Dictatorship and Repressed Sexuality in Lemebel and Rivas’ “Blokes”

This article explores the intersections between dictatorial regimes and individualized forms of repression, mainly in the area of sexuality. By comparing “Blokes,” a short story by Chilean LGBTQ+ writer and activist Pedro Lemebel, with its film adaptation (directed by Marialy Rivas), I will analyze the political climate in Chile during Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990) and the way it affected everyday life. The protagonist, a teenager, is doubly censored and reprimanded due to his rejection of the heterosexual normative. In dictatorial regimes, repression is always present, pertaining not only to political and ideological spheres, but also to more intimate and private spaces. The article sheds light on some of the restrictions suffered by the protagonist, how those restrictions are interiorized by him and how he tries to restrict others, following in a way the notion that violence begets violence (authoritarianism begets authoritarianism).