change in the Mexican Caribbean where she discusses the impact of
the growth of the tourism industry on fisherman and how it led them to form formal
and informal fishing coops that helped them adjust to new systems of economic
demand. Communications scholar Jill Adair Mc Caughan’s book, Abjection and Its
Correction in Ethnographic Studies: Communication Issues in the Cultural Tourism
of Isla Mujeres (2005) describes her observations on the communication between
Isleños and tourists and also what is communicated in written materials such as
postcards about the island. She looks at the limitations and possibilities of
conducting an ethnography that focuses on the issues of communication between
hosts and guests. Batya Weinbaum’s dissertation in the discipline of American
Studies and was quite useful at the beginning stages of this research project (1990), it
deconstructs the name of Isla de Mujeres and what it represents to Islenos and
tourists. The mythic representations of the name and the island are explored based
on their experience living on the island and collecting oral and written artifacts.
Now a book titled, Islands of Women and Amazons: Representations and Realities
(1999), Weinbaum shows how legends about women living apart from men have
served different psychological purposes. In first half of the book she focuses on the
deconstruction of the Amazon image throughout classical and contemporary literary
works. In the second half of her book features research conducted on Isla de

41
Mujeres in an attempt to make a personal connection to the Amazon archetype.
Weinbaum situates her research in the discipline of American Studies while this
dissertation uses more ethnographic methods of observation and participation to
inhabit the native’s perspective versus Weinbaum’s attempt of connecting popular
culture icons and tourism practices to a deconstruction of the Amazon image.
The works mentioned above have informed the topic of this dissertation, yet
this dissertation builds on the work of Claudio Lomnintz and his concept of the
culture of social relations. In his book, Exists from the Labyrinth: Culture and
Ideology in the Mexican National Space (1992), Lomnintz defines the culture of
social relations as the point where local practices and manipulations of shared frames
and idioms have different meanings depending on the intimate culture of class
interactions in a specific Mexican setting. These shared frames and idioms speak to
a national characteristic that is then digested differently depending on the region or
local municipality. Although his analysis focuses on social economic and political
dynamics and by default deals with an organic racial ideology, Lomnintz-Adler
questions the ideology or definition of a national culture as the shared values of a
single collectivity and opens this concept to embrace a national Mexican identity
based on regional and local differences inherent in defining and producing lo
mexicano. On Isla de Mujeres and in general where there are large populations of
Indian descent, the local relations of power use a term such as mestiz@ to denote
more that a racial mixing of blood and converts it to categorize all those uneducated,
uncivilized, and poor Indians.

42
In an article titled “Nationalism’s Dirty Linen: ‘Contact Zones’ and the
Topography of National Identity”, published in Deep Mexico, Silent Me (2001),
Lomnintz cites Erving Goffman’s theatrical metaphor of “front stage” and
“backstage” to describe the relationship between a subject’s public presentation and
what he or she wants to hide or protect. Which is a useful concept as it relates to
issues of representation augmented by tourism,
“The state production of nationalism seeks to construct spaces where the official image of
the national takes material form and can be displayed to insiders and outsiders. That is,
states seek to create a ‘front stage’ (public) image characterized by an ideal combination of
modern and traditional components. … However, the ‘ugly’ side of tourism is not easy to
root out… Therefore, beginning with Acapulco and continuing with Cancun, Ixtapa, and
others, the cities constructed for tourism are ‘twin cities’: a ‘front stage’ coast and hotel zone
is exposed to the tourist and the ‘backstage’ zones comine poverty, prostitution and so on.
This relationship between the presentable side and its hidden consequences makes a number
of politically volatile frames of contact possible.”
Lomnintz 2001:17-18
Building on Goffman and Lomnintz’s work, this dissertation’s contribution to the
body of literature on Isla de Mujres focuses on how Mexico’s cultural and historical
heritage influences present day socialization instruments such as the media, school
curriculum and extra-curricular groups to influence Isleños to perceive themselves
and be perceived as clean hosts for tourists. An appropriate metaphor utilized by
Lomnintz and relevant to this study is that of the housewife “who tries to make sure
that their visitors stay in the parlor and do not see the mess in the bedrooms or
kitchen, the government, tourist industry and a good number of patriots seed to
display an image of order and cleanliness to foreigners, and the strain involved in
these efforts easily turns into a political liability (2001:18).” Both discourses of
cleanliness that of a limpieza of sangre based on a pure racial lineage to Spain which
speaks to issues of class, social standing, and character; and the modern popular

43
notion of cleanliness based an environmental and ecological sensitivity in preserving
the natural beauty of the island for locals and tourists to enjoy are related. The
relationship between both notions of cleanliness is highlighted by the practice of
tourism on Isla de Mujeres. The ideology of cultural cleanliness is perceived and
interpreted by Islenos as a racialization of cleanliness based on Mexico’s history
with colonization and the Spaniards promotion of a purity of blood or limpieza de
sangre which invokes a physical appearance. Islenos desire to present a clean and
tidy image so the tourist perceives them as civilized and welcoming hosts.

44
CHAPTER II
What’s in the name? Isla de Mujeres

Introduction

En un rincón del caribe In a Caribbean corner
se encuentra perdida in the sea
una perla en el mar a lost pearl is found
es una islita bendita it is a blessed island
rodeada de encajes surrounded by layers
de arena y coral of sand and coral

Isla Mujeres, bendita eres tu Isla Mujeres, blessed you are
tienes magia y encanto de mujer you have a woman’s magic and charm
y el que a ti llega un dia conocer and he/she that one day meets you
solo pensa en volver, volver, volver. only thinks to return, return, return.

Excerpt from, “Isla Mujeres Bendita”, a song by Isolda Martinez Vera

The song lyrics written above are from a compilation compact disc (cd)
recorded by musicians from Isla Mujeres, who came together to archive Isla’s
musical culture through song and music and in doing so recorded the cultural history
of a small island in the Mexican Caribbean. The song expresses the importance of
Isla to its inhabitants who as the songs says believe it is a blessed island, a chosen
hidden treasure, and due to its magic and charm those who visit the island want to
return, return, return. The Isleno’s romanticism of the island’s allure and uniqueness
is archived in a total of 27 songs as part of two cds, whose titles range from songs
about the island such as Isla Mujeres Nacio (Isla Mujeres Was Born), Nochecitas
Islenas (Island Nights), Mujer Isleña (Island Woman), Isla Bonita (Beautiful Island),
Mi Tierra Isla Mujeres (My Land Isla Mujeres), to songs about local legends and
places such as Marino Pescador (Marine Fisherman), Bahia (The Bay), El Palmar

45
(The Palm), Mundaca and Garrafon (both local tourist attractions). Listening to
these song titles, songs’ lyrics, and melodies, the listener is immersed in a
romanticism of the past. This romanticism of the island’s past, as well as its present,
its culture, people, and place is important to document not only in song but in other
written sources such as this dissertation chapter about Isla Mujeres and its cultural
identity. Particularly, issues such as who consider themselves native Isleños or who
can claim an authentic Isleño identity and Others are explored, who include post
1980s and recently arrived migrants from various parts of the Yucatan as well as
tourists from abroad. The exploration of local Isleño identity versus regional and/or
national definitions of Mexican identity focuses on who chooses to claim an
authentic Isleño heritage and is based on local Isleño notions of who is “civilized”
enough to claim such a heritage. In other words, as their diverse bio-racial roots are
a mixture of European/Spaniard blood with Indian blood, Isleños choose to claim the
European/Spaniard side of the spectrum because they perceive it as more civilized
and pure than the Indian side of the spectrum, which is perceived as dirty, impure,
and poor.
Although origins of such a Euro/Spanish heritage are romanticized to the
degree of myth-making, especially with such an alluring name as “Island of the
Women”, and the “transitional” foundation of origin stories---as a site or sanctuary
for a diverse group of people who passed through the island en route to somewhere
else or were there only to harvest a season such as sponge or fishing, there is a strong
pull for Island natives to establish and affirm an island identity that is based on the
image and values of a small, rustic, fishermen’s island of the past. From the early

46
1800s, when the islands inhabitants started to differentiate themselves as permanent
settlers from the transitional visitors, up until the present time, post 1980s, when
locals continue to differentiate themselves from the influences of migrants that have
started to overly populate the island there has been a push for affirming an Isleño
identity. Such migrants who are mostly from small villages in the Yucatan with
strong Mayan roots are sometimes referred to by Isleños as “mostly mestiz@”, a
term whose racial definition means of mixed genes---European and Indian.
This racial term is appropriated by Islenos and is used interchangeably with
the historically derogatory term through out Mexico of “Indio” (Indian) in an attempt
to categorize who is native to Isla and who is not based on point of origin (Yucatan
versus Isla); occupation (street vendor versus service worker), class (poor vs. middle
class), and appearance (dark-skinned and dresses in Indian clothes versus modern-
western clothes). The question of who is authentically Isleño is complicated enough
with the Island’s origin stories and the diversity of its original permanent residents,
as well as the fact that a majority of its residents actually would be categorized as
mestiz@ both by educated locals and demographers who are familiar with the term’s
conception such as the historical bio-racial roots as the result of the conquest of
Indians by the Spaniards in Mexico.
Isleño identity is further affected by the influences of tourists who visit the
island, since Isla’s major industry is tourism. Isleños are quite conscious of
cultivating a certain image that they feel will lure more tourists to the island and thus
provide them with more economic opportunities. In many of the examples or
comments made by interviewees, the influences of tourism are interwoven

47
throughout, which lead Isleños to further romantize their memories or their image of
a small Caribbean island that in their eyes is a pearl of paradise for tourists to enjoy.
Moreover, they think that the island should stay that way regardless of migration,
urbanization, or other influences of change. For Islenos the image of their island as a
small, rustic, fisherman’s island is expressed by the island’s historian and curator,
Fidel Villanueva Madrid when he states that tourism and government officials should
model their marketing and development projects after the island of San Pedro off the
coast of Chetumal, the state of Quintana Roo’s capital. San Pedro continues to
maintain the image of a small, rustic and fisherman’s paradise for visitors such as
tourists to escape from the stress of hectic modern day forces (Personal Interview,
April 27, 2004). Islenos considered in US terms from the baby boomer generation
and older do hold a romantic notion of Isla being an island that is small and not as
developed as their nearby neighbor, Cancun. They feel this is one way to continue to
differentiate itself from Cancun as a tourist destination.
This chapter begins with a historical perspective of the island, particularly
how important local, and to a larger degree, regional, attributes such as its people,
ecology, and cultural artifacts differentiate Isla from its closest neighbor Cancun or
any other Mexican town. The island’s history is presented in a non-chronological
manner in order to problematize its origin stories and how Isleños and their
institutions utilize the island’s history to entice tourists to the island.
A second goal of this chapter is to questions the meanings of the phrase “que
es lo Isleño” (what is an Islander) versus what is “lo Mexicano” (nationally
Mexican). Isleño identity is constantly being evaluated, due to issues of migration

48
and urbanization on the island resulting from people coming to work in the tourism
industry and live in a place that is tranquil and has various comforts because of the
island’s tourist infrastructure. As one hotel employee in his early thirties from a
nearby Yucatan village put it, “I don’t have to risk my life to go to el Norte, the
dollar bill comes to me.” How does the island’s identity shift and most importantly
how do outsiders such as migrants and tourists influence change in its people,
customs, and traditions? How do native Isleños respond to these new migrants?
Such tensions and concerns of nativism and encroaching change will expose
Mexican (native Isleño) versus Mexican (migrants) issues of identity that exist on the
island despite the conscious effort by government institutions that continue to
promote a “national” identity that we are all Mexicano. Even though the definition
of que es lo Mexicano (what is a Mexican national identity) differs due to
localisms/regionalisms, class, level of education, skin color, etc… and how the
national ideology of mestizaje is digested at the local/regional level. For example,
Isleños use of the term mestiz@ as negative or derogatory is similar to the how the
term Indi@ has historically been racialized (Portal Ariosa & Ramirez 1995:10).
Throughout Mexican history lo Indio (Indian) has been used as a point of
demarcation of what not to be identified as or with when it comes to dress,
occupations, behavior, gold (i.e. red gold is worn mostly by Indian versus the Italian
gold worn by modern more civilized Mexicans), last name, and phenotype features
(dark skin versus fairer white skin). Or as educated, transplant from Mexico City
who started a children’s group to help children understand the importance of taking
care of the environment stated when talking in general about Mexican identity issues,

49
“Somos bien Malinches con nuestra identidad,” (We are real traitors/disloyal with
our identity). Her use of the term “malinche” is a reference to the myth of La
Malinche who according to legend betrayed her indigenous sisters and brothers in
order to assist the Spaniards in conquering Mexico. What the interviewee also
meant, as she further elaborated on her comment is to say that based on Adolf
Hitler’s legacy, European features such as fair skin, blue eyes, etc… is a dominant
value in Mexican society as being better causing discrimination against those of a
darker skin (Personal Interview, May 18, 2004). For this reason, an elaborate
discussion of the ideology of “mestizaje” is undertaken in this chapter which
demonstrates that throughout Mexican history more credence is given to the
European/Spaniard side of this mixed term and clarifies why racism still persists in
the Mexico of today.
Finally the last question explored in this chapter is” how do tourists influence
local perceptions of Isleño identity?” Since the biggest industry on the island is
tourism and since the majority of tourists come from the Unites States and abroad
there is a clear accommodation Isleños make to meet the needs and expectations of
such clients. For example, Isleños give a great deal of importance to learning
English-as-a-Second Language and to maintaining the natural beauty or cleanliness
of Isla because they think these two accommodations are what tourists seek. Thus
maintaining the attractiveness of Isla for touristic consumptions is a major
component of Isla’s overall identity. An emphasis on the cleanliness of the island,
its people, hotels, emphasizes that which is modern or civilized versus that which can

50
be perceived as pre-modern or Indian, or, in the island’s case “mestiz@” meaning
“Indi@”.
The discussion of the aforementioned themes, particularly how the meaning of
cleanliness is connected to the social construction of a mestizaje ideology is critical
to explore because such an ideology stipulates that a civilized person is defined by
his/her good hygiene and appearance. This civilized attribute of cleanliness is then
racialized as it is then connected to the Euro-Spaniard side of the biological make up
of many Mexicans. The other side is Indian or some one who is darker skin and thus
dirtier or impure. These perceptions of who is civilized based on their
manifestations of cleanliness held by Isleños allow for a conversation about how
cleanliness is then racialized due to local and regional social constructions of the
term mestiz@. Thus, these perceptions ultimately differentiate Isleños from their
Indian brethren because Isleños have bought into the Euro-centric definition of
mestizaje ideology that defines a Mexican as fair/white/clean/pure and civilized.
These constructions of civilized versus barbaric are based on Mexico’s mestizaje
ideology. An analysis of the social construction of the term mestiz@ versus its bio-
racial definition situates Isla Mujeres and its issues around identity, particularly how
important Isleños feel it is for them to differentiate themselves from visitors to the
island whether migrants who come to live and work or tourists from abroad who
come to enjoy this small pearl in the Mexican Caribbean.
Historical Perspective
In this section, the various myths based on the origin stories of Isla’s history
will be explored to demonstrate the complexity of identifying a pure authentic

51
foundation for an Isleño identity. From its early beginnings as a temporary site or
sanctuary for the Maya, for pirates, and for seasonal fishermen, to its early settlers,
the island has served many purposes for different populations. According to the
island’s archivist and historian, Fidel Villanueva Madrid, Isla Mujeres was
discovered by a Spanish expedition on March 04, 1517 led by Francisco Hernandez
de Cordoba. The mere fact that the island’s government created an official position
for someone to archive Isla’s history and culture gives the reader the sense of the
importance of such an endeavor as well as the power that such a person has in
identifying and cultivating what is Isleño. Cordoba decided to call the island the
Island of Women because of the various statues they found there in the shape of a
woman’s body. These statues were representations of the Mayan goddess Ixchel,
whose sanctuary is located in the Southern point of the island (Villanueva Madrid
1999:1).
While this is the official origin story promoted by Isla’s archivist, according
to Wienbaum (1997), the limited bits of information remaining available about the
island’s origins and pre-Conquest existence, allow a confusion of projected elements
to occur. In other words according to Weinbaum, “The very vagueness of available
history allows for this overshadowing and superseding of largely unrecovered local
mythic and imagistic traditions, compounding an already existing loss of heritage
and culture. For example, Turner claims that Cordova found the island ‘overspread’
with female idols, and that this island took its name from the feminine idols found
there. This sketchy history intersects with present-day U.S. and European tourism.
Both of the latter are geared towards the image of seduction by an island of fair

52
women” (1997:23). According to Weinbaum, the “most simple, direct and straight-
forward account of the naming that I have found is that of Bernard Dias del Castillo
as translated by Maudslay, discussed by contemporary scholars on the Cozumel
Project as part of a list of examples of coastal shrines occurring in groups at some
distance from the settlements along the east coast of Quintana Roo.(Freidel and
Sabloff 45). ‘We stayed in that bay (at Isla Mujers) for a day and we lowered two
boats and went on shore and found farms and maize plantations, and there were four
Cues which are the houses of their Idols, and there were many Idols in them, nearly
all of them figures of tall women so what we called the place the Punta de Las
Mujeres.’ Diaz de Castillo, 104-05” (Weinbaum:1997:20). Weinbaum continues to
elaborate how the name of such an island also engulfs Isleños in the myth-making of
the islands identity as it relates to its name:
“For example, a vendor of artisan products, hammocks and Coca Cola on the point
where the goddess statues were found by explorers will state with enthusiasm while
trying to make a sale that all women used to come here to meet their husbands, or to
marry their husbands, encouraging the visitor to buy a keepsake from the site of the
goddess of love. Or, a woman selling in a small store will answer a question posed
about the name of the island with statements that are not true, such as that only
women used to live there. Thus, those who live and work there consciously play to
the evolutions of such narrative material in those visitors for commercial and
capitalist purposes. Consequently, island ‘myth’ devolves further from whatever
might have been its ‘authentic’ origin; influences are ‘transitional’ not ‘traditional’.
The more practical jokesters will answer
the question, why is this island call The Island of Women, with the practical
response (also unfounded)—that when the Spanish came, all the men were out
fishing. Particularly because the arrival of the Spanish led to a destruction of local
icons, myth and culture, contemporary natives ‘borrow’ from projected traditions of
expectant Anglos who visit rather than delve into the myths, legends or images of
their own historical origins; or, they make up new ones….”
Weinabuam 1997:23

The official historical narrative as told by the island’s archivist asserts that, for the
Maya, the island was very important since it was their last stop en route to the Gulf

53
of Honduras where they could stock up on salt, an indispensable ingredient needed to
prepare their food and conserve their meat as part of their diet (Villanueva Madrid
1999:1). Because of the salt production on Isla Mujeres, the island was also
important to the Maya for trade and commerce, and the goddess Ixchel became a
prayer sanctuary for an abundant salt harvest. Presently, she is still revered as the
goddess of fertility and prosperity. Turner stipulates that Ixchel was the most
prominent female deity in the Maya world, that her reign lasted nine hundred years
spanning the classic and post-classic periods (600 AD – 1500 AD), and that
contemporary Mayans still sense her presence in their world, calling her “The
Queen,” “Our Grandmother,” “Our Mother,” and “The White Lady” (Weinbaum
1996:205).
Between the years of 1517 and 1847, the island served as a hiding place for
pirates and travelers of all sorts. Pirates such as Henry Morgan, El Olones, Diego el
Mulato, Lorenzillo, Pata de Palo and Jean Lafitte found the island’s strategic location
in the Caribbean beneficial for hiding and warding off their Spaniard and English
captors (Villanueva Madrid, 1999:2). At the beginning of the 19
th
Century, when
piracy started to diminish, the island started to be a seasonal resting space for
fisherman from Cuba, Campeche, and the Yucatan who came to capture fish, marine
turtles and shark, as well as to harvest the sea sponge. The island remained without
permanent inhabitants from 1517, the year of its discovery to 1847, when due to the
Yucatan Caste Wars, people fled to the island as a sanctuary to escape this social
uprising that overtook the Yucatan Peninsula during the second half of the 19
th

54
Century. The Yucatan Caste Wars were triggered because of the uneven prosperity
of this region and the exploitation of the indigenous peoples, mostly Mayan, as a
consequence of such economic prosperity. The Maya, tired of over three centuries of
exploitation and armed by the British in nearby Belize, began a social uprising on
July 30, 1847 (Villanueva Madrid, 1999:2). The migrants escaping the Caste Wars
were the original inhabitants of Isla Mujeres and nearby Cozumel. The war caused
both Spaniards and indigenous to flee various parts of the Yucatan; as a result in a
period of three years, between 1847 and 1850, the population of Isla Mujeres alone
rose to a few hundred habitants. When compared to John L. Stephens’s account in
the year 1842 that he found two palm tree huts and three turtle fisherman on the
whole island, the rate of growth in less than ten years is considered overwhelming
(Villanueva Madrid 1996:2). One of the descendants of a founding family of the
island, Don Jose Magana Rodriguez, relates this story:
“My father was born here on the island. His parents were originally from
Campeche who came here fleeing the famous Caste War. My grandparents came
here walking along the coast of the Peninsula and when they saw the island before
them they thought here is our salvation, if we could only get cross the sea to that
island…”
Don José Magana Rodríguez in Villanueva Madrid, 1999:2

The first permanent inhabitants of Isla Mujeres were people who were greatly
affected by the Caste War, the elderly, widows, and orphans who found a sanctuary
where they could survive the war even though the living conditions on the island
were less than desired due to lack of materials for housing and other resources that
needed to be imported. On August 17
th
, 1850 a decree was issued by the Governor
of Yucatan (the current state of Quintana Roo to which Isla Mujeres belongs was not

55
founded until 1974,) to establish the island as El Pueblo de Dolores---a name on
paper only as it has no relevance to Isleños who have always called it Isla de
Mujeres. The state of Quintana Roo stretches down the Eastern part of the Yucatan
Peninsula from the north point (tip of the peninsula) to the south point that borders
Belize. Belize and Guatamala are to the south while Campeche and Yucatan are to
the west of it. It is the youngest state of the Mexican Republic founded in October 8,
1974 (World IQ Dictionary and Encyclopedia, www.worldiq.com, accessed on
August 6, 2004). The original families of Isla were from Campeche, Yucatan, and
Iberia mostly from the Canary Islands. Additional inhabitants from various other
places such as Cuba, England, and Belize represented less than 10% of the island’s
population. These groups facilitated the settlement of a diverse population of people
including: Spaniards, mestizos and indigenous on Isla Mujeres (Villanueva Madrid
1996:1).
Between 1850 and I959, the island’s biggest industry was fishing and
inhabitants came and went depending on the harvest or season. Continuous
settlement did not take place until 1959 when the tourist industry became a stable
source of employment. In 1959, the tourism era was initiated on the island that by
1964 with the inauguration of the Hotel Zazil-Ha by then president of Mexico, Don
Adolfo Lopez Mateos officially situated the island as a tourist destination. Tourism
continues to flourish with the conscious development by the Mexican government of
Cancun in 1972 as a major Mexican tourist destination with an international airport
as well as the improvement of roads from cities such as Merida and Valladoloid that
makes road travel more accessible to domestic Mexicans. Today, the island

