Woman and tango: delusional seduction

Abstract

In tango lyrics, the erotic female figure constitutes a leitmotif of the genre's minimally developed stories, in which women represent the object of desire and belonging for men. Faced with the demands of the guapo, compadrito, or pimp, the milonguita seeks to construct an image of sensuality or eroticism that she deploys in a space that, although institutionally public, becomes prison-like. In both the tangos of the so-called Guardia Vieja and those of the Guardia Nueva, it is possible to perceive an aesthetic reduced to certain conventions, which she attempts to correspond to at the risk of fragmentation and ugliness. In accordance with the cultural transformations of the second half of the 20th century, both the spaces of tango canción and tango baile, as well as the roles of those who foster these practices, are changing. Ideals related to the figure of women and the experience of love are also changing, as can be seen in the lyrics of recent decades. Some lyrics from the three aforementioned moments in the history of tango are selected, and the strategies chosen for constructing the manifestations of eros are recorded, in order to examine and understand them in context.