Places of Courtship among Young People of Comas (Lima, Peru)

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore what the places of courtship are among a group of young men and women living in Comas, a working-class neighborhood in the northern area of Lima. The specific study area is called La Balanza, a poor neighborhood located among the “upper area” of the hills, with the lowest socioeconomic status and level.
This research is based in a field work made between the years 2010 and 2012. To carry out this research, observation and detailed interviews to 26 young people (13 women and 13 men) among 18 and 30 years old, and to 6 adults (2 women and 4 men) among 36 and 51 years old, were really important. Those adults, who are used to interact with young people, were selected as complementary informants in order to get more points of view strengthening the data obtained from the young people.
Courtship needs a previous process of selection, a first meeting that can be anywhere inside Comas. Strategic and unexpected places are differentiated for courtship. Friends may help in the courtship process through introductions and giving certain security among a context considered insecure. One of courtships is the purely sexual one, which is normally assumed but is muted. For sexual courtship, there are specific places like discos that give sporadic sexual encounters. The practice of sex is very frequent and occurs in almost all areas of Comas, both private (houses, hotels or hostels, video-cabins, mototaxis) and public, always being careful not to be seen. There is a whole economy for sex in which different spaces of greater or lower level are distinguished according to the cost.