56
identifies itself not as a village of fisherman as it did in the past but as the Paradise of
the Mexican Caribbean with its tranquil surroundings and hospitable people. As
Villanueva Madrid states, “The majority who stayed will not leave now, they are part
of the living history past and present of Isla Mujeres. Thanks to our founders we can
be proud that we have an identity that is lacking in many other communities.
Because of our touristic calling/vocation, it is important to know our history and to
conserve our customs and traditions that were forged by our ancestors. Long gone
are the days of struggle and today, we have the memory and the gratitude of those
who know this history and who can call themselves Isleños. Yet, we also have those
that do not know this place and show no interest in knowing the place where they
live (1999:3).”
Migration, Urbanization and Isleño Identity
Those people which Villanueva Madrid speaks about---those who do not
know this place and show no interest in knowing the place where they live---are
migrants from various parts of the Yucatan and abroad who started to arrive on Isla
post 1980s. Based on Isla’s history, the settlement of migrants especially from the
Yucatan is not new. Weinbaum asserts in her dissertation written in 1996, that,
“Eighty percent (80%) of the island’s population has immigrated from the Yucatan
to work in tourism over the last 20 years, reversing the trend during colonialism of
flight to the jungle after cities were taken over by the Spanish (223).”
She goes on to add in a footnote that “this trend was also fed by famine in the
interior that had already promoted some migration to the eastern coast where those
who could found work as fisherman (Weinbaum 1996:223).” What is new is the fast

57
rate of such population growth as well as the type of migrant. Since 1980, with the
Mexican national government developing the road from Valladoloid to Cancun as
well as the betterment of roads all over the Nation, travel has become more
accessible. According to Villanueva Madrid, between the years 1980-1990 a 96%
growth level took place on the island---a doubling of the island’s population and the
highest growth in the island’s history (Villanueva Madrid, Personal Interview April
27, 2004). This rapid growth caused a crisis in the island’s overall infrastructure,
from electrical and water shortages to lack of housing, medical, and educational
services. Currently there is no space for housing development. The island is
saturated with 5000 habitants per kilometer (Villanueva Madrid, Personal Interview
April 27, 2004). Referring to migration and the over-growth of Isla’s population and
its affect on the island’s image in relationship to the island’s identity Villanueva
Madrid states, “When it comes to the image of the island, it creates an identity crisis
because are we an urban center or city or are we an island that is rustic and can serve
as an escape from it all for tourists” (Personal Interview April 27, 2004).
Many of the migrants are from such places as Campeche, Merida,
Valladoloid, and smaller villages from the Yucatan such as Tizimin, Panadaba, and
Techocok. Since they are Yucatecos, the island receives them without much cultural
shock, even though changes in the island’s customs, food, and traditions are
surfacing as a result of these new arrivals. The level of education of these new
settlers is that of a 5
th
/6
th
elementary grade level and their main purpose for migrating
is economic betterment. Most come to work in the tourism industry or to serve those
who work in tourism; in one way or another they are lured by the economic

58
opportunities brought about by the tourist industry. The island as well as Cancun has
welcomed them because of the need of service workers yet neither has been prepared
for the consequences of such rapid growth in population. Such growth influences the
island’s overall image and what is considered an Isleño identity as it relates to
cultural values; for example, in dress, style of housing construction, food, sports, and
the overall sense of everyone knowing everyone and being accountable to all
(security and safety have become more of an issue on Isla).
One island resident, a middle school teacher who traces her roots back three
generations and who considers herself an Isleña, comments on how life on Isla has
changed:
“Before hospitality was huge and the island had a good reputation for being
intimate, safe, cheap, and everyone knew each other, parties were safe and fun---
now days there are more people from Yucatan who live here so that now I don’t
even know my neighbor…”

When asked how she knows that people are not from Isla, she responds:
“In my classes, I teach their children who have the last names of Dzuk, Chulen,
Poot---Mayan last names--- and Isleño last names are Castilla, Sanchez, Magana,
Figueroa, Garrido, Martinez, Fernandez, Rios, etc… You can also tell because they
have an accent when they speak, they like our island because of our beaches, they
wear tennis shoes instead of sandals, they learn English quickly because they come
to work and they always return to their hometown for holidays.”

She continues, “There is lots of pride in being Isleño. For example, at a party non-
Isleñas who have married into the Isleño community (i.e. Isleño men) sit on one side
of the room while the Isleñas sit on the other side of the room” (Personal Interview
April 28, 2004).” She asserts that this dynamic mostly happens among women
because non-Isleñas (usually from Merida, Distrito Federal, or other urban centers)
think they are better than Isleñas, “If they think they are better, why don’t they go
back to where they came from?” she asks.

59
Another middle school teacher, who teaches English-as-a-Second-Language
(ESL) describes the Isleño as very noble and of good faith, and thinks that is why so
many people take advantage of such qualities, as well as why the Isleño embraces
new arrivals. He states that, “with more people and modernization such as TV/Cable
the island has started to change. For example, when I was a kid the most popular
sports where marbles, topos (spinning tops), baseball or basketball. Now it is soccer
because it is so popular in other parts of Mexico as well as nationally. A big
noticeable change is in how the annual Carnival and other holidays are celebrated.
Before Dia de los Muertos was celebrated in a religious based community
celebration now it is more of a private affair in the home amongs family members.
Our identity is getting lost; fish is not eaten as much, now it’s pork that is most
common in the Yucatan” (Personal Interview May 4, 2004). Referring to students
who are recent arrivals to the island who in their hometowns a Mayan dialect is most
commonly spoken rather than Spanish, as an ESL teacher, this man has noticed that
those who speak Mayan language or very little Spanish learn English faster because
knowing English will get them better jobs in the tourism industry.
Villanueva Madrid lectures about such Isleño traditions and customs referred
to by the ESL teacher, especially how cultural artifacts such as eating mostly fish, a
value for community, shape Isleño identity based on what Isleños value and hold true
to their heart. There are values that are based on the rustic, fishing roots of Isla.
Such as the original architecture of the houses on Isla, they were small and colorful
with a Caribbean character. The streets were of sand, not paved with black concrete
as they are now. There were more trees on the island. He also points out that in the

60
manner of dress; men wore a Sombrero instead of a baseball cap or hat. They wore
mostly white clothes with a handkerchief around their necks. Women wore full-
length white dresses with colorful flowers on them (different from the huipil, a two
piece outfit that Indias wear). There was more of a “Caribeño” identity rather than a
Yucatan, Cancun, or Distrito Federal (capital of Mexico) identity (Personal
Interview, April 27, 2004).
The comment by Villanueva Madrid, the official archivist and historian of
Isla, about Isleño fashion or dress, particularly that of women, leads to a
conversation about what has been identified by Isleños as dressing in a huipil or what
Indian women wear, usually referred to as Indias but in the case of Isleños they refer
to them as mestizas. When asked to define a mestiz@, the majority of interviewees
referred to women, men, and children who sell fruit, vegetables, and other items on
the street or work as street vendors. These people are identified as street vendors
because they wear their traditional indigenous clothing, such as a white blouse with
colorful flowers on it and a colorful skirt with a reboso and sandals as part of their
everyday dress. Isleñas on the other hand wear their full-length white dress with
flowers on it on special occasions or festive holidays, not as part of their everyday
clothes.
When posed the question, why they are referred to as mestizas versus Mayan,
or Indian, various Isleños respond that ever since they can remember that is what
they called them. When further probed by asking that if these street vendors are
referred to as mestizas then what would they call themselves, most responded that
they are Isleñas--- with no acknowledgment of the bio-racial origin of the term

61
versus the local popular or social constructed use of the term. Even the educated
among these respondents acknowledge the incorrect use of the term mestiza but say
that due to popular culture or “everyday” language that is how the term is used on
Isla. The following story triggered my curiosity to how the term mestiz@ is
appropriated by Isleños, sheds light on how this local term denotes a racialized class
identity:
The scenario: A dinner at a downtown, mostly tourist restaurant. Seated at the table are
students and administrators from an American University that are visiting for a week to do
volunteer/service projects on the island, various officials from the island, such as the Red
Cross director, the Department of Ecology director, and the Cultural Affairs director, as
well as myself and my family. The Red Cross director is telling a story that she and her
husband, and a fundraising chairperson have just returned from a Women’s conference
celebrating International Women’s Day in Chetumal (Quintana Roo’s capital). They were
all were quite exhausted since they had driven there and back (4 hours each way) in a two-
day time period. As part of her story she said that she and her good friend, the Red Cross’s
fundraising chair had gotten a bargain on some fruit and vegetables they had purchased
from a “mestiza” on the street. This is a version of the conversation that ensued:

Ethnographer (E): “Mestiza, why do you call her a mestiza, do you mean indígena?”
Red Cross Director: “No, she was clearly a mestiza because she barely spoke
(RCD) Spanish and was wearing her traditional clothes.”
E: “But clearly you mean Mayan or Indian woman. I am a mestiza.”
RCD: “You, a mestiza, no, I am sorry but you are not a mestiza.”

By this time her husband interrupted us because he could tell that some people at the
table were becoming uncomfortable and he decided to end the conversation by
saying that, “She didn’t understand what I was saying because they used the term to
refer to such street vendors.” Once he noticed that it was just he and I talking, he
continued to say that, “he understood what I meant but that some people didn’t know
the history of the term.”

Since that dinner, as part of my interviews and in daily conversations with friends
and acquaintances, I would pose the question of how they defined and used the term
mestiz@ and their responses were similar to the Red Cross director, only when they
were probed further and I explained the definition of the bio-racial term did they
somewhat adhere to that definition but would usually dismiss it because it was

62
clearly not how they chose to use such a term. On various other occasions, I was
privy to conversations or fly-by comments made by friends and acquaintances that
provided more insight into how Isleños used the term mestiz@. Such as when
someone was wearing too much gold chains or dressed in a certain manner; one
would say to another, “oh, you look like such a mestiz@.” In other words, you look
out of the ordinary and usually referred to a negative aspect of their appearance.
According to Villanueva Madrid such a phenomenon exists in regions where
the indigenous or Mayan population is high. He knows the historical bio-racial roots
of the term but he also mentions that in the regional educational textbooks---mestizos
are also referred to as those who know how to dance and dress in their “folklórico”,
traditional Mayan dance and dress (Personal Interview April 27, 2004). The
discussion of the everyday or popular usage of such a term leads us to an analysis of
how a term can have alternate meanings and can change over time. In this case, we
can see how Isleños use the term to denote a racialized class fact, where class and
ethnicity/race are judged in terms of income, occupation, skin color, education, and
origin.
Mestizaje; Ideology, Social Constructions versus Bio-Racial Definition, and
Alternative Meanings
“In order to think about ideas about ethnicity, we also have to talk about ideas
about race. From the biological point of view, races simply do not exist. From the
cultural and political point of view, however, the concept of ‘race’ is extremely
important. Mexican national identity has been constructed in terms of the idea
that Mexicans are the product of a creative mixing of Indians and Europeans.
In theory, this is an argument about a fusing together of cultures but in practice
it gets conflated with the idea of mixing of races, mestizaje in Spanish. This is
an official doctrine of the state, formulated after the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
It is expressed in official rhetoric, mythology and public ceremonial. It is
particularly powerfully expressed in Mexico’s famous National Museum of
Anthropology. The Museum celebrates the glories of pre-Hispanic Mexican

63
civilisations like the Aztecs, Mayas and Zapotecs on the ground floor. On the
first floor, it exhibits the contemporary indigenous peoples of Mexico, set out
like a collection of butterflies with life-size models of people wearing the
appropriate dress for their group. This great museum was set up by a group of
anthropologists who saw Mexico’s future in terms of the assimilation of what
remained of indigenous culture into a new national culture. Their objective was to
memorialise something that they wanted to leave in the past. The Revolution was
supposed to deliver material progress and social justice to the Indians: they would
get back the lands that had been stolen from them by the great estates; they would
get schools and clinics, roads and electricity; they would get development projects;
they would get treated fairly by the courts, enjoy civil rights, and be freed from the
tyranny of local bosses who exploited them and robbed them of their dignity as
citizens. In return for this, they would give up their old customs, speak Spanish and
join the mainstream of national life. In Mexico, that mainstream is defined as
mestizo.”
Gledhill 1998:1

This lengthy quote expresses two important aspects of an analysis of
mestizaje. The first important aspect is the role that both academics, especially
anthropologists, and politicians have had in Mexico creating, defining, and practicing
a mestizaje ideology as a nation-building project to incorporate the Indian into
mainstream society as a mestizo or “Mexican”. Secondly, Gledhill highlights the
important difference between the term’s bio-racial foundation, which acknowledges
the mixing of European/Spaniard blood with Indian blood, and the social
construction of the term manifested in the everyday practice or cultural
interpretations of how this ideology is then utilized or operationalized by the
Mexican populace. In other words, academics and politicians created mestizaje
ideology to unify a diverse Mexican population. But the ways in which this term has
evolved and has been digested by people has differed from its original intent. This
chapter shows a conversation about the trajectory of how this term came about; in
particular how in the process of its creation and implementation to create a national
Mexican identity the present-day Indian is dismissed or ignored because of the
ideology’s Euro-centric leanings.

64
In the case of Mexico, the history of anthropology is identified with the
history of indigenismo or the “question of the indigenous other” as stated in the
quote below.
“En el caso de México, la historia de la antropología se ha identificado con el
indigenismo, ya que por la pluralidad cultural de nuestro territorio, el ‘otro’ es parte
del ‘nosotros”---generalmente indio.”
Portal Ariosa y Ramirez 1995:10
“In the case of Mexico, the history of anthropology has been connected with
indigenismo, simply because of the cultural plurality of our territory, the ‘other’ is
part of ‘we’---that is generally Indian.” As stated in the second part of the quote
above, for Mexican anthropologists doing work about Mexico within Mexico; the
“question of the other” has been a journey into the self because the Indian other is
inherently a part of a Mexican “we”. This is why one of the main thrusts of
anthropological works within Mexico is an analysis of characteristics that throughout
time have deciphered a complex relationship between el indio real, el indio
significado y su vinculo con la construcción de la identidad nacional (what is
authentically Indian, symbolically Indian and its tie with the construction of a
national identity) (Portal Ariosa y Ramirez 1995:10).
The authentic Indian was explored by most religious missionaries in what is
now chronicled as the Pre-Columbian/Mesoamerican roots of Mexico’s history as a
way for these conquistadores to understand this uncivilized other in order to better
conquer and civilize her/him. These same chronicles are then studied by scholars
such as archeologists and anthropologists in the 18
th
Century in a more romantic
fashion as a way to give the “indigenous other” a credible place in the foundation of

65
Mexico by acknowledging the unique contributions made to Mexican culture by this
“other”.
This same move of acknowledging an indigenous past as critical to a unique
aspect of Mexican history is utilized in the late 18
th
Century by Europeans/Spaniards,
Criollos, Mestizos, and some native interpretations under the guidance of non-
threatening religious priests in their accounts as a part of a political project to
separate from Spain. Such writings about a now “civilized” pre-Hispanic Indian
were part of New Spain’s nationalistic agenda for an unified identity mostly led by
Criollos (Spaniards born in America) to separate from the Crown’s paternal control
and to acknowledge a history beginning not in Spain but in a pre-Hispanic past.
After the success of a symbolic separation from Spain, New Spain’s agenda
shifted to establishing a social hierarchy based on race known as the caste system.
The process of chronicling the conquest and colonization was the first step in
constructing an American identity and central to this ideal of lo Americano was a
characterization of an indigenous other who functions as a point of contrast and
differentiation: “son indios todos los que no son blancos” (‘everyone who is not
white is Indian’). This socio-political symbolic incorporation of the other became
the main focus of 19
th
Century intellectuals, politicians, and government leaders after
their independence from Spain but with a different spin. The main concern of the
leaders of a new republic was how to homogenize a heterogeneous “inside” and
incorporate the Indian, at least symbolically, as part of the Criollo idea of what starts
to be clearly not Americano but Mexicano---socially, not biologically or racially
based (Portal Ariosa & Ramirez 1995:49).

66
Within this brief historical trajectory of the political project of
acknowledging the indigenous other by anthropologists and other academics,
Mexican anthropologist, Guillermo Bonfil asserts in his article title, Sobre la
Ideologia del Mestizaje (1994), that there are three defining moments in Mexican
history when the mestizaje ideology is fully realized. The first moment is at the end
of the 18
th
Century beginning of the 19
th
Century when a clear validation is given to
the Criollo population---those born in the Americas of pure Spanish/European blood-
--as the representation of what is authentically “Americano” or native to the
Americas because they are the first pure breeds born in the New Spain. The
“Americano” or Criollo ideology is to establish themselves as different from the
Peninsulares or Spaniards from Spain in order to free themselves from Spain’s
control---though their values did not differ from the Euro-centric Peninsulares. It
was a political and symbolic move towards self-sufficiency.
The second moment takes place throughout the 19
th
Century when the Criollo
ideology is then replaced with a “mestizaje” ideology, because the sheer numbers of
mestizos outgrow the Criollos, as well as the conscious political project of defining
not what is “lo Americano (Criollo)” but what is “lo Mexicano” or a new “pueblo” or
culture that is the mixture of the best attributes of two races that of the European and
the Indian (Bonfil 1994:9). Even though, the affirmation of “lo Mexicano” is only
acknowledging the Indian of the past---the Indian civilized in the past to build
pyramids---but not the Indian of the present or “Indio Vivo” who is seen as a threat
to the mestizaje ideology because of its pure indigenous blood.

67
The third defining moment of such an ideology is after the Mexican
Revolution of 1910, beginning with Jose Vasconcelos’s Cosmic Race theory, or the
universal race that is the best attributes of the “mestizo” race which prompts a surge
of murals and art that celebrate that which is Mexican and seen as universal because
it encompasses a mixture of the best of European, indigenous and African races. The
Mexican revolution was the climax of the mestizo ideology and the movement of
defining the “real Mexicano” is born with the main goals of achieving justice and
prosperity for all (Bonfil 1994:9).
From its inception the mestizaje ideology only gives credence to one
component of the mixture---that which is Spaniard/European---and chooses to
incorporate the indigenous side only if it assimilates and loses its Indian-ness. In
other words, the problem with such an ideology is that it is not just a racial ideology
but at its core it is a political ideology that privileges a modern national identity and
unity (i.e. a nationalist ideology of social progress) that symbolically includes the
Indian only in its Mesoamerican past and not the current contributions of this
community. Simply stated (Gledhill 1998:1):
“In this case, Europeanness was indeed associated with ideas about "progress"
and "modernisation". The dead Indians who had built the temples and the pyramids
were therefore seen as "advanced" for their time and place, but living indigenous
people were seen as backward and traditional, in need of "modernisation and
progress". Now let’s add a dose of confusion between cultural and biological
notions of mestizaje: progressiveness and modernity tended to become associated
with looking more European and having a whiter skin, so that looking more
"Indian" becomes socially degrading.”
Gledhill 1998:1

Gledhill goes on to provide a concrete example of the impact and how racism
through a privileging of skin color operates in the following excerpt from his website

68
article titled, Mestizaje and Indigenous Identities (1998): “But it is not really a
simple matter of discrimination against Indians by non-Indians. Even within a
family, people behave in ways which expresses the deeply ingrained subjective
consequences of the racial ideology of mestizaje: the four-year-old son of one of my
godchildren in a Mexican village rushed crying into my house to tell me that his
parents and grandparents hated him because he was dark — a morenito ("little
darkie/moor”) — whereas his new brother had blue eyes and fair skin and everyone
had been saying how beautiful he was because he was a "güerito" (little blondie).”
Such racism is based on the colonial ideology described by
anthropologist/historian Lomnitz-Adler that colonial society had an extraordinarily
large number of categories for classifying people of mixed race. Although the three
basic categories were African, Spanish and Indian, there were special names to refer,
for example, to the grandchild of someone who was part Black. Most people had
dismissed the complexities of this classification as of no consequence, but Lomnitz
(1992) uses a structuralist analysis to reveal that its underlying logic is both
consistent and very important. Indians were distinguished from Spanish people as
naturales opposed to gente de razón (people with reason or civilized): the distinction
is in terms of ability to reason and behave rationally, a quality which is assumed to
be European. However, Indians are seen as lacking it because they are like children,
and ignorance can literally be bred out of them. In the logic of the racial
classification, Indian blood is redeemable: people with Indian blood somewhere back
in their line can eventually become white if their ancestors have persisted in breeding
with Spaniards. Black blood, however, is not redeemable; or to put it another way,

69
people with African blood can never "whiten themselves". What post-colonial
ideologies took from this colonial view of race was the association of social as well
as personal progress with whitening:
“To cut a long story short, liberal politics in Mexico became
increasingly associated with the aspirations of a mestizo provincial
urban professional class which felt that the Creole oligarchy that
ran the country blocked its opportunities for social mobility. So Mexico’s
political history after 1856 is the history of the rise of a new mestizo elite.
It is, however, an elite which is extremely authoritarian as far as Indians
are concerned; it is an elite which has fully internalised the old Creole
ideology of whitening as progress and sees itself as a progressive force
in history because it is leaving the backward Indian past behind. It therefore
offers social justice to the Indians providing they agree to come on board
the same project, that is, they cease to preserve their distinct identities and
assimilate into the mestizo elite’s model of what "national culture" should
be like.”
Gledhill 1998:5

This racism is digested differently from region to region, as Lomnitz-Adler
(1992) stipulates. He describes his concept of the “culture of social relations” as
local practices and manipulations of shared frames and idioms which have different
meanings depending on the “intimate culture” of class interactions in a specific
Mexican setting. These shared frames and idioms speak to a national characteristic
that is then digested differently depending on the region or local municipality.
Lomnintz-Adler questions the ideology or definition of a national culture as “the
shared values of a single collectivity” and opens this concept to embrace a national
Mexican identity based on regional and local differences inherent in defining and
producing lo mexicano. In other words, while there is and has been a push for a
coherent national Mexican identity, how this identity is practiced differs based on
regional and local interpretations. It is influenced by many factors such as origin
stories, class, globalization, which then feed a social construction of identity.

