A queer phenomenology of the penis: Disorienting Sex and Gender in Maya Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Deviations: Archaeologies of Sexuality Beyond the Heteronormative", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

How do representations of the body and the penis orient understandings of sex and gender? This paper utilizes queer theoretical perspectives on bodies and phenomenology to reconsider archaeological orientations to the penis. Phenomenological perspectives investigate the experience of living in a body and how repeated or habitual actions shape the relations between bodies in the world. Through an examination of iconographic and figurine representations of ancient Maya rituals involving the penis, the paper argues that the Maya had a nuanced view of the human body and a deep understanding of how it works. When viewed through a queer phenomenological lens, ancient Maya representations of the penis call into question normative understandings of the penis as inherently sexual and gendered. Drawing from the Maya to speak to historical archaeology, this paper works to reorient our understanding of the penis and reveals more expansive relations between people and their bodies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• Deviations: Archaeologies of Sexuality Beyond the Heteronormative

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow