La Playboy: la participación de hombres y mujeres en una pandilla juvenil de Siloé, Cali

Abstract

A case-study of a street-gang in the Siloé barrio (Cali, Colombia) gives the opportunity to analyze the differential participation of men and women in juvenile gangs. In a genre perspective and using ethnographic data, the paper reports the peculiar forms of participation of men and women in these groups, and describes the everyday interactions both within the gangs and with local residents and rival gangs. A central question here is the extent to which gangs offer solutions to youngsters, along genre lines, concerning the socio-economic contradictions and life expectations.