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A good example is the Isleño case of using the local and regional
construction of mestiz@ to differentiate themselves as better than their Indian
brethren because they have bought into an Euro-centric definition of what is to be
Mexican which is fair/white/clean/pure/ and civilized. Isleños are practicing
alternative meanings of identity. It is a meaning that reveals a bias based on a
history of racism and present day class issues.
In Isla’s case the Isleños are proactively and consciously choosing not to
identify with Indians or in their language mestiz@s simply because of a racialized
class bias, which connects Indian-ness with poor, dark and dirty. This stereotype is
supported by the perception of mestiz@s as street vendors who have to be sanitized,
cleansed, and monitored. As de la Cadena explains in, “The Racial Politics of
Culture and Silent Racism in Peru” (2001): “In the city, market women---abhorred
and known as mestizas---were a direct target of Municipal sanctions and supervision.
Guards strolled the market place to prevent abusive mestizas from increasing
foodstuff prices at their will. Similarly, in order to ease the supervision of
cleanliness, city authorities obliged market women to wear white aprons and to cut
their hair: their indigenous woolen clothes and long braids nested bugs of all sorts
(de la Cadena 2001:8).” As in Peru, Isleños refer to Indian women as mestizas
because of their occupation and appearance, which denote both ethnicity/race and
class. This Peruvian example also demonstrates how in various parts of Latin
America, the term mestiza can take on the similar alternative meanings practiced on
Isla.

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To further illustrate her point about the negative usage of the term mestiz@
in Peru and how it conflates both ethnicity and class biases, de la Cadena illustrates
how the Peruvian Indigenista or Indigenismo movement has consciously chosen to
celebrate all that is Indian as a rejection of mestizaje ideology and its Euro-centric
foundations. Indigenistas define mestizaje as immoral and primarily sexually since
it was the impure consequence of rape or female sexual deviance. According to
these promoters of a racial/cultural purity of the Indian race, mestizos were ex-
Indians who had abandoned their proper natural/cultural environment---the
countryside---and migrated to the cities. Thus, this cultural racial purity---and the
nationalism it inspired---was gendered, sexualized, and imprinted on the geography
(de la Cadena 2001:7).
This move by Indigenistas clearly is a reaction to the Euro-centric leanings of
the mestizaje ideology and is similar in its bias, although, on the other side of the
racial spectrum. Yet, it further demonstrates how the term mestiz@ is appropriated
by various groups and institutions for their own agenda of nation-building and
clearly manifests itself in their rhetoric and everyday interpretations of such a term.
From the Euro-centric point of view a mestiz@ has the opportunity to lose her/his
Indian-ness and become more “white” by becoming more civilized through
education, occupation, and appearance. From the Indigenista perspective, a mestiz@
is inherently impure because of the consequences of the Spanish conquest and the
only way to for Indians to achieve a positive position/status in society is to reclaim
their pure Indian genes that before conquest were authentically civilized. Once
again, the extreme sides of the spectrum are exposed to demonstrate that in Peru and

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in Mexico, “being a mestiz@ is a racialized class fact, where class was not only
judged in terms of income but of education and origin (de la Cadena 2001:8).”
In Peru, as in Mexico, there are individuals and movements that are finding a
balance between the two biased ends of the spectrum (Gledhill 1998:2):
“Nevertheless, it is quite clear that people can develop new kinds of identities. I
have myself worked with poor landless mestizos who have come to re-identify
themselves with Indian neighbours with whom they now feel that they share a
common ancestry, although they no longer speak an indigenous language or share
exactly the same culture. One of the most important developments today is the
development of broader kinds of indigenous identities and political movements.
Gledhill 1998:2

“Despised by the state, and leading historians and anthropologists, indigenous
Cuzquenos have appropriated the word mestizo and given it an alternative
meaning: they use it to identify literate and economically successful people
who share indigenous cultural practices yet do not perceive themselves as
miserable, a condition that they consider “Indian.” Far from equating “indigenous
culture” with “being Indian”---a colonial label that carries a historical stigma
of inferiority---they perceive Indianness as a social condition that reflects
an individual’s failure to achieve educational improvement. As a result of
this redefinition, “indigenous Andean culture” exceeds the scope of
Indianness; it broadly includes Cuzqueno commoners who claim indigenous
cultural heritage, yet refuse to be labeled Indians. They proudly call themselves
‘mestizo,’ while refusing to disappear in the cultural national homogeneity
that the dominant definition of mestizo conveys.”
de la Cadena 2001:10
Both Gledhill and de la Cadena attest to the notion that mestizaje has more
than one trajectory and more than one meaning. Gledhill’s work with landless
mestizos in Mexico, who because of their economic struggle are choosing to identify
with their Indian brethren or closer to the Indian side of the mestizaje spectrum,
exposes how the commonality of struggle forces people to shift their identity and
acknowledge what they would not have otherwise done in the past. de la Cadena’s
quote highlights how the alternative meanings of mestizaje are shifting in Peru.

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The appropriation of the term mestizo in the Andean case study illustrated by
de la Cadena demonstrates how such a term can celebrate the indigenous attributes
without the colonial baggage of the term Indian. In other words, indigenous does not
have the same meaning as the given or imposed term of Indian. This organic
definition or alternative meaning of the term mestizo goes against the historical,
Euro-centric ideology of mestizaje as well as the pro-Indigenista ideology because it
acknowledges the degrees of hybridity that exceed the bounds of binary racial
discourses. The alternative meanings of such term, whether utilized in an affirming
manner or in Isla’s case a negative manner, grounds the argument that ultimately it is
more commonly understood and utilized in a popular form or socially constructed
versus a bio-racial definition.
The shift in appropriating terms to empower versus dis-empower---
particularly the disenfranchised, demonstrated by de la Cadena (Andean) and
Gledhill (pan-Mayan) is something that has concerned Mexican intellectuals and
politicians. As one such scholar, Castillo suggests:
“El mestizaje is not linear, it is interactive. Only legitimate as a synthesis, not a
substitution. Therefore, a Latin American project has to be a mestizo project, that is
to say, a project that is built on its history, assimilating not negating it. If Mexican
entrepreneurs want success in today’s global economy, they should own their
“mexicanidad”; only accepting our own history can we offer something to and take
our due place in the concert of nations. …In other words, if being “civilized” at the
expense of renouncing our own selves then we are not only negating ourselves our
rich culture we are transforming it into a dead past, in a past that is only exploitable
in a tourism context. Major enterprises build 5-star grand hotels for tourists to
exploit such indigenous circuits (i.e. pyramids, Mayan ruins, etc…). After
renouncing our mestizaje, we put on a folklore mask only to be enjoyed by
foreigners who come in search of our Mexican past. Therefore, our mestizaje, as a
point of departure for a national Mexican project, should require a re-evaluation of
our founding cultures, a de-centering of how our history has been understood
presently with an Euro-centric bias, thus, a new vision unfolds different from the
dichotomy of civilized versus barbarian.”
Castillo 1993:6

74
In the quote above, Castillo addresses how Mexico’s mestizaje ideology can be used
as a successful point of departure for a national Mexican project once a re-evaluation
or de-centering of how it has been deployed in the past is undertaken. Secondly, he
exposes how tourism as a Mexican national project can both exploit the indigenous
circuits of the past (i.e. pyramids, Mayan ruins, etc…) as well as affirm the present
day Indian contributions. He specifically suggests a practical application of what he
is proposing above as it relates to the southeast region of Mexico, which is
predominantly Mayan and also a popular tourist destination. He states, “In the
southeast of Mexico, our immediate homework consists of reflecting on our maya-
mestiza culture, in order to understand how capitalists, both national and global, are
exploiting it, and most importantly, how we can transform this reality by reclaiming
and developing our culture organically from within. One way to do this is to
revitalize an interest for the Mayan language, to enter our history via this feasible
task and assume our mestizaje. In order to do so, we need to reflect on the
connection between learning the Mayan language and poverty. Maybe that is why
our forefathers decided that we learn Castellano (Spanish) before Maya or instead of,
when it would have been socially and culturally beneficial to learn both (1993:6).”
In the case of Isla de Mujeres, where the Mayan language is spoken in private
or as part of a performance for tourists but mostly it is dismissed because of the
connection to the barbaric, uncivilized, and the poor, Isleños can truly cultivate their
genetic and cultural identity by affirming this component of their mestiz@ identity.
Particularly, because the island---as a tourist destination---wants to actively promote
itself as a viable tourist attraction why not acknowledge and continue to exploit its

75
Mayan past as well as its present? Especially if this strategy uplifts not only the
economy but Isleños self-esteem and overall sense of whom they are and where they
come from. Because of its mythic origins and natural beauty as an island in the
Mexican Caribbean Isla can use this interest in its indigenous background as a way
to further differentiate itself as a unique tourist destination, an agenda that interests
all who live off of the tourist industry.
Instead Isleños choose to cultivate their identity to present a more
modern/progressive image as a way to keep up with the modernizing influences that
tourists leave behind. In other words, Isleños have chosen to practice the double
movement that Castillo highlights in his quote on page 71, “After renouncing our
mestizaje, we put on a folklore mask only to be enjoyed by foreigners who come in
search of our Mexican past.”
Tourists and Isla’s Image
Isla de Mujeres has taken advantage of its origin stories, specifically the
name, Island of Women, as well as the Goddess Ixchel sanctuary, to allure tourists to
visit the island. Weinbaum states that two types of hooks are used in the island’s
commercial promotions to allure tourists, “Many come to stay for longer than the
day-tripper purely to experience a sense of wholeness from belonging to an
apparently spiritually coherent small-town community. …For those who are
attracted by the name Isla Mujeres, two types arrive and linger. One type, attracted
by the intrigue of the first legend, tends to consist of beach boys looking for easy
pick-ups and a beach full of ‘bikini women’. The other, drawn by the second, tends
to consist of women: single women; bisexual and/or lesbian women; women

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traveling alone, with or without children; women looking to have children, or to
affirm sexuality which might be undermined psychologically and/or emotionally by
their menopausal experience. Specifically, feminists also come in search of a
vaguely-reassurable past conveyed in the existence of some sort of lost utopia, i.e. a
source of women’s once separate or at least independent and spiritually-empowered
existence (1996:255).” Once there, tourists fall in love with the natural beauty of its
beaches and the intimate setting of a small island. While Isleños symbolically
acknowledge their past they don’t affirm their live indigenous present by claiming
the diversity of people, particularly the post 1980s and recent migrants to the island.
As Weinbaum suggests on her analysis of the art produced on Isla, “…what has
transpired on Isla Mujeres in terms of construction of image by the populace was not
the case of art created for the sake of art… Pleasing the mind of the traveler
profitably was the motive, rather than reclamation or reinvention of tradition for the
sense of self-preservation, or even for the sake of a modern ethnic search
(1996:234).” In this quote, Weinbaum highlights what Castillo suggests that in the
context of tourism, Isleños accommodate the expectations of the tourists who visit
them---who are predominantly white, European/US Americans---and cultivate their
image or identity based on their internal perceptions of what these travelers’ desire in
order to make a profit.
Arun Appadurai speaks about such forces as travel and the media as products
of modern technology, information and transportation technology in which people
and images are in “simultaneous circulation”. If one defines the term commodity as
a physical product, good, and or service-offering that has value in terms of utility and

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exchange in the production of culture manifested in people’s artifacts, practices,
rituals, customs, and identities; culture and its people thus becomes captured as
product or a good. Robert Goldman (1992:6) argues that, “higher productivity,
higher pay and increased leisure time accelerated the extension of the commodity
form. More and more social relations were transformed as first goods production
and then services rendered amenable to commodification.” Culture, people, and
nature are commodified by being evaluated primarily in terms of their exchange
value in the context of trade in addition to their use-value (Watson and Kopachevsky
1994:645). Sites of cultural production and commodification are appropriate for
looking at how culture, globalization and modernity play out in tourism efforts that
focus on performance and aesthetic representations to satisfy consumer desires.
While the tourist seeks the Mayan past, local Isleños only want to be or
appear more modern. “Traditional Yucatec handiwork is sold to tourists. Yet,
islanders buy clothes imported from Miami, with English words, items of status at a
high price well outstripping workers’ salaries. They also adorn their wall with mass-
production white Santa Clauses and even reindeer, snowmen and evergreen trees for
Christmas, although it never snows on the island, the natives are not white, and
evergreens don’t grow there (Weinbaum, 1996:229).”
In other words, tourists come to experience the Mayan roots of this region, in
which Isla is located. Yet, Isleños do not want to be perceived as Mayan or in their
case as mestiz@ because of their internal biases that associates the mestiz@ with
what is pre-modern, uncivilized, and unclean. Isleños want to wear the same modern
fashions that tourists sport, they want to have the same modern gadgets that tourists

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bring along with them, i.e. cell phones, lap top computers, etc…, in order to
demonstrate that they are not pre-modern or primitive. At the same time, they are
aware that the reason tourists come to visit their island in the first place is because it
is marketed as a small, rustic, island---the image that they also idealized.
Such a contrast is manifested in Isla’s internal identity crisis, while it
continues to idealize and to situate itself as a small rustic island that differentiates
itself from its more modernized neighbor Cancun with its hotel zone that features
international franchise restaurants and attractions (i.e. McDonalds, dance clubs…), it
still visually and culturally wants to be seen as an island of progress with its 5-star
hotel accommodations and modern restaurants, bars and dance clubs. However,
these establishments are not internationally recognized, they are owned mostly by
foreign entrepreneurs who live on Isla and employ locals as the face of such
establishments.
Isleños have a love/hate relationship with Cancun since the national Mexican
government created it as a tourist destination in 1973. Before Cancun, Isleños hardly
crossed over to the mainland since everything they needed was imported to Isla. As
an elderly man who is a member of a founding family reminisces of days gone by,
“Cancun was just a mountain, where groves of coconuts were harvested” (Personal
Interview May 07, 2002). Now, as a woman in her early forties and owner of a
popular tourist hotel on Isla states, “Isla is the one-day prostitute of Cancun, where
tourists who mainly stay in Cancun come to Isla for a day visit or as part of a booze-
cruise for an hour visit (Personal Interview May 28, 2002). Another island tourism
official states that with the creation of Cancun, Isla is now seen as an extension of

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Cancun and not as a self-standing tourist destination. But there is also a great deal of
pride by Isleños that they have more culturally a tie to tradition than Cancun because
of its origin story and the fact that they were a tourist destination long before Cancun
was invented. This pride is expressed in the lyrics of a song about one of Isla’s most
popular and oldest tourist attractions, el Garrafon, or water theme park:
Que bonito es Garrafon How beautiful is Garrafon
hermoso centro turistico beautiful tourist center
que bonito es Garrafon how beautiful is Garrafon
que guardas entre tus mares that in your sea you hold
las mas hermosas corales the most beautiful corral
que guardas entre tus mares that in your sea you hold
las mas hermosas corales the most beautiful corral

No, no, no, no, nadie te puede igualar No no one is like you
No, no, no, no bello parque nacional no, beautiful national park
representas en mi estado you represent in my State
una joya sin igual an unmatchable jewel
representas en mi estado you represent in my State
un joya sin igual an unmatchable jewel

A Cancun siempre le has gustado Cancun has always wanted you
vive de ti enamorado it is in love with you
a Cancun siempre le has gustado Cancun has always wanted you
vive de ti enamorado it is in love with you
no, no, no, no nadie te puede llevar no, no one can take you
no, no, no, no de Isla Mujeres seras No, you belong to Isla Mujeres
el que venga a conocerte she/he who comes to meet you
nunca te podra olvidar will not be able to forget you…

Lyrics by Isolda y Marilu Martinez

Although, both Isla and Cancun serve the similar tourists, Isla’s people and
institutions are trying to differentiate themselves from Cancun as a unique tourist
destination by the mere fact that it is an island and not on the mainland. As
exemplified in the lyrics of the song above that highlights, its national water theme
park, as one of its natural wonders that is not fabricated as the tourist attractions in
Cancun.

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One strategy that tourist officials have identified as a great way to
differentiate themselves is to market the natural beauty of Isla and in order to
maintain this beauty they have had to implement environmental campaigns of
“cleanliness” of both the island’s and its inhabitants’ appearance. As one tourism
official puts it, “Tourism is important for Isla as a form of subsistence but what is
even more important is to take care of Isla’s image by keeping it clean and
maintaining its natural beauty, such as keeping its beautiful beaches clean” (Personal
Interview January 30, 2004).
One of the major complaints that government officials and locals have about
the overpopulation of the Isla with more migrants from the outside is that they don’t
value keeping the Isla clean as locals do and often state that tourists throw their trash
in trashcans while locals throw it on the street. So, the practices of cleanliness are
used to demarcate who is invested in the island enough to maintain its natural
wonder clean as well as to differentiate who is a local, migrant, and/or tourist. As a
woman in her early thirties from the Yucatan who moved to Isla to work as a
cleaning service worker in a hotel states, “Cleanliness is a form of communication
that is why one should have good hygiene and an overall clean appearance (Personal
Interview March 18, 2004). She is referring to a form of communication amongst
civilized members of a community. Another interviewee---a man in his early forties
who is a newspaper reporter and who is not a native to Isla but sees himself as a
permanent transplant states that he notices that the new arrivals do not take care of
the appearances of their houses or the areas in front of their houses as they do in
other parts or villages in Mexico, where people wash down or sweep the front of

81
their houses as part of their daily cleaning routine (Personal Interview March 20,
2004). He further stated that it was more important for people to do this on Isla
because of the tourists that passed by these houses on their golf carts and mopeds as
they toured the island. Bottom line, cleanliness becomes a point of demarcation for
those who care enough about the island to maintain it clean and usually this
demarcates who is native versus a migrant. The cleanliness issue is of such concern
to Isleños that it has been taken up by many from government and local grass roots
organizations and their conscious-raising campaigns geared mostly to children, who
they feel are easier to change their ways [These efforts will be discussed in Chapter 3
of this dissertation].
Conclusion:
Tourist’s influences on Isleños go far beyond the creation of services that
cater to such clients but penetrate the perceptions of Isleños in how they need to
present themselves as well as their island. This consciousness on behalf of Isleños
impact their psyche to the unconscious level of transforming their identity to the
point of not being perceived as dirty, unclean or uncivilized, all characteristics of that
is which pre-modern, barbaric and in many cases Indian. Therefore, cleanliness is
associated with a civilized hospitality and is thus racialized because in Mexico’s case
according to the Euro-centric leaning of the mestizaje ideology those who are
civilized, modern, and exemplify progress have been those who have left their
Indian-ness behind them and assimilated more to the European side of the gene pool.
Such a connection is practiced on Isla, by Isleños who do not want to be perceived
by tourists as primitive or in their language mestiz@ but as clean, civilized

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inhabitants of a small, rustic, and beautiful island---the pearl of the Mexican
Caribbean.

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CHAPTER III
Soul-Making on Isla de Mujeres
Introduction
“Citizens inhabit the political space of a nation, a space that is, at once judicially
legislated, territorially situated and culturally embodied.”
Lowe 1996:2

Aristotle believed that several villages together could form a state. He
concluded that if earlier forms of society are natural, so is the state, for it is the end
of them, and the nature of a thing is its end (Book One). Michel Foucault thought
the state as a key instrument of oppression and control. The state is a from of social
organization that both provides power and constrains it, through the normalizing of
behavior and individuals the state exercises its control (1991:87). Official state
structures, policies, and personnel act as tangible expressions of the state but are not
necessarily where we look for it. By this Foucault means that certain forms of media
such as advertising and marketing are used to silently instruct us to fix our gaze
when we neither expect nor suspect them as instruments of a particular ideology. In
the case of Isla de Mujeres, both media and government officials collaborate and use
various forms of marketing to promote cleanliness and good hygiene practices to
Islenos as part of being good hosts to tourists.
The political project sponsored by institutions of the state to craft Islenos on
Isla de Mujeres into good hosts as ideal citizens is the focus of Chapter Four. The
task of this chapter is to explore the role of the state and its institutions in defining
what it is to be a good citizen as part of the cultural citizenship ideology of being a

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good host as an ideal citizen on Isla de Mujeres.
Crafting identity on Isla de Mujeres involves many players at the national,
regional, and local levels of the state as well as global phenomena such as tourism.
Institutions such as family, formal/informal education and mass media become
socialization agents of the nation-state to create citizens that uphold particular values
and norms. Tourists predominantly from the United States who visit the island bring
certain expectations and needs that influence hospitality and human relations on Isla
de Mujeres. Thus, Mexican government and tourist officials create marketing and
educational campaigns to educate and train Islenos into ideal hosts for such tourists,
as part of their training that focuses on providing excellent service and hospitality.
Murals, radio commercials, and school books are utilized to craft Islenos into good
hosts as ideal citizens. Identity is utilized as an analytical tool, specifically social
identity, which is fluid, dynamic and contextual, rather than fixed and static.
Tourism, as a cultural practice, causes institutional leaders to focus on
presenting a positive image of Islenos and the island for tourists in order to generate
more tourism and money. A positive image is based on an ideology of cleanliness
that insinuates notions of civilized behavior---the state uses its various strategies of
creating a clean and tidy individual who then creates and maintains a clean and tidy
environment on the island. The influence of tourism on the everyday practices of
Islenos places tourism as the locus to investigate such topics as citizenship---who is
considered a righteous contributing citizen, and identity---how is such a citizen
created and defined. Pierre Bourdieu (1992) analyzes how an individual internalized
culture through his concept of habitus. This concept portrays individuals as

85
strategically competent actors that navigate unequal economic, political, and cultural
resources within a social structure. Individuals internalize their position in this
structure by gradually developing a habitus tailored to this position. In other words,
Bourdieu suggests that habitus is a system of predispositions that determine actions,
perceptions, and interpretation that become habitual for individuals to practice.
Based on the objective of this chapter, I align myself with feminist scholars
that stipulate “citizenship in any given country is to be understood as a variable and
unequal process shaped not only by national-local condition but also by global
realities and accompanying racialized, gendered discourses. Such a perspective
challenges traditional approaches to citizenship that assume a single, advanced
nation-state model, from which the attainment of rights is inappropriately
universalized (Bakan and Stasiulis 1997:32)”
Pierre Bourdieu defines the state as an organization born of and geared toward
the concentration of power or powers. The state, Bourdieu suggests, is first and
foremost the central bank of symbolic credit whereby social divisions and dignities
are assigned and proclaimed (i.e., promulgated as universally valid within the
purview of a given territory and population) (1994:8). The power of the state, then, is
not exercised solely upon the subaltern, the mad, the sick, and the criminal. It bears
upon all individuals in a myriad of invisible ways, every time one perceives and
constructs the social world through categories instilled via culture and education.
The state not only takes the form of bureaucracies, authorities, and ceremonies; it is
also engraved within the psyche of individuals, lodged in the intimacy of shared
manners and how one feels, thinks, and judges others. In his study on the how the

