“Argentina in fact was a kind of jungle, with everyone scratching and fighting for funds and a place in the pecking order, and a way to survive.”
Back in 1999-2001, while on my thesis on tango in Buenos Aires, I considered moving there to live. In the end, I realized that I would not make enough money to visit my family in the United States. If I lived in the USA, I had a chance of making enough money to visit Buenos Aires. And so I chose not to move there.
When Cherie Magnus contacted me and asked if I would review her book, Intoxicating Tango: My Years in Buenos Aires, I was intrigued. It is a memoir of the ten years she lived in Buenos Aires and danced tango. This was the life I had considered for myself, and I wanted to hear from someone who had made the opposite decision.
Tango, full speed ahead!
The book is well-written and I read it over the course of two evenings. Reading it, you get a feel for how difficult it can be to move to a strange city as an adult. You need to find housing. You need to figure out how the bureaucracy works. You need to find friends when the other adults have been friends for years or decades. You need to find activities to keep yourself busy. You need to learn the language. Whew!
In Cherie’s case, tango was the focus of her new life. She built everything else around that, even finding ways to generate income by working in tango tourism. She danced socially, taught tango, and made friends in the tango world and acquired an Argentine boyfriend. This was not a short-term plan: she intended to live in Buenos Aires until she died.
Cherie had an emotionally rough time in Buenos Aires. Her health issues—and those of her partner—added stress, as did her struggle to keep afloat financially. Throughout the book, crises cropped up in terms of health, money, relationships and tango. She gamely tried to problem-solve, but by the end, little difficulties bunched up and made major difficulties, and she chose to leave Buenos Aires and to move home to Los Angeles.
“Is your name Google? Because you are the answer to all of my questions.”
Macho culture?
Cherie discusses the macho nature of the tango and relationships that she experienced in Argentina. This is a point that she returns to time after time in the book, hammering the point home. We have had an email exchange during my reading/reviewing of her book, and she reminded me that this question of macho culture was not just in the tango world, but in Argentine culture in general. Throughout the book, she includes quotes from other sources about machismo and male-female interactions in Argentina. She also quotes piropos (“compliments”) from men. She feels that the macho culture condoned violence against women, as well as giving men permission to cheat on women.
I do remember the feeling of the milonga scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I did my research on leading, following, and how masculinity and femininity were constructed in the Buenos Aires tango scene at that time. I did think that there was a macho element to the codes of behavior in the milongas, but I have come to see it differently; perhaps that is more about changing times. I personally don’t think it is more macho than other cultures. I think ALL the places I have lived, on four continents, have all had mostly the same ideas about men and women. The difference is that it is open, not hidden, in the tango world.
Human Subjects clearance vs. memoir writing
As an anthropologist who had to go through a rigorous Human Subjects clearance before conducting my fieldwork in Buenos Aires, I am astonished at the freedom a memoir writer can take. Even 20 years later, I have not published a lot of the material I collected because of my human subjects guidelines.
I felt a bit shocked at how much Cherie told about other people’s lives in her book. I emailed her to ask, and she said that her ex-partner—who is very much a big part of the book—doesn’t care what is written about him. She changed his name, but she said everyone would know who it was. She did change some names in the book. I felt relieved that she had warned people about the publication and discussed the book with her ex-partner. I wonder if the people in this book will feel that Cherie over-shared their information?
Overall
I have had a very different experience in Buenos Aires than Cherie did, but I think it’s good to see the range of experiences possible. There is not one truth. There are many points of view. You can tell she put a lot of work into crafting this book and she does not shy away from presenting her truth.
This is not a light read. Reading this book, I felt sad for Cherie that her dream had not worked out. I felt sad for her partner that his long-term partner had left for good. I felt sad that she walked away with a bad taste in her mouth and the book did not seem to suggest that any happier ending would be available for any woman. I hope that, as time passes, she will be able to see her years in Buenos Aires in a more positive light. After all, it gave her a lot of material for her book! In our email exchanges, she seems very upbeat and positive, so I don’t think that she is down for the count :-)
If you would like to buy her book, here is her website!