ABSTRACT
At the centre of the Gitanos' descriptions of themselves lies the notion that Gitano women control their sexual drives; evidence of their control is obtained at the wedding ceremony, when a white handkerchief is used to take 'flowers' out of their bodies, as tangible proofs of their decency. By contrast, the Gitanos emphasize to the point of boredom that Payas do not even attempt to curb their sexual drives. The Gitanos find evidence of the Payas' immorality through multiple media - contact with Payos, television and cinema, popular magazines and so on - and they give the character of an axiom to the idea that all non-Gitano women are sexually promiscuous and insatiable. Historical and literary analyses of gender reveal that a concern with female chastity has existed in Spain at least since the seventeenth century, These same analyses, however, make it clear that this concern has constituted just one of several available models of gender relations.