86
school has become the state’s most potent conduit of values and behavior, Bourdieu
asserts that academia or education is the state magic whereby social identities are
manufactured and privileges are guaranteed (1994:3).
The Culture of Capitalism
Both the state and the tourism industry thrive and are products of capitalism
and modernity. Richard H. Robbins suggests that the state is a vehicle of capitalism.
In such a culture the accumulation of wealth is promoted; the idea that business's
desire for profit is more important than human rights or environmental issues; the
concept that making money (employment) and spending money (consumerism) is the
way things are; the will to defend its values it believes as right; the will to spread its
influence onto those who don't agree or don't conform (Robbins, 2005:ix). Robbins
suggests that over the past five to six centuries a distinctive global culture or way of
life has emerged that is dominated by a belief in commodity consumption as the
source of well-being. The spread of this culture of capitalism has created distinctive
patterns of social relations, ways of viewing the world, patterns of food production,
distinctive diets, patterns of health and disease, and relationships to the environment,
to name a few.
The nation–state, along with the consumer, laborer, and capitalist, comprise the
essential elements of the culture of capitalism. It is the nation–state, as
anthropologist Eric Wolf suggests, that guarantees the ownership of private property
and the means of production and provides support for disciplining the work force
(1982:100). The state also has to provide and maintain the economic infrastructure—
transportation, communication, judicial systems, education, and so on—required by

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capitalist production. The nation–state must regulate conflicts between competing
capitalists at home and abroad, by diplomacy if possible, by war if necessary
(Robbins 2005:104). The state plays an essential role in creating conditions that
inhibit or promote consumption, controls legislation that may force people to seek
wage labor, legislates to regulate or deregulate corporations, controls the money
supply, initiates economic, political, and social policies to attract capital, and
controls the legitimate use of force. Without the nation–state to regulate commerce
and trade within its own borders, there could be no effective global economic
integration. States exist and have existed for five to seven thousand years. But the
idea of the nation–state, of a people sharing some bounded territory, united by a
common culture or tradition, common language, or common race, is a product of
nineteenth century Europe (Robbins 2005:112). The state is also defined as an
organization of one class dominating over the other classes. Such a class
organization can come about in one way only, namely, through conquest and the
subjection of ethnic groups by the dominating group.
Some of the key concepts relating to an analysis of the effects of capitalism on
culture are profit motive, commodity, human desire, and the market economy. The
capitalist system is based on private ownership and consolidation of the means of
production, where as the production of commodities is guided by profit motive to
satisfy human desires. What capitalism does is to encourage people, in general, to
engage in activity that is deemed valuable by other people. This is what many people
see as capitalism’s most positive attribute, and indeed this is an extremely important
factor in the ways in which the capitalist system has been successful. In capitalist

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society something is only recognized to have value if it is a commodity.
A commodity can be a physical product, good, and/or service that has a value
in terms of utility and exchange produced by people such as their artifacts, practices,
rituals, customs, and identities; then one can surmise, thus, that culture therefore
becomes captured as a product or a good. Advertising scholar Robert Goldman
argues that “higher productivity, higher pay and increased leisure time accelerated
the extension of the commodity form. More and more social relations were
transformed as first goods production and then services rendered amenable to
commoditization (1992:16).” Culture, people, and nature are commoditized by being
evaluated primarily in terms of their exchange value in the context of trade in
addition to their use value.
Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai argues that commodities should be looked at
as things in motion in order to illuminate their human and social context. He defines
the "commodity situation in the social life of any ‘thing’ ...as the situation in which
its exchangeability (past, present, or future) for some other thing is its socially
relevant feature." (1986:13). These exchanges take place within specific regimes of
value, and may only be one phase in the life history of an object. The
commodification of culture manifested in a subset of tourism that is cultural tourism
in which culture is commodified for touristic purposes.
Cultural tourism is defined as cultural aspects of a particular place that are of
interest to the visitor and can be marketed as such, including the customs and
traditions of people, their heritage, history, and their way of life. It is a form of
recreation in which tourists spend a significant amount of leisure time and money on

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cultural activities such as performing arts, visual arts, museums, cultural centers,
historic sites, and festivals.
This concern between determining what belongs to the culture and what belongs to
tourism surfaces time and again, especially when one evokes the danger of
‘corruption’ (kroupsi), of ‘pollution’ (polusi), of ‘defilement’ (kecemaran), or of
‘profanation’ (provanasi). And the passionate reaction of the Balinese authorities in
this regard reveals a determination to maintain that which must remain property of
the Balinese---that which constitutes the ‘essence’ (intisari) of their culture… If
they are unable to distinguish between their own values and those propagated by
their visitors. And if this were the case, the Balinese culture would become a
‘touristic culture’ (kebudayaan pariwisata)---defined as a state of confusion
between the values of culture and those of tourism.
Picard 1996:128-129

Michel Picard (1996) addresses the dichotomy between “the authentic and the
commercial”, “the pure and the polluted”, or “the sacred and the profane” in his
concept of what constitutes a culture not catering to the desires of tourists. Such
terms describe how locals have taken up certain expressive traditions for the sake of
the tourists and now use them with a new context, namely the commercial and
strategic use of traditions. Seen from the outside it may well look like that: The
tourists want the traditional so they will get the traditional, and thus enter into the
local religious field, "blurring the line between inside and outside", or "us and them."
Picard highlights how cultural tourism is used as a strategy of sustainability on
the island of Bali. Culture as a viable resource for tourism is a critical component in
the “Bali-nization” program implemented both as a function to facilitate growth of
international tourism on Bali but also as a way to enhance national pride. Without
creating and sustaining a distinct cultural identity and without their natural habitat,
Bali would have to look elsewhere to produce cultural expressions that would entice
tourists. Tourism scholar Robert Wood affirms that within the realm of cultural

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tourism, the distinction between tourism and other aspects of culture become
increasingly blurred because of the “touristic modes of staging, visualization and
experience that become increasingly central to other areas of social life.
Furthermore, these differentiating trends are often linked directly to the expression,
consumption, and experience of ethnicity, both one’s own and others’ (1998:229).”
In a world that continues to be more and more inter-connected on various
levels to form a global community, issues of what constitutes an authentic culture are
questioned through the tearing down of borders or nationalistic boundaries. Hybrid
cultures that combine the local and the global continue to problemitize the notion of
a unifying cultural identity. Appadurai (1991:193) speaks of this phenomenon as
deterritorialization or a loosening of bonds between people, wealth, and territories,
which alters cultural production and is a major force in a modern world. Appadurai
speaks of global spaces by coining the term “-scape” and when combined with
specific prefixes such as ethnoscapes, technoscapes, finascapes, mediascapes, and
ideoscapes can become frameworks in which to conceptualize globalization
(1996:31-33). “Deterritorialization” is a term utilized in the literature of
globalization, that concerns itself with how production, consumption, communities,
politics, and identities become detached from local places. In some cases, such as
the case of Isla de Mujeres, identity becomes re-affirmed against the global backdrop
of what is not Isleno. So the global and the local are in constant dialogue. In
Mexican anthropologist Garcia Canclini’s view, borders become mobile as identities
are fragmented, old and new images are relocated or delocalized and illusions
become resources for defining identities and communicating with others (1995:229).

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To summarize, both the state and tourism thrive and rely on a culture of
capitalism that de-centers the definition of culture based on ethnicity and
nationalism. Socio-cultural anthropology was originally conceived of as a study of
different cultures. Cultures were thought to be unique, bounded entities with limits
and specific characteristics as well as static, and therefore captured by
anthropological analyses. Their customs, habits, mores, relationships, uniqueness
could all be detailed, and in doing so, the way in which each culture was separate
from all others could be seen.
According to anthropologist and feminist scholar Sherry Ortner (1994:3), since
the early 1960s the notion of culture has been re-conceptualized to ask questions
such as “if we speak of culture as ‘shared’ by all members of a given society… we
must now always ask ‘by whom?’ and ‘in what ways?’ and ‘under what
conditions?’” What is becoming more apparent is a global culture rooted in
capitalistic values and norms that are digested to varying degrees at the local level.
Cultural studies scholar Stuart Hall calls for unpacking the term “glocal” in
which the relationship between the local and global is explored (1994:17). To
describe the character of this process Ronald Robertson has coined the term
'glocalization’ (1995:8). Robertson argues against a tendency to perceive
globalization as involving large-scale macro-sociological issues and processes which
at the same time neglects the way in which globalization is localized. His basic claim
is that globalization always takes place in some locality, while at the same time
locality as a particular place is itself produced in discourses of globalization.
Furthermore, Robertson coins the term 'glocalization' to mean a global outlook

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tailored to local conditions to describe the inter-relationship between the local and
global. He suggests that one should not see globalization simply as linking already
existing localities together, such that the integrity of each place is invaded and
subjected to the homogenizing effects of global culture with its products, images and
ideas, but to the contrary, as a deliberate reinforcing heterogeneity by re-production
of locality from within the locality itself as a way of taking advantage of the global
patterns. This process is not simply a one-way flow of influence, meaning the
global impacting the local, but a multi-directional flow in which each takes
advantage of the other, creating glocal citizens who are held accountable by local
institutions yet are influenced by global processes. For example, the government and
media of Isla de Mujeres promote cleanliness and good hygiene as a requirement of a
civilized image observed and experienced by tourists from all over the world.
The cultural impact of global phenomena such as tourism transforms localities,
causing distant powers to penetrate local experience. For inhabitants of Isla de
Mujeres, where many Islenos rely on tourism for their livelihood and sustenance, the
type of visitor and her/his expectations dictate the type of service provided. Seventy-
five percent of tourist visas to the Mexican Caribbean are granted to US residents;
therefore it is particularly important that Islenos develop an understanding of what
they think an American tourist wants and expects when visiting the island (Personal
Communication, June 25, 2002). This point is better articulated by Alberto
Dardayrol Marketing Director for the Ministry of Tourism in Cancun, Mexico, “We
know more about US Americans than they know about themselves because this is
our job” (Personal Interview, June 25, 2002).

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The Advent of Tourism in Mexico
Tourism as an industry is a viable economic and social development
opportunity for many countries to exploit. This is particularly true for a country such
as Mexico with an acute debt crisis that has sought ways to seize foreign dollars.
Mexico’s beautiful beaches attract tourists with foreign dollars to spend; this has
encouraged the Mexican government to develop its environment into resorts that
offer people an escape from a chaotic world. Construction projects, hotels, and
restaurants supply jobs to regions such as the Mexican Caribbean and modernize the
countryside by establishing electricity, potable water systems, and paved roads. As
Pierre van den Berghe states, “The Mexican Government is extremely tourism
conscious (1995:568).” This is specifically true in areas such as of how Mexico can
best present itself to entice the tourist dollar. The following is a recapitulation of the
flourishing of the tourism industry within Mexico, paying close attention the role of
the state has played in its creation.
Tourism scholar Manuel Ramirez Blanco divides the development of the
tourist industry in Mexico in the three periods: the first is the birth of the industry in
the 1920’s to the 1940’s; the second period, the actual development period, from
1940 to 1958 and the third period is the technification period from 1958 to the
present (Diana Editorial 1981:1).
Before the Mexican revolution of the 1910s, travel was for the wealthy
domestic citizens and for U.S. Americans who dared to travel on uncomfortable
roads. In the early twenties, after the revolution, President Obregon emerged as the
victor and deemed the first goal of his administration to establish a national identity.

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The constitution promised land redistribution, worker’s rights, and anti-clerical
educational policies. It also created an interventionist state that looked toward
economic growth, implemented and enforced land, labor and educational reform, and
guaranted the good health of every citizen.
The first project was to rebuild the capital city and create historical attractions
for Mexican citizens to visit. Though intended for Mexicans, the new recreational
parks, national monuments and museums celebrating the nation’s rich history also
appealed to many foreign tourists (Kaplan in Nash 1993:108). After rebuilding the
capital, Obregon’s administration set out to develop various regions. The goal was
political centralization with a social plan to stabilize and modernize the nation.
Government programs were set up in the countryside to raise educational standards,
and to promote hygiene and health. In the mid 1920s, President Plutarco Elias
Calles made health concerns a part of his attempt to centralize political power and
bring about economic development. Many hygienists in Mexico City regarded the
rural peasants as backward and ignorant, they began to work to impose their own
European-inspired views on sanitary and health practices across the nation (Vaughan
1982: 98). As part of this centralization effort, communication links were
established along with lines of electricity, potable water systems, and substantial
transportation routes. In 1928, a trade route with railways was built. Roads opened
that connected the capital to the eastern and western seaboards. In the 1930s, a road
connecting Texas to Mexico City was built which facilitated travel for Americans
(Lee and Nolan 1987:14).
Also in the 1920s, Mexico City’s business community and administrators in

95
the hotel industry formed a travel club that erected several hotels in the capital’s
downtown area. The hotels were within walking distance of museums, parks, and
other tourist attractions. These same hoteliers provided transportation to the ancient
pyramids and promoted tourist attractions. Soon the travel club and the government
began looking beyond the capital to build Mexico’s first coastal resort. With the
Mexican nation gaining popularity with US American tourists and celebrity as a
nearby escape, future tourists would travel off to Mexico. The Mexican tourist
industry had a slow but steady growth until the onset of World War II. Until that
time, the nation had such coastal resorts as Acapulco for foreign travelers and
Hollywood celebrities to enjoy.
The U.S. escaped its 1930s depression with post-war abundance and US
magazines such as Holiday and Traveler celebrated world travel with their premier
editions. Post World War II, the Mexican government for the first time directly and
consciously addressed the issue of tourism. President Miguel Aleman focused on
improving the nation’s infrastructure from port facilities to telephone lines. The
solution was pragmatic industrialization that consciously paired the Mexican
government with private investors to modernize the entire nation (Centeno
1994:178). From 1939 to 1950, net earning from tourists reduced the cumulative
trade deficit from $904 million to $114 million (Jud 1974:20).
During the 1960s the government took a greater role in promoting tourism in
Mexico, financing the construction of new hotels and transport systems. The
preparation for the 1968 Olympics included a metro subway system that came to
fruition under the presidential administration of Luis Echevarria. His policy would

96
carefully regulate investments from U.S. corporations and it would diversify its
foreign investors from South America and Europe. Echevarria was the first president
to use national television to reach his constituents and he expressed his interest in
tourism as a vehicle for economic and social development (Davis 1994:22).
In 1974, the government legislated the Ley Federal de Fomento al Turismo,
which mandated the planning, coordination and promotion of tourism. To carry out
this law, the Secretary of Tourism (Sectur) was formed and in 1975 achieved cabinet
status within the Mexican government (Budd 1986:7). With increased government
interest in tourism as a form of development, all parts of society were becoming
tourism conscious. Another government agency whose mission was to develop new
sites for resort construction was Infratur or the Fondo Nacional de Fomento al
Turismo (FONATUR). Fonatur’s focus was to create regional projects that would
offer palatable living quarters, jobs, and in general better living conditions
throughout the nation. Fonatur spent two years searching for prospective locations to
build resorts. In 1972, several locations were identified one of which was Cancun
off the coast of the state of Quintana Roo and on the Yucatan Peninsula. Cancun lies
closer to Miami, Florida, than to Mexico City and it was a blank slate for the
Mexican government to build a successful tourist city unlike the negative case study
of tourism, which was Acapulco (Pi-Sunyer 1998:10). In the early 1970s, Cancun
was an isolated fishing village with 426 residents. Today it is comprised of two
"zones": the hotel strip, with some 40 major hotels (offering a total of 16,805 units),
and a "service city," Ciudad Cancun (Downtown Cancun), of approximately 300,000
inhabitants.

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What is important about the creation and evolution of Cancun is it’s proximity
to Isla de Mujeres. From Cancun, one boards a ferry boat from either Puerto Juarez
or from the Hotel Zone and in 20 minutes one de-boards on Isla de Mujeres. While
tourists traveled to Isla de Mujeres before the invention of Cancun, tourism on the
island increased because of its proximity to Cancun and its international airport
(Certain aspects of the effects of Cancun on Isla de Mujeres are discussed in Chapter
2 of this dissertation).
In the course of the last ten years, developments in and around Cancun have
changed the dynamics of Quintana Roo. As the state's leading urban center (and one
of the few areas in Mexico generally perceived as offering employment
opportunities), it has attracted a multitude of workers not only from Yucatan itself,
but also from more distant parts of the republic. The impact of the city and the
tourism industry on the surrounding communities, although substantial and bringing
with it its share of social and cultural costs, has, for the most part, been indirect.
In a 1972 New York Times article, a columnist expressed both his excitement
and endorsement of the new tourist resorts such as Cancun. A reader wrote a letter
contesting the columnist’s view:
The whole area… is becoming a tourist resort, that breed of non-place, which is
exactly the same whether it is in Miami, Mexico, France… Colorful natives will
replace real people, and the proud local inhabitants will become servants, even
required to live in a segregated town, away from tourists who will pay so much
money to be in a hygienic, sterile, non-place, where they need never fear that
slightest intrusion of reality---not even a mosquito… The Yucatecans appear to
have been betrayed by their government.”
Hammer March 19, 1972:X-4

Unlike the travel club leaders of the 1920’s who did not anticipate the massive
growth and negative consequences on the land and its people of their Acapulco

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creation, Fonatur would ingrain regulations into a national tourism policy to keep
growth from becoming unruly, and new communities would thrive on their own,
unique nature. In an attempt to attract a diverse tourist population, Fonatur published
a 16-page tourist brochure in the New York Times edition of October 14, 1973. The
brochure emphasized three ideas about Mexico and traveling there… The first was
that Mexico’s prices were lower than those in Europe and the U.S. One ad read, “If
you can afford a week out of the city, you can afford a week out of the country.”
Another ad promoted Mexico in this manner, “American vacation dollars go farther
in our friendly country.” This second ad addressed a second image promoted in the
campaign, which was united in a rich diversity. The emphasis was on the
friendliness of Mexicans, as a people who were supposed to express humility
towards outsiders but were also proud of their past. Such an ad read, “Mexicans are
renowned for their warm hospitality.” As a unified, cohesive nation there was no
political unrest and its people manifested similar qualities of humility, hospitality,
and willingness to work hard for tourists because of these two unique characteristics.
The third theme promoted in these ads was cleanliness. For years Americans
enjoyed Mexico’s beaches, but fear of the so-called Montezuma’s Revenge and
issues of cleanliness in general weighed heavily. Thus the government did
everything in its power to expel the stigma and promote good hygiene amongst the
nation’s inhabitants.
What is important to note about these first advertising campaigns is the way
Mexico advertised itself and therefore its people and resorts. When referring to the
people of these tourist sites, the Consejo Nacional first emphasized their ethnicity as

99
Mexicans without acknowledging any sense of diversity. From the planners
perspective it was their intent to have American patrons consider most Mexicans as
ethnic yet not diverse so if you visited Cancun or Puerto Vallarta you would see the
same Mexican in either location. Eventually as Mexico’s tourism industry evolved,
government officials decided to capitalize on the diversity of its nation and market
each location or tourist site as ethnically diverse yet each with high standards of
service and cleanliness.
This conscious effort by the state to craft its citizenry into ideal hosts for
tourists emphasizes the power of regional power structures that became active forces
for the central state in shaping local inhabitants’ daily experiences and in doing so
defining their identity. A key characteristic in Mexican politics and how the tourism
industry has evolved has been the notion of region as a political location and culture
as a political force, because they form the place where life is experienced and
characterized, where national initiatives and campaigns are mediated and become
practice. A regime or state is a political form that consists of multiple and shifting
constructions of meaning and experience and at the same time acts as a coherent
central body that assembles and enforces public policies. The Mexican government
and its private business partners have tailored a strategic plan driven by the ambition
to better their country while serving others. Crafting individuals into good hosts as
ideal citizens is a key component of such a tourist-driven plan. The following
section discloses how identities are transformed by government and media
campaigns.
Citizens, Identities, and Soul-making

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Recent anthropological discourses focus on the relationship between culture
and identity. Similar to how the concept of culture has been re-conceptualized, the
concept of identity has also been deconstructed. William Kearney asserts that the,
“Awareness of growing dispersion, decentering, interpenetration, and general
complexity of globalized and transnational communities is reflected in anthropology
and its rising concern with identity. …Indeed, it is arguable that the culture concept
as the cornerstone of US anthropology is giving way to concern with identity
(1995:557).”
“In the older, reified understanding, culture and identity seemed to be conceptual
twins, firmly bound to one another. Culture was something shared that
characterized a group collectivity, just like identity. This ‘sharedness’ practically
amounted to a premise diverting attention from the individuality of the people
anthropology was studying.”
Sokefeld 1999:429

In the discourse on identity, particularly the question of a
Universal/Western/Liberal self leads to a conversation of difference, pluralism, and
identity politics and whether the self, especially a non-Western self, as agency as an
individual and then as a member of a family, group, community, and culture.
Feminist philosopher Judith Bulter claims that “the modernist concept of
universality, based in the ideal of there existing a universal subject, is highly
ethnocentric so to impose it on any social field regardless of context is to be guilty of
cultural imperialism (1994:7).”
Literary and cultural studies scholar Lisa Lowe argues that culture serves as
“the medium of the present---the imagined equivalences and identifications through
which the individual invents lived relationships with the national collective---but it is
simultaneously the site that mediates the past, through which history is grasped as

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difference, as fragments, shocks, and flashes of disjunction (1998:3).” Based on her
research in the United States, she suggests that it is through culture that the subject
becomes, acts, and speaks itself ‘American’. It is likewise in culture that individuals
and collectivities struggle to remember and, in that difficult remembering, imagine
and practice both subject and community differently.
Lowe argues that citizenship requires a national culture that operates to
integrate differences by promoting identification with the national project.
Individuals are politically formed as citizens through this terrain of national culture
that dictates the feelings, lifestyles, ethos, and spirit of being of a country’s citizenry.
“The notion of the formally equivalent citizen in representative democracy suggests
that all individuals of different constituencies have equal access to and are
represented within the political sphere, while simultaneously masking the degree to
which strata and inequalities continue to exist… facilitating the capitalist system in
which one dominant class group prospers (Lowe 1996:144).” Therefore a definition
of the nation and citizenship should acknowledge identities that are multiple, hybrid,
unclosed, and uneven, “the demand for formally identical subjectivity that inflects
extraneous differences with the negative, oppositional significance in relation to the
ideological apparatuses whose function is to regulate that identity (Lowe 1997:146).”
Anthropologist Aihwa Ong deconstructs the concept of citizenship by giving
a definition of cultural citizenship which is a “set of cultural beliefs and practices
produced out of negotiating the often ambivalent and contested relations with the
state and its hegemonic forms that establish the criteria for belonging within a
national population and territory (1999:738).” She sees subjectification as a cultural

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process that happens through surveillance, discipline, control, and administration.
Both Lowe and Ong suggest that traditional definitions of citizenship as a single,
advanced nation-state model from which the attainment of rights is appropriately
universalized are not relevant, thus citizenship should be understood as a variable
and unequal process shaped by national-local conditions but also by global realities.
Identity may be defined as the distinctive character belonging to any given
individual, or shared by all members of a particular social category or group. “The
term personal identity is used to refer to the result of an identification of self, by self,
with respect to others. Social identity is used to refer to the outcome of an
identification of self by others, it is an identification accorded or assigned an
individual by another social factor. Self identity is defined as the individual self as
reflexively understood by the individual in terms of his/her life history … no other
person is involved (Rummens 1993:3).” Social identities are sets of meanings that
an individual attributes to herself/himself while taking the perspective of others that
is as a social object.
As anthropologist Cris Shore states, “[Social identities] are negotiated and
contested fictions that are continually being constructed and reconstructed in an
ongoing, and to some extent dialectical, process of definition, self-definition and
counter-definition. Like ethnicity, social identities crystallize most sharply in
situations of opposition and conflict (particularly when a group feels itself under
threat). It is therefore at the boundaries of states, nations, and ethnic groups that
problems of identity tend to be most acute (1993:783).”

