ABSTRACT
Mapuche are special men, like priests who don't have a family because they dedicate themselves to God. During the colonial era, male machi were co-gendered males who moved from and between masculinity and femininity and combined the identities, performances, occupations, modes of dress, and sexualities associated with Mapuche women and men. The celibate Catholic priest is an acclaimed male figure of authority in Chile who is neither heavily masculinized nor sexualized but holds social prestige. Colonial agents used contrasting Spanish perceptions of Mapuche men to advance different political agendas. The Jesuits considered themselves soldiers of Christ' who battled against the devil and against the vices and sins of the Mapuche. Mapuche ideals of co-gendered sexual warriors and sexual-spiritual male machi clashed with the Spaniards' polarized notions of religiosity. These were embodied, on one hand, in the ideal of a hyper-masculine Spanish soldier who should resist sensual pleasure and, on the other, in the purportedly celibate Catholic priest.
