The tradition of drinking and dying: Gender, alcohol consumption, and violence in San Andrés cholula, Puebla

Abstract

This ethnographic research examines practices related to alcohol consumption in the traditional area of San Andrés Cholula, namely, in the region comprised of the eight neighborhoods participating in the “cargo system,” a religious and socio-spatial institution responsible for organizing ecclesiastical festivities. Using anthropological fieldwork as the research methodology, it observes how male alcoholization, shielded by popular religiosity and supported by local authorities, institutionalizes gender practices that legitimize violence. These practices, veiled under the guise of “traditions,” act to the detriment of the living conditions of local women. In this context, the lens of postcolonial feminism enables the understanding of women's responses and actions in the face of impositions and demands from the local gender regime.