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In contrast to the singular quality of corporate identity, a term utilized by
political scientists to describe the interaction between the state and identity,
individuals normally have multiple social identities that vary in salience. Political
scientist, Alexander Wendt defines the corporate identity of the state in the following
ways:
1. Physical security, including its differentiation from other actors
2. Ontological security or predictability in relationships to the world, which creates a desire
for stable social identities
3. Recognition as an actor by others, above and beyond survival through brute force
4. Development, in the sense of meeting the human aspiration for a better life, for which
states are repositories at the collective level
Wendt 1994:385
For the purposes of this dissertation, what is important to note about
corporate identity defined by the state is how a state satisfies its corporate interests
depending upon how it defines itself in relation to the another state, which is the
main function of social identities. Social identities have both individual and social
structural properties, “being at once cognitive schemas that enable an actor to
determine ’who am I/we are’ in a situation and positions in a social role structure of
shared understandings and expectations (Wendt, 1994:3835).” Therefore, corporate
identity constrains the individual to identify with one structure or in this case
ideology, national project, etc… While social identities are the link into the mutual
constitution of agent and structure. In other words, the characteristics of the state,
namely the creation of structures such as the geographical and institutional frame of
boundaries, international recognition, state institutions that influence the evolution of
processes that include relations and idioms, national consciousness, a sense of
community, changing values, and different bases for social discipline and cohesion.

104
The state with its structures and processes is unable to either avoid its duty to care
for its people, or to resist the impulse of trying to change them in its own image.
Anthropologist Michael Sokefeld asserts that a paradigmatic shift has
occurred in recent decades in the conceptualizing identity as a shared sameness
amongst individuals to the contrastive aspect of identities and thereby emphasizes
the implicit condition of plurality was caused by poststructuralist deconstruction
inspired by Michel Foucault’s analysis of the subject---not as the source and
foundation of knowledge but as itself a product or effect of networks of power and
discourse (2002:418). He further stipulates that, “the close look at persons
embracing a plurality of identities indicates that it is indispensable to distinguish
between (shared) identity/identities and self. … The self, then, is an instance
superordinate to (though not detached from) the plurality of identities. Whereas
these identities can be experienced as a plurality, the self is experienced as one
because it is the frame that guarantees the continuity on which the multiplicity of
identities is inscribed (1999:424).”
He further situates the self within the concept of culture as a discourse of
power, “Given the importance of the concept of culture in anthropology and its
conventional meaning, it is clear that a distinction between a cultural conception of
the self or person and the ‘actual’ self or person cannot be strictly maintained.
Culture is understood not as something ephemeral but, according to a dominant
view, as a ‘power’ constituted by systems of shared meaning that is effective in
shaping reality (1999:426).” Culture is thus transmitted through these systems
through the process of socialization. “Culture,” Geertz (1966) tells us, is not only a

105
model of but also a model for. Accordingly, Sweder and Bourne (1984) compare
explicitly cultural concepts of person and not ‘empirical agents,’ as Dumont would
say, but they end up describing how a particular concept goes together with a certain
style of socialization of the person. The concept makes its mark on the ‘actual’
person. The two cannot really be separated (Sokefeld 1999:427).”
One of the major socialization agents to which scholars across disciplines
have paid close attention to is the role of the state and its influence in various social
institutions as part of the political project of creating a certain type of citizen.
Philosopher Kwame Appiah names the socialization practice by government as a
representative of the state and its “political project of shaping identities (and thus
lives) of citizens” as soul-making. Appiah defines soul-making as the “political
project of intervening in the process of interpretation through which each citizen
develops an identity with the aim of increasing her chances of living an ethically
successful life (2001:272).” Not everything that government does to form identity is
soul-making, the difference is that for it to be soul-making it has to be “aimed at
making such changes and so aimed in order to improve the citizen’s chances of
living an ethically successful life.” For example, when a government provides
relevant information to shape beliefs aimed at reshaping one’s identity that is soul-
making instead of providing such information to make an informed decision. “The
telling of national histories, even when entirely factual, is often motivated by the
desire to shape citizens’ identifications and, thus, their individualities. It is designed
to raise the thought: Now that is the kind of country I want to belong to. And if it
succeeds in doing that, creating or reinforcing a national identification in order to

106
improve the life of the citizen---rather than the prospects of the poli---then such
story-telling is a form of soul-making… (Appiah 2001:272).” Soul-making is also
when a government seeks “to shape a young citizen’s soul when it insists on sports in
state schools in order to develop team spirit, thus shaping her relation to her
identities in ways that go beyond what is morally required.” Versus “…when
government aims to alter our identities solely in order to make us do our duty to
others; as when a public education system is designed to encourage the sort of civic
identity that guides us to respect the rights of our fellow citizens (Appiah
2001:272).”
This clarification is similar to Foucault’s notion of governmentality.
Foucault defines government as conduct, or, more precisely, as "the conduct of
conduct" and thus as a term which ranges from "governing the self" to "governing
others" as well as the management by the state or the administration, "government"
also signified problems of self-control, guidance for the family and for children,
management of the household, directing the soul, etc. (1991:87-88).
Soul-Making in Isla de Mujeres, Mexico
In order to understand what it takes to manufacture good hosts as ideal
citizens, we need to look at the various strategies utilized by government and tourism
officials, such as the following mural campaign. Throughout the island, from Punta
Sur to Punta Norte which can be traveled by moped, golf cart and/or car in about 20
minutes, in remote areas---areas not necessarily frequented by tourists---one will find
signs on walls that encourage islanders to support the tourism industry on the island.
This mural or sign campaign was sponsored by the official tourism office under the

107
supervision of the president of the island in the year 2000, Fidel Villanueva Madrid,
as a friendly reminder to educate the islanders on the importance and benefits of
tourism. There were a total of 7 murals on various walls throughout the island that
read in Spanish:
Figure 6: Mural #1 Figure 7: Mural #2

“Our house is our image. Let’s take
care of Isla de Mujeres.”

“Let us be the reason the tourist does not
forget the beauty of the Mexican
Caribbean. Let’s keep our island clean!”
Figure 9: Mural #4

“The visitor needs us, tourism permits us
to prosper. Let us launch our island
forward.”

Figure 8: Mural #3

“The eyes of the tourist are the eyes of
the world. Let’s beautify the island.”

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Figure 10: Mural # 5

“Tourism is progress, let us be the
motor to launch it.”

Figure 11: Mural #6

“A gentle treatment and a smile are our
best presentation cards. Let’s do it for the
island.”

Figure 12: Mural #7

“Let the beauty of our island and our
kind treatment be the reason for the
tourist to return. Let’s keep our streets
and beaches clean.”

A close reading of the murals provides insight into both the nuanced and complex
meaning conveyed in the messages of each mural. Government officials wanted
Islenos to embrace certain ideas and behaviors. The first message expressed in the
murals is cleanliness and how by keeping the island and beaches clean, tourist will

109
remember the natural beauty of the island. But most importantly, officials want
tourists to remember how the locals maintain such a clean environment so they
would want to return to such a natural paradise maintained by such civilized
inhabitants. The first three murals (#1, #2, #3) express the theme of cleanliness by
stressing how a clean and tidy island leaves a good impression with tourists: “Our
house is our image. Let’s take care of Isla de Mujeres.” “Let us be the reason the
tourist does not forget the beauty of the Mexican Caribbean. Let’s keep our island
clean.” “The eyes of the tourist are the eyes of the world. Let’s beautify the island.”
As discussed in Chapter 2, cleanliness is promoted on the island as what constitutes a
civilized person and the influence of tourism on the island augments the importance
of being clean and tidy as part of being a good host to tourists. Tourists value and
expect such cleanliness so Islenos need to meet such an expectation or else they will
be considered uncivilized or backward as in primitive and they do not want tourists
to leave with such an image and promote this image abroad as part of their travel
experience to Isla de Mujeres.
The second message that government officials deemed a priority for Islenos to buy
into is the importance of tourism as an industry and how it betters the island’s
economy by providing jobs in the service sector as well as in commerce. This theme
is manifested in murals #4 and #5, which read, “The visitor needs us, tourism permits
us to prosper. Let us launch our island forward.” “Tourism is progress, let us be the
motor launch it.”

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A third message that comes across in the murals is the importance of
presenting the proper image by Islenos and of the island as part of being a good host.
Not only is the image of the island and its inhabitants important but also how Islenos
behave---their actions also leave an impression on tourists. “A gentle treatment and
a smile are our best presentation cards. Let’s do it for the island (Mural #6).” “Let
the beauty of our island and our kind treatment be the reason the tourist to return.
Let’s keep our streets and beaches clean (Mural #7).” Mural #7 touches on two
themes, cleanliness and behavior thus a kind treatment and clean beaches will please
the tourist enough for them to remember the beauty of the island and want to return.
The notion of having individuals, in this case Islenos, adapt their appearance
(clean and tidy) and their behavior (a smile and kind treatment) are examples of what
sociologist Arlie R. Hochschild calls emotional labor in which emotional work is
offered for sale as part of a service. “The labor requires one to induce or suppress
feelings in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of
mind in others---in this case, the sense of being cared for in a convivial and safe
place. This kind of labor calls for a coordination of mind and feeling, and it
sometimes draws on a source of self that we honor as deep and integral to our
individuality (Hoschschild 1983:7).” In analyzing how emotional labor is performed
and structured, Hochschild uses Marx’s concepts of use-value and exchange value.
She argues that expressing emotions is always work in the sense that there is an
expenditure of human energy in showing sympathy, trust, good feelings in positive
situations (sales in stores), or distrust and suspicion in negative situations (stopped

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by police). Emotional work in the private sphere has a use-value, for example, for
maintaining and improving family life it is useful to have affection, love, tenderness,
and at the same time some degree of toughness and discipline. In the commercial
sector, emotions can sometimes be sold and have an exchange value – grief and
compassion (funeral home), anxiety (life insurance salesman), nostalgia (antiques,
baseball cards), trust and happiness (smiles and greetings at WalMart).
In her book, The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling
(1983), Hochschild looks at service sector workers such as flight attendants and bill
collectors. She argues that as part of their training and actual work responsibilities
three changes take place in the individual’s emotional life. Emotion Work: this is
no longer a private act but becomes a public act. Individuals as employees in these
situations no longer determine how their emotions are expressed based on their own
selves and judgments. Instead, those who train and supervise these workers are paid
stage managers who select, train, and supervise others and those who provide the
service become social actors who perform, but in the interests of the firm rather than
the self. Feeling Rules: each of us learns certain rules for managing feelings, rules
differing by social class and sex. These are ordinarily very flexible and are expressed
in our personal style and personality. In commercial settings, feeling rules are no
longer simply matters of personal discretion, negotiated with another person in
private but are spelled out publicly in training manuals and programs. Social
Exchange: is forced into narrow channels … there is much less room for individual
navigation of the emotional waters (Hochschild, 1983: 119).

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Emotional labor is accomplished through emotional management that gives
individuals the skills to manage their emotions. Emotional management is learning
how to deal with situations through what Hochschild calls surface acting or deep
acting. Surface acting is the "body language, the put-on sneer, the posed shrug, the
controlled sigh" whereas deep acting is where "display is a natural result of working
on feeling, the actor does not try to seem happy or sad but rather expresses
spontaneously … a real feeling that has been self-induced." (Hochschild, 1983:37-
39).
In summary, emotional management is emotional labor. Emotional
management is the learning how to deal with situations. Emotional labor is the actual
use of the emotional management. Learning emotional management is helpful, but
can affect that person’s lifestyle. When they use emotional labor, they are hiding
their inner feelings to create a better atmosphere for others. People using this might
never be able to distinguish the difference between their surface acting and deep
acting. Hochschild’s sees this as a problem for the people affected by this emotion
manipulator. This will affect their friend’s, family, and the rest of society. “What a
person does at work may bear an uncanny resemblance to the ‘job description’ of
being the child of such a worker at home. Big emotion workers tend to raise little
ones. Mother and fathers teach children letters and numbers and manners and a
world view, but they also teach them which zone of the self will later be addressed
by rules of work (Hochschild 1983:156).” Through childhood socialization, we learn
what are proper expressions of emotions and feelings although there is great
flexibility in how we manage these. It is through ongoing socialization and

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interaction with others that we alter our emotions and feelings, modify how express
these, and in doing so we likely alter and modify our emotions and feelings.
The following research data demonstrates how government officials from the
ministries of education and tourism partnered up to produce a children’s book titled,
Mi Quintana Roo (2001), utilized in the elementary schools throughout the state of
Quintana Roo which teaches the history of such a state and its people and encourages
children to be proud of their history and who they are, so people can come and learn
about them and their culture through tourism. The table of contents delineates in
Spanish how a good portion of the book is devoted to defining tourism in the state of
Quintana Roo, specifically from pages 16 to 23, in which questions such as what do
we offer the tourists, how do we benefit from tourism, what is a tourist, and when a
tourist visits us what are her/his expectations? The section ends with a worksheet on
page 20 in which student’s are quizzed on the answers about tourism.
Figure 13: "Tourist's Expectations Quiz."

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If you look closely, the quiz has a main question, which is: “When a tourist
visits us, what do you think she/he expects from us?” Then good and negative
expectations are listed that number 1-10 such as a 1) bad service, 2) for you to charge
him/her money than the actual price of the item/service, 3) insecurity, 4) mistrust, 5)
bad service, 6) bad hygiene, 7) good information, 8) hospitality, 9) quality of service,
and 10) professionalism. The children are are instructed to answer yes or no to each
one of these 10 expectations based on what they think a good host would answer. At
the bottom of the page a brief paragraph states that, “In this manner, and with all
these services, the tourists can travel safe, calm, and confident that throughout their
stay with us they will be comfortable and pleasant.” The last statement reads,
“Therefore: Let’s live off of tourism! Not the tourist!” Based on the questions that
describe the expectations of a tourist, children on Isla de Mujeres begin to identify
with what constitutes a good host, such as a kind treatment, a high quality of service,
good hygiene, etc… and the importance of the tourism industry as a form of
progress, economic development, and sustenance.
Thus far the data in this chapter and Arlie Hochschild’s thesis presented in
her book about emotional labor, one begins to wonder what about an individual’s
agency or power over a situation and their being? Especially, individuals who work
in the tourism service sector who circumvent their emotional work training to be a
good host or provide a positive experience for the tourist to gain some level of
control, power, and/or benefit from their interactions with tourists as part of their
work environment. The following radio commercials are part of a marketing

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campaign to educate/train service workers to the importance of treating the tourist in
a fair and hospitable manner.
A popular radio station, Mix Radio Mix, located in Cancun but heard
throughout the state of Quintana Roo and the Yucatan Peninsula, including Isla de
Mujeres, reminds native listeners constantly through the transmission of Spanish-
language radio commercials that if they mistreat the tourist there will be no Cancun--
or its peripheral tourist sites such as Isla will turn into a ghost town by the sounds of
crickets and other insect sounds that depict a jungle.
(Setting - a conversation between two men in a men’s restroom at a restaurant, Man
1 (M1) is a waiter and Man 2 (M2) is a chef):

M1: Hey, did you hear about the group that got an intestinal infection.
M2: Yah, yah, what bad luck, carnal. (Sound of toilet flushing in the
background).
M1: Hey, aren’t you going to wash your hands?
M2: Aay, what for I barely touched it.
M1: What?
M2: The handle.
M1: Yes, and do you know how many people don’t wash their hands and touch
that same handle.
M2: Aay, aay, relax, relax.
M1: Then they don’t wash their hands and then they grab the door knob to exit. I,
on the other hand, grab the handle with a towel like this…
M2: Aay, you’re exaggerating. “What doesn’t kill you fattens you up!” or “What
doesn’t kill you won’t hurt you.”
M3: (Yelling to M2 from outside the restroom) Chef, table 15 wants its meal at
room temperature.
M2: Yah, yah, I’m coming, I’ll be right there.

Radio Announcer: Here I’m again, your dutiful godfather of tourism. Remember
that your hygiene and the quality of your products will determine if the tourist will
return. If we are not careful with these details our good reputation will go… (Sound
of toilet flushing) down the toilet. Take care of what you have. Take care of
Cancun.
Radio Station Identification: Mix Radio Mix FM.

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(Setting – a restaurant/bar two men a Tourist (T) and the restaurant/bar’s Bartender
(B) are having a conversation over the bill or check):

B: Yes, Mister.
T: (In broken Spanish) Aah… the check, please.
B: OK, Mister right away.
(Waiter or domestic tourist says in Spanish to the bartender: “Excuse me, can you
give me a rum and coke.”)
B: Wait a minute, carnal, can’t you see I’m taking care of the “senor”… give me
a minute, carnal. (The Bartender says to himself in Spanish, “Let’s see, this
one is more gone than here he is not even going to notice the “over-charging”).
Mister, mister, your bill is 842.00 pesos.
T: 842.00 that doesn’t sound right. I only had 2 Jack Daniels and 2 beers.
B: No, no, Senor 3 Jack Daniels and…and Jack Daniels and 4 and 4 …(stumbling
over his English) 3 beers and 4 shots.
T: Wait a minute, I thought you said you were buying me the shots, I didn’t ask
for them, you practically forced them on me.
B: No, no, Senor, no, no, no, you asked for shots for senoritas, remember…
T: Ooh-ok, ok.
B: Tip, Mister, tip.
T: How much is a good?
B: Eeh…, let me see your money, give me, give me. Ok, ok, ok, 2 of these 500
equals 1000 pesos for him, ok.
T: Is that a good tip?
B: It’s ok.
T: Aaah… here’s another 100 pesos for you.
B: Ok, thanks Mister, ok, bye.
T: Adios, amigo.
(Sound of car screeching its brakes to a stop)
Radio Announcer: One moment, before we continue let’s listen to the audio
ambience of this particular tourist site that utilized such a method… sounds of
crickets and insects of the jungle. If you are in a service-oriented tourist site,
remember that based on your honesty/integrity and performance/delivery depend
upon if the tourist will return. Let’s not turn Cancun into another ghost town. Any
resemblance to actual events, please take notice.
Radio Station Identification: Mix Radio Mix FM.\

In both radio commercials there is a trickster who is aware of what is
expected of them in their respective positions as a chef and waiter/bartender and
consciously choose to defy such expectations of a fair and hospitable (clean) service.
They see an opportunity for some type of benefit such as the case of the bartender

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charging the tourist more for the drinks than he has actually purchased or drunk.
And in the case of the chef, the dismissal of the tourists’ health gives him a sense of
power over another person’s well-being. The chef chooses not to wash his hands
because behind closed doors what the tourists cannot see or know the quality of
service and what they do not see or know will not hurt them.
In the various data presented the intent of government officials, educators,
and radio directors is to educate inhabitants of Isla de Mujeres to understand the
importance of tourism and how through their behavior and image can either
positively or negatively influence the growth of such a profitable industry. These
individuals represent institutions such as the state, media, and school that can have a
major influence on how individuals are exposed to, receive, and digest information
and knowledge. As Hochschild states,
“But something more operates when institutions are involved, for within
institutions various elements of acting are taken away from the individual
and replaced by institutional mechanisms. The locus of acting, of emotion
management, moves up to the level of the institution. Many people and
objects, arranged according to institutional rule and custom, together
accomplish the act. Companies, prisons, schools, churches---institutions
of virtually any sort---assume some of the functions of a director and alter
the relation of actor to director. Officials in institutions believe they have
done things right when they have established illusions that foster the
desired feelings in workers, when they have placed parameters around
worker’s emotion memories, a worker’s use of the as if. It is not that
workers are allowed to see and think as they like and required to only
show feelings (surface acting) in institutionally approved ways. The
matter would be simpler and less alarming if it stopped there. But it
doesn’t. Some institutions have become very sophisticated in the techniques
of deep acting; they suggest how to imagine and thus how to feel.”
Hochschild, 1983:49
Conclusion
The role of mass media and in particular public advertising over television,
radio, billboards, etc… in shaping identity has been explored by scholars in various

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academic disciplines as well as the importance of the visual in learning about a
culture and society. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1991:395) asserts that the
“increasing emphasis on ostension during the 19
th
century suggests a shift in the
foundation of authoritative knowledge from a reliance on rhetoric to a leading role
for information, particularly in the form of visual facts.” William MacClancy
(1996:17) explains that one could “characterize the evolution of the popularization of
anthropology as the development from primarily visual means in museums and
international exhibitions---in the 19
th
and 20
th
centuries---by way of predominantly
literary means in books and articles---and in the period from the 1920s to the mid-
1970s, to, once again mainly visual means---television.” Robert MacDougal
(1997:288) proposes a new vision for anthropology’s relationship with the use and
study of the visual. It is not about the actual visual itself but about a range of
culturally inflected relationships enmeshed and encoded in the visual.
Anthropologists can use the visual to construct works that give a richer sense of how
culture permeates and patterns social experience. Debra Spitulnik (1993:293-294)
questions, “How do mass media represent and shape cultural values within a given
society? What is their place in the formation of social relations and social identities?
How might they structure people’s senses of space and time? What are their roles in
the construction of communities ranging from subcultures to nation-states, and in
global processes of socioeconomic and cultural change?”
Such relationships and messages are explored in the way mass media through
marketing and advertising are used to shape the values, beliefs, and perceptions of
Islenos as ideal hosts. According to Goldman (1992:174), advertising is a system for

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producing currency of signs, and though the encoding-decoding relationship is
heavily over-determined from the encoding side-in this case the nation-state. It is
not a mechanical process, but a dialogue which is the site for interpretive exchange.
He further explains that under a system of mass production and consumption that the
commodity form “redefines social relations as transactions, severs personal contacts
from their social context and offers back to workers, in the form of the consumption
of images, namely status, individuality, freedom, and sensuality (1992:17).” This
redefinition is accomplished through the commodity-sign---a composite of a
signifying unit or signifier such as a word, picture, sound, or object that is and gives
signified meaning. Thus modern advertising coaches us to consume, not only the
product, but its sign. Similar to culture and tourism, advertising is not just a channel
for transmitting messages but a lived practice in which advertising itself is a
commodity. One can argue as Ravi Rajaopal (1998:17) does, that “the economy
works through the rhetoric image (as instanced in advertising), while the image itself
works through the rhetoric of the economy.” He further states that advertisements
are at the interface of the economy and culture and thus help merge aesthetics and
utility. Spitulnik (1999:72) speaks about the merging of commodification and
dissemination in the transmission of certain types of news, information, and music
via radio in her case study about Zambia in Africa. Prothero and Fitchett (2000:49-
50) position the commodity as a discursive practice or language and if defined or
thought of in this manner, then marketing is a principal agent in the use of and
promotion of such a discourse. They further propose that marketing through
advertising can successfully achieve a diverse range of objectives, one of which is

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educating individuals to practice life in a certain manner. Appadurai (1991:197) in
general suggests that the mass media is an important source for ordinary people to
imagine life differently it provides a store of possible lives.
An example of how mass media and US popular culture travels is the images
of Disney figures seen throughout the island. One particular image that comes to
mind is a mural drawn on the wall of a child care center of popular Disney characters
such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Ariel and Snow White for Island to children
and dream of one day perhaps becoming a traveler and visit Disneyland where such
characters reside.
Figure 14: Disney Pictures on Child Care Center Wall

Disney Character Mural
Isla de Mujeres Casa de Cultura Child Care Center
March 200

The issue of Islenos traveling to the land where many of the tourists who visit them
are from becomes apparent when an elementary school teacher shares her family’s
aspirations to someday travel to Disneyland. Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Carrillo
moved to Isla de Mujeres from a town in the Yucatan named Progresso she teaches
second and third grade and is specialized in teaching disabled students (Personal

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Interview June 20, 2002). She shares the irony of seeing Disney images on walls,
backpacks, posters, etc… and when she planned a family vacation to take her
children to Disneyland in California their visas took about a year to receive and it
took another year to save up enough money to afford such a vacation. As she shares
this story Maria mentions that she would like for the same hospitality that is
provided for US American tourists to visit Mexico to extend to Mexicans who wish
to be tourists in the US and not stay.
Based on the messages that the nation-state delivers through various mass
mediums on Isla as a form of internal advertising for the natives’ eyes, only, one can
surmise that government and tourism officials understand the power of such media to
enculturate local people to become ideal hosts. Similar to Rajagopal’s (1999:16)
conclusion in his study of how the Indian government used advertising to form a
modern Indian citizen, the Mexican nation-state through their mural campaign,
school books, and radio commercials make a political project of enlightening their
citizens to buy into and support tourism on Isla de Mujeres. For the most part, I
would argue that islanders understand the important role tourism plays in their daily
lives as a means of sustenance. The struggle that is part of their experience is to
what extent does one compromise personal and intimate space? One can not help but
wonder the original intent by tourism and government officials to implement such a
marketing and advertising campaign. Does everyone benefit equally? Answers to
these questions obviously will vary depending on the individual experience one has
had with tourism, in particular if one is a guest or a host.

