ABSTRACT
Research on sexuality in Mexico has tended to focus on three institutions: the family, the church, and the state. Much of our knowledge on the regulation and discourses of sexuality is confined within this institutional trinity. Although these three settings are undeniably important, there are at least two other institutions central to the production and regulation of sexuality in contemporary Mexico: the market and the media. In contrast to the church, whose political and symbolic power has gradually eroded, these latter two spheres of social life will only grow stronger in years to come. This paper therefore focuses on the market, and specifically on one of its practices: consumption. Perhaps one of the more meaningful findings of the research we will describe is the identification of a specific type of consumption, which we will call sexual consumption.
