The Cockfight in Andalusia, Spain: Images of the Truly Male

Abstract

The analysis of events such as sports, hunting for pleasure, games, circuses and celebrations which involve competition between animals, between humans and animals or petformances with animals reveals much about how people view relations between the natural and cultural worlds, between wild and tame or domesticated, the similarities and differences between humans and animals and between different categories of human beings (for example gender differences). The cockfight, a popularpast-time in Andalusia (Spain), is one such event. It is a totally male-orientated event and is examined here in terms ofthe images derived from it and imposed on it of the qualities expected of the truly male in this culture.