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CHAPTER IV
ARTIFACTS OF SOCIALIZATION
Introduction
The previous chapter focused on the racialization of cleanliness based on the
biological, racial, and cultural ideology Mexicans hold about how cleanliness
signifies a person’s level of civilization. A person was judged civilized based on
their skin color---the fairer the skin the more civilized or closer to the
European/Spanish root of the spectrum versus the indigenous/Indian side. This
ideology manifests itself on Isla de Mujeres in their social and popular culture,
particularly their beliefs about how a true Isleno carries himself/herself as a clean
civilized individual. The phenomena of tourism complicates identity issues for
inhabitants of Isla de Mujeres because many Islenos are aware of the tourist’s eye
and want to represent a positive image for the tourist to leave with and thus return.
Cleanliness of the island and its inhabitants will make the island beautiful for tourists
to enjoy. Those who are not clean are not civilized thus not truly native to the island
but transplants from various parts of Mexico, such as neighboring villages of the
Yucatan.
Cleanliness is further explored in this chapter. As part of this study, children’s
artwork underscores the relation between cleanliness, tourism and cultural ecology
on Isla de Mujeres. Cultural ecology studies the relationship between a given society
and its natural environment - the life-forms and ecosystems that support its life ways,
including humans. American anthropologist Julian Steward (1955), known for his

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work on cultural evolution, also defines cultural ecology as the way in which
adaptation to the environment promotes cultural change. The promotion of
cleanliness at the national, regional, and local levels by Mexican government
officials and agencies translates into marketing campaigns such as television and
radio commercials, signs, murals, school curriculum, and extracurricular activities
such as community organizations geared toward children. Cleanliness is not only
valued and promoted because of environmental concerns but also because of Isla’s
main economic revenue source is tourism, thus the island’s image is also at stake.
Therefore, tourism is used as praxis from which to look as issues of identity
expressed in children’s artwork.
According to Islenos, being clean as in a tidy person, place or thing is seen as
more civilized, especially in the eyes of the visitor. As a parent of one of the
children whose artwork is featured in this chapter put it, “Cleanliness is a form of
communication” (Personal Interview, March 18, 2004). This comment is from a
mother who works as a cleaning service worker in a hotel on the island. She is
referring to a communication between civilized members of society Islenos can
differentiate tourists by those who throw away their trash in a trash can rather than
on the street or on the beach. For example, one major difference that Islenos point
out amongst tourists is that they can tell when it is a U.S. American tourist because
they throw their soda/water bottles in the trash cans while most domestic tourists
(usually from urban centers of Mexico) throw their trash on the street. Therefore,
Islenos are aware of the differences amongst tourists based on tourists’ practices,

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particularly where they place their trash---such as those who know the protocol of a
civilized society and place their trash in a trash can and those who do not know this
protocol and throw their trash on the floor.
One of the major rationales for such a value of cleanliness is to maintain the
natural beauty of Isla and control the contamination of its beaches, natural parks,
etc… which will attract and impress tourists. This rationale also supports the
ecological/environmental movement that is valued by various organizations on the
island who target children. La Patrulla Verde (The Green Patrol) and Mi Planeta
Azul (My Blue Planet) use art made of organic and inorganic trash to educate
children about the importance of recycling/reusing as well as about environmental
issues. Art is a popular tool used by these groups and various institutions as a
socialization medium to get certain ideas across to children as well as to access
children’s thought processes.
A discussion about these organizations as socialization agents is explored,
particularly how institutions influence personality and identity development.
Children’s participation in these groups place children as young citizens capable of
partnerships with adults for social and cultural change. Children want to participate
and join such groups because it is a platform for them to have their voices heard and
valued. Such organizations focus on children as their targeted population because
they believe that children’s minds are more open to new ways of life and eventually
will trigger a change in the society. Both groups also place a high value on teaching

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children about Mayan culture through songs and games, as a way to learn about their
indigenous roots. Such a subject is not a part of the formal school curriculum.
Through their art, children are negotiating their role as both a subject of
socialization and as active agents in their own right expressing their concerns and
opinions of the environment. These two processes of subject and active agent
happen simultaneously. Socialization places children as subjects to be molded yet in
the case studies featured in this chapter; children are simultaneously active agents by
expressing their concerns about their environment and cultural practices in drawings
and letters.
This chapter begins with a review of the two theoretical literatures that frame the
data of this research project. The literature on children and socialization proposes
that children and childhood are important subjects of inquiry. The literature on
children and drawing suggests that children’s drawings are credible documents to
consider as visual artifacts. Following these literature reviews is a an example of an
educational campaign sponsored by Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism at the national
level that is geared towards children entitled, “the ABCs of Tourism”. This
campaign is featured to show how children are being socialized about tourism issues
and particularly how to be a good host when a tourist visits. The second national
campaign sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism that is also included as an artifact of
socialization is the “Mexico Clean and Loved”. The name of this particular
cleanliness campaign is taken from a traditional song titled, “Mexico Beautiful and
Loved” which is a popular song amongst the Mexican population. Also, included in

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this chapter is a description of two groups that target children and with eco-friendly
activities to raise their awareness of the connection between environmentalism and
cleanliness. Chapter III ends with the results of an ethnographic study that I
conducted on a focus group at Julio Sauri Elementary School, where students were
asked to draw their perceptions of tourism and tourists on Isla de Mujeres. Once
again, this data feature the connection Islenos make between cleanliness,
environmentalism, and tourism as part of their cultural ecology.
Children and Socialization
Within mainstream anthropology, children as crafters and agents of culture
have not been a critical focus of anthropological studies--although, attending to
children, their singular cultural forms, and their unique conceptual architecture
paradoxically reveals significant insights about the nature of adult cultural
experience. Anthropologist Lawrence A. Hirschfeld (2002) states that there is a lack
of research in mainstream anthropology on children and the culture they produce and
represent, “An adequate treatment of childhood and children similarly involves more
than acknowledging that adults and children stand in a particular relation. ‘Add
children and stir’ is no more insightful than ‘add women and stir.’ In both cases, a
genuine change in gaze yields a reconfiguration of the field (2002:613).” He further
questions work done on children by scholars by providing a brief and succinct
literature review of how anthropology as a discipline has included children as a
central subject of study:
“Many readers might object that anthropologists have done a good deal of research
on children, as the substantial literature concerned with the intersection of culture,
children, and childhood attests. As one observer put it, there are ‘enough studies of

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children by anthropologists to form a tradition’ (Benthall 1992:1). To cite a few
examples familiar to most anthropologists; the work of Margaret Mead (1930,
1933); Beatrice and John Whiting (1975; Whiting 1963; Whiting 1933); Brian
Sutton-Smith (1959); Mary Ellen Goodman (1970); Helen Schwartzman (1978);
John Ogbu (1978); Charles Super and Sara Harkness (1980); Robert Levine (Levine
et al., 1994); and linguistic anthropologists Bambi Schieffelin (1990); and
Schieffelin and Ochs (1986), Elinor Ochs (1988) and Marjorie Goodwin (1990).
Critically for the discussion at hand, this work has not coalesced into a sustained
tradition of child-focused research.Nor, as a chorus of researchers have lamented
(Caputo 1995; Hardman 1973; Schwarz (1981); Stephens 1998; Toren 1993), has it
succeeded in bringing children in from the margins of anthropology.”
Hirschfeld 2002:611
Margaret Mead was a key anthropologist conducting research on children and
adolescents. It was her work in a diversity of cultures, which assisted in changing
prejudices that were based on concepts of what is natural or biological into an
understanding of the importance of culture in human development. Known as one of
Franz Boas’ most prominent students, it was her work that examined the influence of
culture on human social development by separating biological and cultural factors
that control human behavior and personality development. Mead helped to establish
the school of culture and personality studies within anthropology, which focuses on
how culture and social environment influence the growth and development of
personal and social identity (Bohannan and Glazer 1988).
Sociologist Barrie Thorne argues that adults construct children as “the other”
or as quintessential victims or threats to adult society (1987:91). This portrayal
leaves no room for a more complete understanding of children because of the “adult-
centered” constructions of children. In an article entitled, “Re-visioning Women and
Social Change: Where are the Children?,” Thorne states that our understanding of
children is filtered through adult perspectives and interests. Both feminists and
traditional knowledge about children are centered on the experiences of adults. She

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asks, “How can we bring children more fully into our understanding of social life?
Because the fates and definitions of women and children have been so closely tied,
our re-visioning of women may provide useful leads for recentering our knowledge
of children (1987:86).” Children are studied under the rubric of socialization and
Thorne speculates that the term “socialization” is in itself based on an adult
ideological viewpoint. “Children are imaged primarily as learners of adult culture,
their experiences in the present continually referred to a presumed future, the
endpoint (to use the term developmental psychology) of adulthood (1987:92).” She
states that studies of socialization and child development are useful, but limiting and
calls for other frameworks to better study and understand children. Such a re-
visioning of ideology and research methodology can be as simple as turning the
conventional socialization framework on its head and asking how children influence
adults. This is what Bevelry Purrington (1980) does when she asked parents to
discuss the effects on their lives and consciousness having preschool-aged children.
In other words, adult-child relations may involve mutual influence on one another
(Thorne, 1987:95).
William Corsario in his 1979 study on young children’s conception of status
and role concludes that children show a crystallized conception of status as power
through role-play data. Although children are not as clear about role expectations
such as duties and responsibilities, they are able to ascribe a status of power during
their role playing---i.e. parent-child, husband-wife, teacher-pupil, older sibling-
younger sibling (Corsario 1979:55). What is interesting about Corsario’s study is
that he looks at children’s interactions as a method to gauge their social knowledge.

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“In this report I identified features of young children’s conceptions of status and role
based on sociolinguistic analyses of spontaneous role play. I also attempted to link
developmental features of social knowledge to the contextual features of children’s
typical interactive experiences (Corsario 1979:58).” Cosario acknowledges that
social knowledge does not occur exclusively in role-play but also in the learning
context of the actual activity. In other words, he is aware of other factors such as
family, schools, and various contexts in which this play takes place as also
influencing children’s learning.
Thus children’s acquisition of social knowledge is not only a top-down
process such as parent to child or adult to child but a process that takes place
amongst children themselves, peer to peer, as well as child to parent or child to adult.
The term socialization agent is not only applicable to adults transferring the
knowledge but children are agents themselves in that they share knowledge amongst
themselves as well as to adults. The important factor to consider is the context in
which this knowledge is shared. It is not just the players in the script but also the
stage in which the play unfolds. Anthropologist Patricia Draper provides a
foundation for looking at socialization and the influence of various socialization
agents such as culture and society. In her article she underscores that “a recent trend
in studies about socialization is to attempt to determine the larger factors of social
organizations, environment, economy, etc., which affect socialization practices rather
than to assume that socialization practices themselves are the independent variable
(1974:265).

130
Barrie Thorne does just what Draper suggests by conducting research on the
socialization of children within schools and suggests that children establish
boundaries between themselves that reflect the race and gender divisions in society.
In this study, she observed classroom dynamics in kindergarten, second grade, fourth
and fifth grade classrooms and also spent hours in the lunch room and on the
playground in order to capture the way in which children as well as adults actively
construct gender as a salient category with specific meanings that vary across context
and activity. The complexity of children’s play is also highlighted; how its very
ambiguity provides opportunities to express new feelings and messages while also
causing ongoing tensions between boys and girls. For example, boys define
invasions of girls’ space as playful and girls view such actions as otherwise. A much
more relevant theme in Thorne’s book is the issue of children and power. She sees
childhood in active terms and children’s supposed lack of power does not mean
passivity. Under the theme of power, Thorne confronts the role of the researcher and
expresses her frustration with the adult getting in the way of exploring a child’s
world. Thus her research raises the questions concerning the extent to which adults
can successfully empower children as well as to the extent to which solutions to
gender dilemmas lie in the hands of adults as compared to children. Thorne
emphasizes the importance of examining the collective dynamics of gender
construction as well as the fluctuations that occur as a result of different activities,
situations, and institutions.
Through their study on language socialization, anthropology and linguistics
scholars Elinor Ochs and Bambi Schieffelin identify the dialectical relationship

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between the individual and society based on “socialization through the use of
language and the socialization to use language (1986:163).” They highlight the
impact of culture on early human experience, “… language socialization begins at
the moment of social contact in the life of a human being. From the extensive
literature in sociolinguistics and the ethnography of communication we know that
vocal and verbal activities are generally socially organized and embedded in cultural
systems of meaning (Schieffelin and Ochs 1986:164).”
Peggy Miller et al., posit that the study of language socialization utilizes two
related assumptions about ordinary talk. First, that language is pervasive, orderly,
and a culturally organized feature of social life in every culture and second, that it is
a major mechanism in the actual process of socialization (1990:294). In their study
of how personal storytelling functions in the social construction of self, particularly
children, they surmise that narrative has a special affinity to the self and that
narrative can be said to play a privileged role in the process of self-construction:
“We proposed that children develop a mean for expressing and understanding
who they are through their routine participation in culturally organized narrative
practices in which personal experiences are recounted. Furthermore, we propose
that narratives of personal experience can provide access to culturally specific
images of self as well as to the ways in which those images are conveyed and
evaluated.”
Miller et al., 1990:295

Basically, Miller et al., look at how personal stories figure into the social
construction of self and make the connection between this process and the more
general question of the role that stories of personal experience play in childhood
socialization. “If we take the child’s point of view as he or she moves along that
path, then local narrative practices become a resource to the extent that the growing

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child resists, accedes to, seizes upon, or in some way makes use of the self-relevant
messages embodied therein (Miller et al., 1990:294).”
In the new history of childhood, William A. Corsaro in his book The
Sociology of Childhood (2005), argues that children practice what he calls
interpretive reproduction, which he offers as an alternative concept to the notion of
socialization, whereby children creatively appropriate and transform information
from the adult world to meet the needs of, and to produce, their own series of peer
cultures. “The term interpretive captures the innovative and creative aspects of
children’s participation in society and points to the fact that children create and
participate in their own unique peer cultures by creatively taking or appropriating
information from the adult world in order to address their own peer concerns. The
term reproduction captures the idea that children are not simply internalizing society
and culture, but are actively contributing to cultural production and change. The
term also implies that children are, by their very participation in society, constrained
by societal reproduction (Corsaro 2005:298).” The collective actions and
contributions of children to their culture and society are the focus of recent research
in the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, history, and linguistics.
In this ethnography, the methodology and data are drawings by Islenos
children. I am grounding this methodology on two theoretical literatures, the
literature on children and socialization and the literature on children’s drawing.
These two separate but related literatures frame the case studies of two children’s
groups: Mi Planeta Azul (My Blue Planet) and La Patrulla Verde (the Green Patrol)

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use are as a medium of socialization and also how children through their drawings
are active agents.
Children and Drawing
Margaret Mead was one of the first anthropologists to study children and also
use their artwork as a method of analysis. Relevant to this study is her work on the
Manus of Papua New Guinea that was part of her book entitled, Growing Up in New
Guinea (1930). As part of her fieldwork experience, Mead traveled to Peri, a small
village on the island of Manus, in what was then the Admiralty Islands and is now
part of Papua, New Guinea. She wanted to study the thought processes of children
in preliterate cultures and asked the children of Peri to prepare drawings for her. On
this trip she collected approximately 30,000 pieces of children's artwork (1930:133).
Mead discovered that what is considered childlike in thought varies according to the
emphases of the culture. In a culture such as the Manus, where the supernatural
permeates everyday life, Mead found that children showed no particular interest in
the supernatural in their drawings. They focused instead on realistic depictions of the
world around them (1930:267).
Mead’s attention to the comparison of cultural data is also featured in a book
she edited with Martha Wolfenstein entitled, Childhood in Contemporary Cultures
(1955), in which they bring together writers whose research add to the field of
personality formation. “The studies in this volume are all studies of pattern, of the
stylistic interrelationships of different aspects of childhood, of the way in which, in a
given culture, the image of the child, the way the child is rewarded and punished,
children’s toys, the literature written for children, the literature written about

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children, the selective memories of adults about their childhood, the games children
play, their fears and fantasies, hopes, daydreams, and behavior on projective tests are
all systematically related to one another (Mead 1955:13).” The design of the book
focuses more on method versus a detailed analysis of material and offers cross-
cultural comparisons regarding child-rearing practices.
Relevant to this study is Jane Belo’s research on the relationship of Balinese
children to drawing. Belo compares the work of Balinese children with that of
Western children. She suggests that the drawings of children between the ages of
four to ten years old do not differ until soon after the age of four years when cultural
characteristics from each culture start to show themselves (1955:53-54). In Bali,
Belo observed twenty children who turned in about one hundred seventy three
drawings over a span of three months. “My observations of the drawings of children
were undertaken with the idea of clarifying the way in which their style develops, the
way in which they adapt the ready-made symbolic patterns of their culture for the
expression of their own fantasies (1955:60-61).” She does not make any conclusive
statements about the drawings and art produced by the children particularly about the
child’s development or personality. Her analysis or lack there of further grounds the
editor’s overall objective, which is, to explore various methodologies and Belo’s
work serves as a study in method. In other words, Belo did not provide a content
analysis for the drawings that she included in her study.
Psychologist Claire Golomb further develops the relationship between the
practice of drawing and personality development. She believes that drawing is an act
of translation---an act of communication that precedes written language by several

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years, “In visual arts, the child’s drawings at different phases of his development
demonstrate the process and the product by which thought has been rendered visible
and communicative (1983:60).” In her 1992 book, The Child’s Creation of a
Pictorial World, Golomb continues to explore how a child’s cognition is expressed
in the act of drawing. Within the broad framework of human development, Golomb
addresses children’s drawing as a creative search for meaning and as a problem-
solving activity (1992:3). “In the process of forging a graphic language, children
create forms and discover how they can be used to represent people, animals, plants,
machines, and other objects of interest to them. …Within the broad constraints
imposed by biology, culture, and cognitive understanding, the child’s overriding aim
is to create with simple means a pictorial world (1992:339).”
Similar to Golomb, anthropologist Alexander Alland, Jr. focuses on how
children acquire the skill set of drawing. Alland, Jr. looks at the process of drawing
through a comparative lens. In his book, Playing with Form: Children Draw in Six
Cultures (1983), he studies children at different ages from Bali, Ponape, Taiwan,
Japan, France and the United States. Since each culture has a different educational
structure it was hard for Alland Jr. to find a completely matched sample by age and
sex in each culture (1983:21). He concludes, “…although children’s drawings may
conform unconsciously in many ways to cultural conventions, what children do
basically is play with form and then let the process take them where it will. This is,
of course, an ideal situation for self-direction and discovery that can lead to the
eventual mastery of form (1983:1).” Alland, Jr. also cautions researchers about
making general sweeping conclusions of one culture over another. Yet, he “can

136
suggest that certain principals of attack are held in common by children everywhere
and that these general principles interact with specific conscious and unconscious
culturally based rules to govern what kind of pictures children will make
(1983:215).”
Educator Brenda S. Engel (1995), gives a historical perspective of how art has
been used as a tool by researchers by identifying four distinct movements, as well as
how researchers have used art at the center of their research:
“Over the past thirty years, there has been a paradigm shift in education and educators
have been redefining subjects as a result of research and new social/political awareness.
Children are being actively involved in "constructing meaning, thinking things out for
themselves, reinventing the world in their own terms" and art draws on all these ways of
learning. Assessment has also been changing to include ‘performance sampling,’
‘exhibitions,’ ‘presentations,’ and ‘portfolios.’ Historically, children's art began to be
valued only since the early 20
th
century spurred on by the Child Study movement. In the
20
th
century there have been four large movements that have influenced the way child
art has been viewed: John Dewey and the progressive schools believed that art should
be part of everyday life and experience. Freud and psychoanalysts saw art as a means
of providing access to, and allowing expression of, repressed feelings. The recognition
of art to children’s development in that art can contribute to children’s learning. Art is a
visual form of thinking that can be generalized to all children hence the stress on its
commonalities.”
Engel 1995:6

Engel comments that “children are being actively involved in constructing meaning,
thinking things out for themselves, reinventing the world in their own terms and art
draws on all these ways of learning (1995:6).”
Why are children’s drawings important? What can we learn about children’s
values and their thought processes? Throughout this study I read the drawings
symptomatically as entry points or clues to explore further (Althusser, 1969). These
clues functioned as leads that gave direction to further investigations by asking more
explicit questions in subsequent observations, interviews, and analyses. The

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drawings are used as visual artifacts that expose the concerns and expressions of
children who place themselves as active social agents with their own politics and
viewpoints. I treat these artifacts as historical documents that thread a narrative,
which plays a privileged role in the process of self-construction and identity
formation of Isleno children. The following artifacts of socialization begin at the
national level with two campaigns sponsored by Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism
office through their Office of Cultural Tourism. The first example teaches children
about the importance of keeping Mexico clean and the second utilizes a fundamental
teaching method which is the alphabet and applies it to the ABCs of tourism.
Mexico Limpio y Querido (Mexico Clean and Loved)
The following cleanliness campaign is taken directly from the Ministry of
Tourism website under their education component. The title of the campaign is a
spin on one of Mexico’s most beloved songs titled, Mexico Lindo y Querido, or
Mexico Beautiful and Loved. In the case of the present campaign it is Mexico,
Clean and Loved.
Figure 15: Mexico Lindo y Querido

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The perception that a tourist has of a destination depends on many elements
related directly to the environment of that tourist site. The tourist destination is
more than its tourist activity it is also the services provided by public agencies,
the attitude of the destination’s residents, the businesses, the infrastructure, and
the local environment, etc…

The dis-satisfaction generated by any of these components triggers a negative
perception of global proportions.

In this vein, the cleanliness of a tourist destination is a major factor that
influences the tourist’s impression of such a place as well as if he/she
recommends this tourist location to other potential visitors.

In the different states of the Mexican Republic, there are current efforts being
implemented to address cleanliness, but the origin of the problem is where one
throws his/her trash away, this sensitivity and attention to detail is of vital
importance not only to the tourist but generally to a sense of community.

Based on this issue of throwing the trash in its proper place, the following steps
should be implemented:

Make sure that any tourist activity respects the natural environment and
local resouces that are vital to such an activity.
Difuse public opinion and establish a campaign to raise the consciousness
of people to take care of and maintain a clean environment, grounded on a
image of quality tourism.
Motivate the local population with the commitment and implications
about the benefits of tourism, raising consciousness about the importance
of cleanliness and a quality of service at tourist attractions.

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Figure 16: The “ABCs” of Touristic Culture

¡ ¡H Ho ol la a! ! H He el ll lo o! !
It is with great pleasure that we present to you: The Children’s Touristic Culture
Alphabet
D DA AR RI IO O D DE E C CU UL LT TU UR RA A T TU UR RÍ ÍS ST TI IC CA A I IN NF FA AN NT TI IL L

The Ministry of Tourism’s main priority is to raise the public’s consciousness
particularly in children of the importance the tourism industry has on the overall
development of Mexico. In this ABC-diary, each letter of the alphabet describes a
word related to the tourism industry. With these definitions we would spark your
curiosity to learn more about Mexico’s cultural and ecological tourist attractions, for
you to value and take care of them as well as present them with pride to tourists who
visit us. We invite you to learn more about Mexico’s natural and cultural heritage in
your school or home environment so when you and your family travel, you can enjoy
such tourist attractions!

Anfitrones/Hosts: are the people who live in a place with
both international and domestic tourists visit and they treat
such visitors with a kind and hospitable treatment.

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Figure 16 Continued: The “ABCs” of Touristic Culture
Bienvenida/Welcome: is the act of receiving a visitor with a smile and provide a
warm hospitality so that they enjoy their visit and they can frequently return.
Cultura Turística/Touristic Culture: is the knowledge and values that we have in
our localities, and that are reflected in our positive attitudes toward the tourists, for
example: our amiability, courtesy, efficiency and willingness to attend to them.
Desarrollo/Development: means that we should all do well. In other words, that the
salaries are raised and that our way of life is also. The development of a country can
be greatly due to tourism. When someone leaves on a trip they need transportation,
room and board, and to have a good time. A tourist has to pay for every one of these
services and the money they pay, remains in the place they visited. With that money
more businesses are created, people are hired and more public services are
developed, such as: highways, schools, hospitals, etc…
Empleo/Employment: is an occupation or job from which we obtain a salary.
Tourism creates more employment in the localities, because people are needed to
attend to the tourists.
Folklore: is the gathering of festivals, traditions, and customs that make us
different/unique from other towns, and that we should conserve and show with pride
to our visitors.
Guía de turistas/Tour guide: is a person that works showing the sites to a tourist,
while providing them with an explanation about their history and importance.
Hospitalidad/Hospitality: is a unique characteristic of the Latin American towns. It
is reflected in the visitors being well received.

Información/Information: is the accurate data that should be provided for the
visitors when they request it. The tourist should know which places to visit and how
to access them. This is why it is important for you to know your city!

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Figure 16 Continued: The “ABCs” of Touristic Culture

Jarrón/Jug: is a traditional artifact for many towns. It is made of materials such
as clay, ceramic, or “talavera”. The artifacts are an important source of work and
salaries for the communities in our country.

Kilómetro/Kilometer: is a measure of distance equivalent to 1,000 meters. Tourists
travel many kilometers by air, land, or water in order to enjoy the attractions of a
neighborhood.
Limpieza/Cleanliness: is the order and hygiene that we should maintain in our
homes, our streets, parks, beaches, and tourist areas. That is why we should throw
away the trash where it belongs!

Llegada/Arrival: is the moment that the tourists arrive in our localities and the hosts
should show their amiability and courtesy. Comment with your buddies, family
members, and friends that treating the tourist well is everyone’s chore.
México: is our nation and is located in the American continent. This country
possesses great historical riches and natural wonders. That is why it is considered
one of the main countries for tourism.

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Figure 16: The “ABCs” of Touristic Culture

Naturaleza/Ecology: are all of the resources from the animals, vegetables, and
minerals that form our ecosystem. There is a diversity of natural wonders in Mexico
and their beauty is what attracts the attention of national tourists and foreigners.

Orgullo/Pride: is an individual value of all Mexicans, as we feel
an admiration for our history, that of which we are today and for
all of our attractive natural and cultural wonders.

Prestadores de Servicios Turísticos/Tourist Workers: are the persons who with
their work make the tourist’s stay more enjoyable. For example, the travel agents,
tourist guides, waiters, transportation, bell hops, photographers, etc…
Quality: a word in English that means ‘quality’…this means to do things well from
the beginning. All of us who work for the tourists and who live in the localities,
should make an effort to provide services and attention of the highest quality.
Responsabilidad/Responsibility: a value that should distinguish us since childhood.
It consists of being careful of our acts and also of the protection of our natural and
cultural resources.
Sonrisa/Smile: a facial gesture that demonstrates a cordial and pleasant attitude. A
smile does not cost anything and instead allows us many benefits because when we
smile, we are creating a pleasant and calm ambiance.
Turista/Tourist: is a person who travels outside of where they live. The word
‘tourist’ is derived from the French word ‘tour’ which means to make a turn, in other
words, to travel. Tourism is an activity by persons when they travel and are received
in a locality.

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Figure 16 Continued: The “ABCs” of Touristic Culture

Unión/Unity: is an association or alliance of elements. In this case we are referring
to the unity of all the people who work or collaborate in order for the national
tourists and foreigners to be satisfied with their trip anywhere in Mexico.
Viajar/Travel: is a very old activity that the human being does, and consists of
traveling from one place to another for different reasons such as: for pleasure, rest,
health, business, religion, sports, etc… In order to travel it is required that you have
a means of transportation that can either be by plane, car, bus, or boat.

Week-end: a word in English that means “end of the week”, and even though it is
not in our language, many people use it. During the weekend we are able to travel to
local places and become tourists.
Xenófilo: means “friend”, and in Mexico we distinguish ourselves for wanting to
share the greatness of our country with our friends the tourists.

Yate/Yacht: is a small boat. Usually it is used for short distance travel. In Mexico
we have piers which is where these boats dock.
Zarpar: is the moment in which a ship departs from the wharf or the location in
which it was docked. We include it here to inform you that we are ready to “zarpar”
to a trip with no end…to continue preparing ourselves to become the best hosts and
friends to the tourists.

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In Mexico we have many cultural and natural riches that make the tourism industry
a viable activity. Yet, the tourists ask for something more…to be received and served
by excellent hosts! This is the reason why we should treat them like we would like to
be treated with respect and warmth.
As you may see, tourism is an important activity for the economic and social
development of a society.
When we travel we are tourists…we get to learn and know other people and we
realize that all human beings are equal, even though we may dress differently, speak
a different language and accents, or are different skin tones.
Through travel and tourism we get to know other people and ourselves that raises
our consciousness that we all want a world filled with peace and a better world for
all.
That is why we should invest our best effort even as children to offering a high
quality service and warm treatment so that the tourists who visit us can enjoy
themselves and their visit and return with more friends.

Mi Planeta Azul (My Blue Planet)
The founder of Mi Planeta Azul is a young Mexican woman born in the state
of Chihuhua and raised in Mexico City who came to work and live on Isla de
Mujeres in 2001. The founder’s oral history especially her background and personal
story is important to consider because it provides an understanding of the values she
wants to pass on to children who participate in Mi Planeta Azul. With a background
in Physical Anthropology and a passion for the well being of animals and the
environment, she was working in Japan before she came to Isla as an instructor to
teach tourists to swim with the dolphins, a popular tourist activity offered at one of
the island’s major tourist destinations. Once on Isla she liked the warmth and
relaxed way of living on the island as well as the opportunities to get involved in

145
bettering the island. In her view, one of the major problems was the contamination
of the environment--in particular the contamination of the beaches with trash
(Personal Interview, May 18, 2004). She believes that the reason for such
contamination is a lack of education and consciousness amongst natives and tourists
about cleanliness. This is why she chooses to involve herself in raising the
consciousness of Islanders by focusing on teaching children about the importance of
the environment through ecological art---art projects using materials that children
consider trash, such as small buttons made out of recycled plastic bottles and sea
shells.
The children’s enthusiasm and interest in her ideas were so great that she
decided to start a club. She met with the director of the Casa de Cultura
(Cultural/Educational Community Center). One of his responsibilities is to provide
extra-curricular activities for children on Isla. She suggested the idea of creating Mi
Planeta Azul. As of May 2004, My Blue Planet is about three and a half months old
with a membership of about 35 consistent participants who range from 6 to 12 years
of age. The club’s objective is to teach children love, respect, and tolerance for
everything; particularly to respect Mother Earth, animals, and people, as well as to
learn about their cultural heritage. This is done through activities such as beach
clean-ups, feeding the animals at the local zoo, field trips to ecological parks,
workshops on Mayan culture and ecological art. “We also use dance, music, and
recreational games to teach them about the environment and their cultural heritage”
(Personal Interview, May 18, 2004). Her rationale for teaching children about their
indigenous cultural heritage is that she feels they are not being taught this in the

146
formal curriculum at their elementary schools. The coordinator of My Blue Planet
shared the following song that they teach children both in Spanish and in the Mayan
language.
La tierra es mi cuerpo The earth is my body
La agua es mi sangre The water is my blood
El viento es mi aliento The wind is my breath
y el fuego es mi espiritu and fire is my spirit.

According to the founder of Mi Planeta Azul, teaching children songs both in the
Mayan language and Spanish language as well as traditional Mayan dances enhances
their self-esteem by valuing their indigenous roots as well as their
European/Spaniard heritage.
Children have responded well to the club because they want to play in a clean
environment but they don’t know how to resolve the contamination issue or how to
express their concerns about such an issue. “One way we thought we could get the
message out to a wider audience was through an art contest where children could
express themselves through their drawings and we could also learn how they see the
island’s environment” (Personal Interview, May 18, 2004). The art contest was co-
sponsored by a real estate office on the island and the Casa de Cultura. Both this
private enterprise and government agency are invested in keeping the island clean
and beautiful to promote real estate sales as well as tourism and a better livelihood
for Islenos. Three hundred and thirty drawings from various elementary schools on
the island were submitted to a committee made up of administrators from the
sponsoring agencies who then chose four finalists who received scholarships to learn
English at a local English school, toys, and trips to swim with the dolphins. Such

147
awards are indicative of the desire for children to learn English in order to be able to
interact with English-speaking tourists. Parents and teachers have also told them that
if they know how to speak English they will in the future be able to get a high-paying
job. Swimming with the dolphins is quite a popular activity with tourists who visit
the island and the children are given the opportunity to experience an activity that
tourists enjoy. Thus the children value such activities and indirectly understand that
such activities exist because of the tourism industry.
The following photographs are of children’s artwork, which were submitted
to the art contest titled, “The Child and the Sea”. The coordinator provided
instructions about the contest by visiting the children’s classrooms, distributing
flyers with the instructions and posting the flyers and poster-sized versions on
various parts of the island. The instructions were that the child needed to be school-
aged, between the ages of 6-12 years of age and draw what the title and the theme of
the contest, “El Nino y El Mar” (“The Child and The Ocean”) symbolized to them.
Based on previous interactions with the sponsor of the drawing contest, the
coordinator of Mi Planeta Azul, as well as her explaining to them her thoughts about
the theme of the title. The children surmised that another theme was the preservation
of the environment. The drawings are indicators of the thoughts and feelings of
these particular children or as evidence of problems that they felt compelled to
express. Beside each picture is a caption describing it in detail [In the child’s
words]. These drawings were on display on a wall at the Casa de Cultura for the
participants and general island community to learn from and enjoy.

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Figure 17: Childrens’ Drawings

The light blue sign reads
“Concurso de Dibujo”
(Drawing Contest). The
finalists’ drawings are
signaled out by a ribbon
ranking them from 1
st
to 4
th

place. The winning four
drawings are surrounded by
children’s art that did not
make the final cut.

The light blue sign reads “El
Nino y el Mar (The Child and
the Sea).

The 1
st
Place winner is an 11-
year-old who titled his/her
drawing “Pasaje Marino” (A
Marine Passage). The vivid
details of each sea specimen
and the blending of color
make this drawing a winner.

149
Figure 17 Continued: Childrens’ Drawings

The 2
nd
Place winner is a
drawing by a 9-year-old who
drew and wrote about the
livelihood of dolphins. The
writing in the drawing reads,
“No delfines en cautiverio”
(“No dolphins in captivity”).

The 3
rd
Place winner is the
drawing by a 7-year-old who
drew an octopus holding
various items of trash in each
tentacle and a diver with his
arms crossed. On the top it
reads “No Manches!”
(“Don’t Mess It Up” or
“Don’t Ruin It for All of
Us”).

150

Figure 17 Continued: Childrens’ Drawings

The 4
th
Place winner is a
scene of a beach with a small
child talking to a turtle on the
sand, “No tiengas miedo
turtuga, yo te cuidare.”
(“Don’t be afraid, turtle. I
will take care of you”). The
drawing is by a 12-year-old.

This drawing by an 11-year-
old received an honorable
mention. It is of a little boy
and his mother on what used
to be the sand at a beach and
he is remembering what the
beach used to be like in a
cloud. In the cloud one can
see a sandy beach with
dolphins and other sea
animals swimming in blue
water. On the top of the
drawing it reads, “Debemos
cuidar nuestras playas porque
se no solo seran recuerdos.”
(“We need to take care of our
beaches, if not they will be
only memories”).

The drawings and the messages conveyed speak for themselves, “No
dolphins in captivity!” “Don’t be afraid, turtle. I will take care of you.” “We need
to take care of our beaches, if not they will be only memories.” Such messages

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express Isleno children’s concerns for their environment and community. For
instance, the value for cleanliness comes across in these drawings by how negatively
trash on the beach is portrayed as well as what the children chose to write as a
message in their drawings. Such messages underscore the importance children give
to taking care of their environment, specifically nurturing their beaches and animals.
These drawings serve as artifacts of effectiveness of socialization processes.
In other words, they express how children digest and interpret what government and
after school group organizers have imparted as important values such as cleanliness
and preserving the natural environment and how such messages have been
internalized by Isleno children. For example, in the third place drawing and
honorable mention drawings importance is given to keeping our beaches clean and
free of trash. Another strong message that has been internalized by children is the
importance of protecting the animal life on the island. For example in first, second,
and fourth place winner drawings dolphins, turtles, sea creatures are portrayed in
their natural habitat with a sign or message that assures the animals that they are safe
and will be protected. Such drawings emphasize what the coordinator of Mi Planeta
Azul suggests: that art and these drawings serve as a tool for children to share their
concerns on the contamination of their environment.
Therefore, art serves both as a socializing medium as well as a platform for
children to express their politics. As Golomb attests, “Rather than viewing child art
as evidence of the child’s deficient cognitive capacities, a closer examination of the
child’s work reveals unsuspected competencies. They suggest a problem-solving

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mind eager to explore the possibilities and constraints of the two-dimensional
medium (1992:6-7).”

La Patrulla Verde (The Green Patrol)
Another socialization agent besides the one already featured in this chapter,
Mi Planeta Azul (My Blue Planet), is La Patrulla Verde (Green Patrol). It is an
organization geared towards children from ages 6 to 12 years old. Its main objective
is to have these children raise their community’s consciousness about environmental
issues. The Green Patrol is known as “un grupo de educacion ambiental” which
translates to they are a group whose main responsibility is to educate others about
taking care of the environment. The founder and creator of the Green Patrol, Jesus
Molina Melendez, started the group in the year 2000 and lives on Isla de Mujeres
with his wife and two daughters. Similar to the Blue Planet’s founder, an oral
history of Jesus, the founder of La Patrulla Verde gives a sense of the values he
passes on to his group members. Jesus is originally from Puebla, a town near
Mexico City. What motivated him to create La Patrulla Verde is his personal
background as well as what he has experienced in life. He is the youngest of seven
children. His life experiences, in particular living through the 1985 earthquake in
Puebla and volunteering to teach in the Sierras surrounding Puebla, influenced him
to reach out and be a part of a greater good (Personal Interview, May 1, 2002). The
deaths, and bloodshed, destruction and overwhelming pain of people who lost loved
ones that Jesus witnessed in the earthquake continue to bring tears to his eyes. Jesus
was in his early twenties when the earthquake hit. Teaching in the “pueblos” made

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him aware of the injustices between those who are poor and those who are rich.
After his teaching experience he decided to go back to school and study Accounting,
which he thought would be a safe and solid profession. But once at the university he
was even more troubled and disenchanted with the class differences amongst
students---students such as himself from a poor background struggling while rich
students were taking their education for granted (Personal Interview, May 1, 2002).
Jesus left without finishing his degree and decided to help out a good friend who had
a successful t-shirt business in Cancun and Isla de Mujeres. That is how he arrived
on Isla.
As the years passed, living on Isla and seeing his two daughters grow up, he
realized that a few things were lacking in their education, a love of self, respect for
their surroundings, and knowledge of their culture and its history. So, he began by
talking with other folks on Isla about these issues and he found an interested ear in
the owner of a hotel, Casa de los Suenos (House of Dreams), who was a foreigner
from Canada. This French Canadian woman and Jesus starting brainstorming ideas
about how to supplement the education that the Isleno children were receiving and
by default also educating these children’s parents who attended seminars and
workshops on how to recycle and reuse trash in art work as well as in general. Once
the children realized the importance of recycling and keeping the island clean, Jesus
spoke to school teachers, the Red Cross director, and other Islenos about formalizing
the program and the group that today is known as La Patrulla Verde (Personal
Interview, May 01, 2002). The Patrulla Verde has an advisory board made up of
various government and community leaders who assist him in conducting

154
workshops, which are a part of a formalized curriculum. This group is made up of
educators, community leaders, and parents invested in the child’s well being as well
as the island’s image. He also plans “clean up” activities around Isla for the children
to understand the importance of keeping their surroundings clean. Since he
coordinates La Patrulla Verde on his own time, he seeks support from private
enterprises and government agencies for program costs such as transportation, food
and supplies, as well as to sponsor fieldtrips to tourist attractions as rewards for the
children’s participation.
One of the recent activities that Jesus coordinated was a letter campaign
written by La Patrulla Verde children addressed to the president or mayor of Isla de
Mujeres. The objective of such a campaign was to persuade the president to place as
a priority the cleanliness of the island by placing more trash cans around the island
and creating signs asking for people to throw their trash in a trash can versus on the
roads, parks, or beaches. Please the note the art and tone of the following letters in
which Isleno children express their concerns and values about the island’s image and
cleanliness.

155
Figure 18: Childrens’ Letters to President of Isla
“Dear Mr. President, I request that
you tell all islanders to stop
throwing their trash on the floor.
And we invite you to take care of
the environment and hire more
people [to clean] because everyone
is a real pig. Also, put more
trashcans and signs so people
don’t throw their trash on the
ground. Hopefully, you can see
us, the Green Patrol, and how we
do it—we the children set a good
example for others to follow.”
The drawing shows a stick figure
crossed out for throwing trash on the
ground versus in a trashcan as shown in
the drawing next to it that is not crossed
out where the stick figure is throwing the
trash in the trashcan. Beneath the
drawings is a P.S. that says, “Pay
attention to my request.” Underneath the
P.S. is the child’s signature.
This drawing shows the appropriate or
right way to throw trash away in a
trashcan, which on it is a sign that reads,
“Deposit your trash in the trashcan.” The
second part of the drawing shows the
wrong way to throw trash away, which is
on the ground or on the street.

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Figure 18 Continued: Childrens’ Letters to President of Isla

“I am Adriana”

The first sign in this drawing reads,
“Please provide more trashcans so that
they don’t throw their trash on the street.”
The second sign reads, “We ask this so
that we can have a clean island.” The
third sign reads, “Hire people to clean the
island.” The fourth and last sign reads,
“Put signs up telling people to put their
trash in its appropriate place [a
trashcan].” Then she writes, “We make
all these requests so that when some
people travel to our island and visit us, we
have a clean and sanitary island.”
Underneath her written message is her
signature.

