Gendered Language and (Unequal) Power: Deconstructing US-Latin American Relations in the Early Cold War

After visiting Latin America in 1950, George F. Kennan presented a report to the Secretary of State Dean Acheson on his impressions of the region and its significance for the United States in the early Cold War period. This framed much of US-Latin American relations in the early Cold War. This article attempts to determine whether a relationship can be established between notions of power attached to feminine and masculine roles in society and the power dynamics determining US-Latin American relations in this period. US-Latin American relations are analyzed from a gender perspective based on the premise that knowledge and language are socially constructed and influence the practice of diplomacy. The initial hypothesis suggests that because language conveys symbolic representations of power, that is, notions of a superior-subordinate relationship, US officials found it useful to use gender analogies and metaphors when discussing US-Latin American relations. Kennan's reports on the region as well as other US officials' documents related to US policy towards Guatemala in this period are analyzed to uncover notions of unequal power. International Politics (2008) 45, 703-719. doi:10.1057/ip.2008.28; published online 1 August 2008