There are about 25 letters from children addressed to the president of Isla de Mujeres
making similar requests. According to Jesus, a government official read the letters
but neither the president nor any of his representatives directly respond to any of the
letters or the requests in the letters (Personal Communication, January 26, 2004).
Once again, similar to the artwork of children participating in My Blue
Planet, these letters written by participants of the Green Patrol and the requests
expressed in their letters serve as tools for children to voice their concerns as well as
for adults to gather insight into their worldview. As one can see and read in the
letters, children are concerned about the cleanliness of the island, their environment,
and the image of their island. Children see themselves as active agents as
demonstrated in the first letter, “We the children set a good example for others to
follow.” Not only do they see themselves as advocates for cleaning up the island and

157
its image but they also understand that they have the power and skills to affect
change and the importance of such a movement. As the child in the last letter states,
“do it for the island so that when people visit (tourists) they see/experience a clean
island.”
Children’s Perceptions of Tourists
Tourists and tourism are the central theme explored in an ethnographic
project utilizing art and drawings to explore children’s perceptions of tourists.
Elementary school-aged children from the first to the sixth grade were asked to
participate in a focus group that was made up of two children from each grade,
preferably a girl and a boy. There were a total of twelve students who submitted
their drawings as well as were interviewed about their lives on the island and asked
what their impressions of tourists were, particularly where on the island did they see
or experience the presence of tourists. The following drawings are taken from the
group and serve as an example of what these children shared:

Figure 19: Childrens’ Drawings of Tourists

The student is on the side of the page
holding a camera and taking a picture. She
has drawn a map of the island and tourists
are holding hands on top of the map. At the
bottom of the page, she writes, “I see
tourists everywhere, of those I see most are
nice about 10% are mean or rude and 90%
are very kind. They come from China,
Australia, Canada, Italy, California, Mexico
City, Merida, and Chiapas. I like the
Spring Breakers the best.”

158
Figure 19 Continued: Childrens’ Drawings of Tourists

The setting is the Garrafon, a popular
tourist water park on Isla de Mujeres. The
student is working selling entrance tickets
to the park in the ticket booth. Two tourists
are waiting to buy tickets, they are
“Americanos” or US Americans. The
student writes on top of the page, “ I always
see tourists at the Garrafon, and they are
usually US Americans.”

The setting is the beach at the bottom of the
page is the student and she writes, “They
are from various parts of the United States
and they come to see and enjoy our
beaches.” The tourist is in a bathing suit
walking on the sand.

The setting is a beach and the student and
her mom are in the water while a tourist is
sunbathing, the student writes, “I am
bathing in the water with my mom and the
tourist is sunbathing on the sand.”

159
Figure 18 Continued: Childrens’ Drawings of Tourists

The student is at the center of the drawing
sitting on the sand, she writes, “I am
building a sand castle with my mom and
dad.” On the sand there are tourists from
Chile, Brazil, and in the water there are
tourists from Peru, the U.S. and somewhere
she has abbreviated as H.S.A.
The student draws the port, Puerto Juarez,
where both tourists and islanders wait for
the ferry to take them back and forth to
Cancun or the peninsula.

Another student has also drawn the port and
in front of the port he draws a tourist from
the U.S. and himself standing side by side
waiting for the boat.

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The focus group was made up of a total of twelve elementary-aged students,
ages six to twelve years old, six boys and six girls, two representatives from each
grade level. The drawings featured are a fair representative of the drawings that
were submitted by the children. Many students experience the presence of tourists
on the beach. For many islanders, a Sunday afternoon is spent at the beach eating,
drinking, bathing, and enjoying family and friends. Aside from the two drawings of
the port and the drawing of the island’s map, most of the drawings take place at the
beach. It is a time to be seen and to people watch as well. For this reason, it makes
sense that children chose to draw the beach as a common ground where both tourists
and islanders go.
In many of these drawings children are usually part of the scene, they too
shape the experiences of the tourist---ticket sellers at the water park and as
photographers for the tourists as depicted in the first drawing. In the drawings of the
port, one sees both islanders and tourists waiting for the ferry. Islanders are aware
that the tourism industry brings services and resources for not only tourists to enjoy
but that also Islenos benefit from these same services and resources. Thus, for
children a clean beach is as important for themselves as well as for tourists to enjoy.
The beach, a common denominator for tourists and islanders, was also a popular
setting in the drawings submitted to the art contest sponsored by the children’s group
Mi Planeta Azul (My Blue Planet). Children also expressed their concern for the
cleanliness of their beaches in the letters addressed to the island’s president by
participants in La Green Patrol. Thus, in each component of this study, the beach
represents the natural environment, which both children and tourists inhabit. The

161
importance of keeping the beach clean and not contaminating with trash is a value
that children see as a major part of their cultural ecology.
Conclusion
Children on Isla de Mujeres are influenced by socialization agents such as Mi
Planeta Azul and La Patrulla Verde, organizations that target children as a positive
way for cultural change. Such organizations also serve as platforms for children to
express their concerns and advocate as active social agents for cultural change. The
importance of cleanliness is a shared value that both adults and children hold in
common by maintaining a clean environment as well as a clean island for both
islanders and tourists to enjoy. Through drawings and letters children express their
concerns about their environment as well as advocate for a change in cultural
practices. Through children’s drawings adults access the thought processes of
children. Both utilize the medium to accomplish their conscious and unconscious
objectives.
The founders of both groups are not native Islenos but are transplants from
Mexico City and Puebla who take a personal investment in the well-being of the
children on the island and understand that their work is part of a broader picture---a
picture that connects the children to their local environment as an extension of a
national and global phenomena of environmentalism and tourism. In chapter four,
such national efforts are explored at the local level by unpacking marketing
campaigns sponsored by the local government and geared towards both children and
adults. Such campaigns are in place to convert Islenos into good hosts for tourists as
part of a political and cultural ideology.

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The data featured in this chapter attempts to answer the call for more research
on the bidirectional flow of power between children and other social actors. I have
tried to present as much actual data as possible to demonstrate how children possess
and express agency through their drawings and letters. This research on the
simultaneous socialization of children and children as socializing agents reflects the
current focus on generating knowledge about children that features their perspectives
and opinions as reported by children themselves.

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CONCLISION

Ideal Citizen: Tourism and Isla’s Ideology of Cultural Cleanliness
This ethnographic research project was conducted over a two and half year
period on Isla de Mujeres, Mexico. The main premise of this dissertation is that due
to conquest and colonization by Europe of indigenous populations there is an
assumption by Mexicans that is of particular importance to Isleños in local parlance,
that if you are or appear to be dirty then you are, also, uneducated, poor, and
uncivilized---you are “Indio”or Indian, i.e. indigenous. Conversely, if you appear
clean you are civilized, educated, and have higher class or socio-economic status and
are thought to be more European or in this case of Spanish descent. Thus one of the
major contributions of this dissertation is how the concept of the racialization of
cleanliness gets augmented on Isla de Mujeres by the guests or tourists who visit the
island and provide its economic foundation for sustenance and livelihood. Isleños
are very conscious of the image they project to visitors and strive to make
themselves and their island appear clean in the eyes of the tourists. This self-
consciousness about cleanliness is heightened by various institutions, including
government agencies, tourist bureaus, media outlets, and schools that market
curriculum and communication campaigns promoting cleanliness of both the island
and it inhabitants as part of a political ideology that constitutes the notion of the ideal
citizen.
Another finding put forth in this dissertation is how the term mestizo/mestiza
(Mestiz@) is used in local and regional discourse. Mestiz@ is commonly defined to

164
refer to an individual of mixed heritage, in Mexico’s case one who has both Spanish
and indigenous ancestry. On the other hand, Islenos appropriate the term to refer to
someone who is mostly indigenous and a laborer. For example, a woman selling
fruit, or jewelery on the street corner is referred to as a mestiza because she is poor,
uneducated, and appears to be predominantly of Indian or indigenous ancestry.
In many Mexican contexts and abroad the term Mestiz@ is understood to
refer to an individual of mixed indigenous and Spanish heritage. But what is not
known and is demonstrated in this dissertation is that in certain regions in Mexico
where the fair majority of the population is indigenous, such as the states of the
Quintana Roo, the Yucatan, and Chiapas, the term Mestiz@ is used to differentiate
people not only based on ancestry but on class, social economic status, level
education, and occupation. This particular point supports the importance of regional
and local differences within a nation, as pointed out by Claudio Lomnintz in his
study on regionalism in Mexico (1992).
The evidence used to make these claims about the racialization of cleanliness
and how the term mestiz@ is transformed on Isla de Mujeres are derived from
participation observation research, group and individual interviews, site visits,
various forms of popular culture such as billboards, educational text books, tourism
pamphlets, and government documents that I collected while on Isla.
While writing this dissertation an international film titled Apocalypto was
released that appropriately reveals the delicate cultural situation undertaken by this
study that of illuminating issues of representation of the indigenous people of

165
Mexico. In the discussion that follows I show the relationship between aspects of the
film Apocalypto and the issue of respresentation of the indigenous identity on Isla de
Mujeres.

Apocalypto: An Artifact in Motion
The film critic Earl Shorris along with Mexican historian Miguel Leon
Portilla, edited a book titled In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of
Mesoamerican Literature---Pre-Columbian to the Present (2002). He has also
written a relevant film review of Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto published in the The
Nation, a magazine that is perceived as a left wing publication that speaks to several
themes of this dissertation.
In his review of Gibson’s recent film about a Mayan who is fleeing being
sacrificed as the demise of the Mayan empire nears. Shorris illuminates how
negative stereotypes influence the daily lives of the people who inhabit them. While
archeologists, anthropologists, historians, and now producers of popular culture such
as filmmaker Mel Gibson, the director of Apocalypto have studied the contributions
of the indigenous populations such as the Maya, Aztecs, Olmecs, etc… Although the
film’s cinematography captures the splendor and beauty of the Mayan empire and its
geography, I could not understand the overwhelming demonstration of violence
portrayed by the film’s director and writers. Such horrific respresentations of the
Mayan past through a modern popular medium as a film provides Gibson a platform
to share with a wide audience his interpretation of a moment in Mesoamerican
history. His magnification of violence continues to position the Mayan in the

166
imagination of many laypeople watching as “the savage”. Gibson’s film only further
romanticizes an Indian of the past and does not change the stereotypes and living
conditions of the Indian of present day Mexico. As Shorris writes:
In fact, Gibson stepped into a delicate cultural situation and may have shattered
much of what has been built by indigenous people, historians and linguists in recent
years. Ethnic prejudice is as harsh in the Yucatán as anywhere in the Americas. I
have seen it played out in the Maya villages as well as in the cities and on the
beaches. When the Clemente Course, which educates indigenous people as well as
the poor in seven countries, taught its first class in the Maya language and
humanities in the small village of San Antonio Sihó, the students told me that when
they took the bus to Mérida (a journey of more than fifty miles) they were afraid to
speak Maya, because people would think them stupid Indians (Mayeros). After two
years of study, José Chim Kú, the student leader of the class, said, "Now, when I
ride on the bus, I speak only Maya." It took two years for the faculty, including May
May, to effect the change, for the Maya have internalized their recent history. And
like all people who live in the violent mirror of racial and ethnic hatred, they suffer
for their suffering. It is the bitterest irony of colonialism.
As Shorris points out in his commentary above, due to Mexico’s
dichotomous history of racial prejudice, where on one end there is the Spaniard and
on the other end is the Indian and/or African, one form of defining ethnicity is
through the linguistic affiliation of predominantly indigenous groups. As mentioned
earlier, on the Mexican census form, one is asked to identify if one speaks Spanish or
an indigenous language or both. Many scholars argue that this indicator is
misleading since many indigenous people refuse to acknowledge their use of an
indigenous language for fear of discrimination (Kearney 1996). Moreover, as
anthropologist Michael Kearney (1996), has noted that ethnicity emerges in different
forms in different situations. He defines ethnicity as a social identity that evolves in
response to historical and structural conditions. Thus a group can define itself as
indigenous without practicing traditional cultural traits merely by claiming such an
identity and by being identified as such by others.

167
While such progressive notions of ethnicity are emerging in academic
contexts, in the Mexican context of Isla, ethnicity is still constructed in two primary
forms. One of the primary forms is the ethnic classification system based on the
Iberian and European concepts of ethnicity brought to Mexico by the Spaniard
conquistadores. The other form is based on political and economic structures that
continue to categorize the monolingual Indian both racially and culturally as inferior
to the Mexican who speaks Spanish exclusively. Thus, ethnicity continues to
demarcate issues of class and social status in modern day Mexico.
While Mel Gibson’s intent was not to reinforce stereotypes, he continues to
do so by portraying the indigenous, in this case the Maya, as unacceptable people.
“We do not want to look at them as they are now, and we despise them for what they
were then (Shorris, The Nation, 2006).” Shorris writes:
Like the owners of the resort hotels that line the beautiful beaches of Cancún and
Cozumel, Mel Gibson cast no Maya to work on his project, except in the most
minor roles. Maya nationalists think the hotels and tourist packages that use the
word "Maya" or "Mayaland" (a translation of Mayab) should pay for what they
appropriate for their own use. The Maya patrimony, they say, is neither gold nor
silver nor vast stretches of rich farmland; they have only their history, their culture,
themselves. Like the hotel owners who bring strangers to the Yucatán to do
everything but labor in the laundries and maintain the grounds, Gibson has brought
in strangers to take the good parts from the Maya. He said in an interview that he
chose people who "looked like you imagined they should," but I have seen
photographs of Rudy Youngblood, and he does not look like any Maya I ever saw.
One can only ascribe the choice of Youngblood and the other non-Maya to
stereotypes that Gibson has adopted.
Shorris’s film review demonstrates what this dissertation asserts about the
contemporary “situation” on Isla; that as of December 2006 audiences and tourists
alike still tend to romanticize the “Indian Past” in Mexico and do not want to honor
the “Indian Present” because it would mean dealing with inequities and injustices in

168
present day Mexican society. Throughout Mexican history lo Indio “the Indian” has
been used as a point of demarcation of what not to be identified as or with when it
comes to dress, occupations, behavior, last name, and phenotypic features (i.e. dark
skin). The underlying discovery of this dissertation is the conscious, intentional
political project by the Mexican government and tourism officials to promote an
ideology of cultural citizenship that emphasizes the notion of a clean and tidy citizen
as a good host for tourists that visit Isla de Mujeres. How this ideology is received
and interpreted by the inhabitants of Isla de Mujeres is explored. What is underlined
in the commentary of Isleños is the racialization of cleanliness based on biological
descent having to do with a purity of blood or limpieza de sangre (cleanliness of
blood) brought to New Spain/Mexico by Spanish conquistadores. This ideology of
limpieza de sangere can be traced to what historian Maria Elena Martinez (2004)
calls a religious-cum-racial Spanish colonial ideology grounded in the notion of the
purity of Spanish “Old Christian” blood. This dissertation explores how tourism
augments the need for Isleños to be clean or present an appropriate cleanliness for
the tourists who visit Isla de Mujeres so they are not perceived or stereotyped as dirty
or uncivilized. Such a stereotype of the Indian is internalized on Isla de Mujeres
where the term Mestiz@ is used interchangeably with Indian and with the negative
attributes associated with lo indio. The process of stereotyping produces lines of
difference and dread that are magnified by the active tourist industry on the island.
This type of racial marking is based on a racial relativism derived from the
study of eugenics. Claudio Lomnintz (2001) cites recent work on Mexican eugenics

169
by Alexandra Stern (1999) to suggest that eugenics “served two ends: on one hand, it
strengthened the ‘mestizophilic’ Mexican Revolution’s anti-racist arguments; on the
other hand, it tended to characterize Mexico’s poor populations (from rural Indians
to urban workers) as comparatively deficient. …It also offered ample justification of
a kind of ‘internal colonialism’. Eugenics offered a way to objectify and quantify
differences between poor Mexicans and ideal norms represented by the elite. This in
turn permitted the state’s development mission to be defined while the poor national
majority could remain scientifically devalued (2001:20).”
Lomintz (1991) also informs a major focus of this dissertation which is how
power is regionally and culturally differentiated and constructed. In this manner,
power is viewed in Michel Foucault’s terms. “It is not to be found in a group of
institutions and mechanisms that ensure the subservience of the citizens of a given
state but rather the state apparatus is the institutional crystallization of something that
happens elsewhere, in multiple local sites of contestation such as workplaces,
families, associational groups, and institutions (1990:94).” The findings of this
dissertation demonstrate that the social organization and cultural construction of
contested relations between tourists and the people who serve them are not at the
margin of state power relations but they are at the center, the essence of national
histories.

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182
Appendix 1

Brief Description of Interviewees

Fidel Villanueva Madrid – Curator/Historian for Isla de Mujeres
Originally from Merida, Yucatán he came to the island to work as a supervisor in the
water plantation system. Fidel fell in love with the island and decided to stay. While
on the Isla, he became heavily involved in politics and became President of the
island from 2000 to 2002. A fisherman he cherishes the island and its history. I
interviewed Fidel on numerous occasions and our correspondence continues over
email.

Jose de Jesus Lima Gutierrez – The first national Minister of Tourism of Mexico,
Gutierrez was instrumental in establishing the first hotel on the island, Xel-Ha,
which is now known as the Avalon.

Jesus Molina Melendez – The founder of the Patrulla Verde, a children’s group
discussed in this dissertation. A transplant from Puebla, Jesus and his wife work in
the tourism industry, he runs a souvenir shop and his wife braids hair on the beach.
They have two girls who have grown up on the island and consider it their home.

Regino Pastrana Fernandez – A member of one of the founding families of the
island. He was quite ill at the time of the interview but was able to contribute
information about how the island has changed over the years.

Jose Castillo Magana – Director of Isla’s Tourism Office.

Gerardo Magana Barragán – Assóciate Director of Tourism Office.

David Avalos – General Secretary for the island.

Lilia Robles – Na’Balam Hotel owner.

Juan Antonio Pich – Director of Casa de Cultura, Isla de Mujeres.

Enrique Lima Zuno – Gas Station owner, son of Jose de Jesus Lima Gutierrez.

Leonardo Mendizábal – Na’Balam Hotel’s Director of Marketing.

Miriam Trejo Leon – Elementary School Teacher

Fatima Perez Herrera – Marketing Director, Isla’s Tourism Office
Paulino Adame – President of Isla de Mujeres, 2000 - 2002

Armando Fuentes – Middle School Student

183

Elisa Velásquez – Middle School Student

Alberto Dardayrol – Marketing Director, Cancun’s Tourism Office

Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Carrilo – Elementary School Teacher

Milagros Parades Garcia – Parent of Elementary School Teacher

Hugo Mendez – Tourism Coordinator, Cancun’s Tourism Office

Alicia Valeria Ricadle Figueroa - (5
th
grader) Elementary School Student

Frida Columba Molina Hernandez - Elementary School Student

Jesus Arturo Casares Alvarez - Elementary School Student

Enrique Stephen Amaya - Elementary School Student

Renee Jesus Carillo Torres - Elementary School Student

Mariel del Carmen Carillo Torres – Middle School Student

Genny Aguilar Velásquez - Middle School Student

Teresita Garrido Gomez- Tourism Coordinator, Isla de Mujeres Tourism Office

Dania Jamire Amaya Trejo – Elementary School Student

Denise Amaya Trejo - Elementary School Student

[12 students from Julio Sauri Elementary School get names]

Luis Fernely Chan Magana - Middle School Student

Selena Beatriz Rodriguez Martinez - Middle School Student

Jubido Lopez Mendez - Middle School Student

Diana Mercedes Cauch Euan - Middle School Student

Margaret (Maggie) Suvais Washa – Director of La Gloria English School

Luis Israel Alcocer - Middle School Student

184
Yohana Janet Avalos Solis - Middle School Student

Alicia Valeria Ricaldi Figueroa – Middle School Student (8
th
grade)

Jesus Ignacio Contreras Velásquez - Middle School Student

Maria Ester Martin Xool - Middle School Student

Patricia Peralta Martinez - Middle School Student

Anna Veronica Douglas - Middle School Student

Iunidez Juan - Middle School Student

Fidel Villanueva Madrid – Curator/Historian Isla de Mujeres.

Maria Lourdes Osono Castilla - Middle School Student

Angel Antonio Rossel Crispin - Middle School Student

Candidita Anahi Rossel Crispin - Middle School Student

Jose Ramon Pena Celis - Middle School Teacher

Jose Fernando Contreras Gomez - Middle School Teacher

Rosita Elena Rios Fernandez - Middle School Teacher

Loyda Velasquez Chi – Elementary School Teacher

Juan Francisco Dzul Chic - Middle School Teacher

Rosalba del Socorro Tamay Canche - Middle School Teacher

Eva Fany Quijano Koni – Elementary School Student

Sheyla Vasquez Lunez, Annette Soledad, and Maria Jose Cruz Tul (Group
Interview) – Elementary School Students members of Mi Planeta Azul

Jesus Enrique Gomez Martinez – Education Coordinator Casa de Cultura Isla de
Mujeres

Lorena Aralia Lopez Pineda – Founder of Mi Planeta Azul

185
Appendix 2

Mestizaje Terms

The following terminology, used in Colonial Mexico, indicates the complex pattern
of interbreeding in the new World and the complex pattern of social recognition of
"racial" types. This reflects the social structure and the nomenclature itself gives
clues to the hierarchical nature of the social structure. (source: originally from the
work of Nicolas Leon, 1924, Las Castas Mestizaje Del Mexico Colonial o Nueva
España, reported in M.D. Olien, 1973, Latin Americans: Contemporary Peoples and
Their Cultural Traditions, pp. 94).

Español (Spaniard) male mates with India (Amerind) woman, produces a mestizo
Mestizo male mates with an Española woman and produces a castizo.
Castizo male mates with an Española woman and produces an español.
Español male mates with a Negra woman and produces a mulato.
Mulato male mates with an Española woman and produces a morisco.
Morisco male mates with an Española woman and produces a chino.
Chino male mates with an India woman and produces a salta atrás.
Salta atrás male mates with a Mulata woman and produces a lobo.
Lobo male mates with a China woman and produces a jíbaro (hick).
Jíbaro male mates with a Mulata woman and produces an albarazado.
Albarazado male mates with a Negra woman and produces a cambujo.
Cambujo male mates with an India woman and produces a sambaigo.
Sambaigo male mates with a Loba woman and produces a calpamulato.
Calpamulato male mates with a Cambuja woman and produces a tente en el aire.
tente en el aire male mates with Mulata woman, produces no te entiendo.
No te entiendo male mates with India woman and produces a torna atras.

186

Abstract (if available)

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Asset Metadata

Creator Jimenez y West, Ilda (author)

Core Title Good hosts as ideal citizens: crafting identity on Isla de Mujeres

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Anthropology

Degree Conferral Date 2007-08

Publication Date 08/08/2007

Defense Date 04/01/2007

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,racialization,socialization,tourism

Place Name islands: Isla de Mujeres (geographic subject), Mexico (countries)

Language English, Spanish

Advisor Lutkehaus, Nancy C. (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Hoskins, Janet (committee member)

Creator Email ildamarj@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m768

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Legacy Identifier etd-JimenezyWest-20070808.pdf

Dmrecord 13193

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Jimenez y West, Ilda

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu