January 21, 2025 • 27 mins
In today’s episode of Señora Sex Ed, La Gata, music historian and creator of Reggaeton con la Gata joins Diosa and Mala to discuss her religious upbringing in Boston, how she convinced her Mami to let her throw house parties, and how sugaring unlocked a new level of her sexuality. She also shares how reggeaton and perreo can be a form of sexual education for the young and curious.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I movehead. Your kids are always throwing parties at your house, bors.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Bos.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
I would rather the party here where I can watch them,
than out in the street.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Sow is gay Senora, Senora, Senora, Senora, Senora, Senora, Hi, Senora,
(00:32):
Welcome to Senora. Sex Ed Senora sex Said? Is not
your Mommy sex Talk. This show is la platica like
you've never heard it before. With each episode, we're breaking
the stigma and silence around sex and sexuality in LATINX communities.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Latinas have been hyper sexualized in popular culture, but notoriously
denied sex education. This podcast is an intergenerational conversation between
Latinas from gen X to Gen Z, covering everything from
puberty and body image to representation in film, television, and music.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Just a reminder that in this show, a Senora is
a woman with a lot of life experiences and stories
to share.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Maybe she's in her thirties, Maybe she's in.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Her forties or fifties or older. Maybe she's trans, maybe
she sits.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
We are your hosts and producers, Viosa and Mala.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You might recognize us from our flagship podcast, Lokata Radio.
Since twenty sixteen, we've covered all kinds of topics, ranging
from politics, to mental health, current events, and of course sex.
We still have so much to learn, though, and we
hope you listen to each episode with the Senoras and
Senoritas in Your Life, Chapter twenty three Reggaeton.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Before we dive into today's episode, we want to provide
you with a content warning. This episode contains mention of
actual assault and suicide. Please take care of yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I was raised by two hyper Christians. Like my parents
fell in love in church. Let's start there, so Clari right,
My parents were deacons. They were Bible study teachers, Bible
school teachers, like they're deep in it.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
That's Gotta. She's a historian, recording artist, and creator of
the platform Regat. Like many of the latin As we've interviewed,
she was raised in a Christian household.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Many of our previous guests expressed not having access to
comprehensive sex ed at home or at school, but Gata
had access to sex ed by way of her public
school education.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
In high school, they used to have like this sex
positive like educator come through, call her the sex lady.
So like the sex lady came through and she would
like teach us about like the female condom, and I
feel like I tried everything. I was like, why not
try this, try that, try this. So I started with
the regular condom, and then I tried the female condom
(03:12):
and I didn't like that because I felt like it
moved too much. And then I tried the maeuver ring
but like I'm putting my fingers all up in there,
like I like me and yes, we get acquainted, but
all so damn like it was a lot. I think
it's like a common thing here in mask, Like I
went to a public school, proudly went to a public school.
(03:33):
Shout out to Briant, And as far as I can remember,
with like friends who were like in other schools, there
was always like like she went around to different schools
and she would like, like, you know how like they
do gym health class. She'd come in during that gym
health class and she'd basically take over the class.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Gata is grateful for the sex said she and her
peers received, and reflects on how having all the info
kept them safe, especially as social media became more prominent
in the mid two thousands.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
If it wasn't for her, like, I feel like a
lot of my peers would have been seen moms, like
you know, like she she counseled us, she gave like
she let us know what's up. She like instilled in us,
like what it means for us to have like standards,
not in regard to like I'm better than you type thing,
but like more so like confidence, dignity, you know, because
(04:28):
especially back then, this is like, oh my god, back then,
I'm only thirty my space, you know, like face Mihinte, MySpace,
you know, like photo blocket, like everybody trying to figure
out what their sexy is and how to express themselves.
During this time, It's like it was very interesting in
the midst of like the boom of Regaton and like
(04:49):
you know, like the music that was influencing our shenanigans.
I'm like grateful to her because like she put it
right in front of us and she let us ax
questions and she bought that like safe space, where like
she was like, no question is a stupid question, That's
what's up. Like I knew where the clip was from,
like thirteen, like we love it here.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Gata's love for pereo and reggaeton started early.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I have video tapes that I'll use in my documentary
One Day of me dancing to henad Al and Chicho
Maang and you know Nanda boom, like when I was
a baby, So you know, it was like literally in
my bones, like my family used to do like dance contest.
They would waive money over us and be like bayaya
(05:36):
to us dancing reggaeton. So those are like super early memories,
but consciously, as like a person who chose it. I
always like, bring this up. My cousin Macho who He's
like me preton, mom were like a month and a
day apart. He was a chamberlain and a kisas And
this is the year that Daalzone came out and he
(05:57):
pulls me. He's like, yo, we're dancing, let's go, and
everybody's periando and I'm like, oh my god, this is
like this is so cool, Like I like this, and
I'm like grinding for the first time whatever year that was, however,
Oh I was was the first time I grinded, and
I was like, nah, I want more of this. And
then I became like consciously obsessed with I was like,
(06:17):
oh this is nasty, and like I love this, and Mommy,
she's like Mira le Mona, and I was like mm hmm,
whatever you say was like I'm outside like the holy
so like.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, Reggaeton was not just a music that got that
enjoyed dancing to. It was also a life raft that
helped her survive tragic experiences like the death of her father.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I had mentioned like a couple of times, like my
dad passed, so like he committed suicide when I was twelve,
and that was.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Obviously very difficult, Like I was PAPPI.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Was like my right hand. It's like as dramatic as
it sounds, like it saved my life. Like I was
so depressed. I have, you know, like attempted suicide a
couple times as as a teenager. I was out like
out of my mind, you know, like super super depressed.
And raggaetone literally was like the one thing that's like,
(07:19):
you know, it kept me moving, like it had me
like animala.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
At fourteen years old, Gotta wasn't allowed to leave the house,
but her mom did let her host parties if it
meant that she'd be at home. From then on, Gata
started throwing infamous house parties.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
My mom, you know, now seeing a super depressed preteen
you know, and then like she wants to raise me right,
but she doesn't want to like put me in a
box too much mant but she also wants boundaries, but
she also wants me to have fun. She would let
me throw all the parties I want it. She would
not let me leave the house, but she would let
(08:00):
me throw all the parties I wanted. If I have
a landline, people would call. They'd call singing because they
would think it's my cell phone, and it's the house
phone my mom picks up like a scatto. And so
when I got my mom's like a ya. My parties
(08:23):
were fire, like you know. It was to a point
where people would show up to my house on like
Friday and they'd be like, oh, you're not throwing a party.
I'm like no, and they're like, what can you throw
one now? Like it'd be like fine, and they like
they I'd be like, you ask my mom because I
don't want ask my mom because I'm scared of her
right now.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
And they'd be like, we're like fourteen.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Like I saw the Boy and it's like like it
was historical. But my house was like a safe space
before I knew what a safe space was. Like I'm queer,
and my queer babes would always come through. And I
never discriminated at the door, like I'd like, now you
can't come in. And there were parties who would do
(09:10):
that here in Boston, like now you can't come in,
even if you were dark skinned. Sometimes they'd be like, nah,
we don't want you there. There's too many morenos here,
like it get very comic, casinophobic, very fast. But my
house I didn't play that shit.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Gota's childhood in Boston, her love for Regaton, her desire
for something new, all set her up for her next chapter,
her twenties in New York City. We hope you're enjoying
this conversation.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Stay tuned. There's more to come.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And we're back. We hope you enjoyed the break and
are ready to listen to the rest. Forgata, leaving Boston
was the move she needed to learn about herself and
explore her sexuality outside of the conf a regular home
life in her hometown.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I went to New York like I could changed my
whole environment, Like there was no shadow over me, like
no permission. It was just go out and do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Gotha spent her teenage years grieving the loss of her father.
When she turned eighteen, she realized she needed to prioritize
her own happiness, until a sexual assault threatened her progress.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
What I've left out of this is that I actually
survived an assault and I was really pid. Well, obviously
the assault in itself is infuriating, but I was extra
pists because I spent my teenage years angry, sad because
my dad and all this stuff. And then once I
turned like eighteen, I was like, you know, he's dead
(10:50):
and I'm here, aren't I, So like we need to stop,
Like you need to love yourself and your life for
you because what does this serve and who does this benefit?
Like you need to snap out of this, you know,
as much as you can, because part of it, of
course is it's you know, psychological like you know, but
(11:11):
like the other part to it is like, so like
let me put myself for that, so I like change
my attitude, you know. And then shortly after I experienced
out of saults, I was pissed because it's like, bitch,
I was ready to take on the world and then
this happens and I was like, no, no, I refuse
to be sad. We're not doing another decade, sad.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Part of the healing work Forgata was putting herself back
out there and keeping herself safe.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I rebelled against the idea of me putting myself back
into a shell. And so by doing that, like I
wouldn't say I've done like risky behavior because I was
always very like, you know, letting my friends and where
am I, you know, like columns, always like I wasn't,
you know, like doing too much in regards to like
(12:01):
putting myself in danger. But I was like not, but
and and I was like exploring like it was on
every dating app. And I was like, fuck it, you
better buy me dinner. You're gonna buy me lunch, like
all this stuff. I'm in college.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Fuck it.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
So me putting herself back out there also meant exploring
her queer identity.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Now I'm in an environment where because growing up in
a religious household, I'd always tell myself I will be
gay later because my mom was just like, you know,
she had a lot of reservations. So it wasn't like
I could live out loud. But in New York I
was living out queer and out loud. So that's another thing.
(12:42):
That I had the joy of exploring, especially in New
York City Queer Central, like it was nice and so yeah,
I would definitely say I made very good use of
my twenties.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Gottha also dabbled with being a sugar baby. Here's what
she experienced.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
When I was in college, I had a sugar daddy
or three, and it was it was a good time.
Like it was you know, like I was like fuck it,
Like what's the worst.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
That could happened?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I had really positive experiences. Uh.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
I literally had three.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I won point and I divided them by days of
the week, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, first Saturday,
Sundays are for me. As fifty Shades of Gray was
coming out, I wrote looking for fifty Shades.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Of Fun Girl.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I got like three inquiries. Like this guy wrote back.
He was like a CMO. He was a CMO and
he was like he was serious about it. He sent
me like a list of rules, and this is my
first exposure to that. I never knew how this world worked.
(13:51):
He sent me with the rules. He's like, review them
and we'll discuss them during dinner. And I'm like huh.
And we go through the rules and like that was
my first counter being a sub, and I'm like, wow,
like this is it was fun. It was fun, Like
I just.
Speaker 6 (14:08):
I never.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Thought of like certain aspects of that as something to
be enjoyed. Like that was a level of sexuality that
I guess was unlocked. That became that was locked. That
became unlocked for me, and I loved it. And since then,
I've had, in all fairness, maybe like three subs myself
because I was like, what would it be like for me.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
To switch?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And I was like, oh, I could be as Oh,
like my mind opened up. Thank you New York City
in regards to like how I engage with this and
my the dominant min the sub whatever. And I was
a dom for like three different guys. It was very
It was a lot. It was too much for me,
just because I realized, I'm like, as powerful as I
(14:55):
feel in this moment and as much money as is
coming in, part of me feels like there was something
that I needed to unpack first before I spun the
block on it. But during the time, like it was good,
Like when I say it lasted like maybe like three
months with each of them, which is a good amount
of time. That's not like you know, Mayana, but it
(15:15):
was still like a very new adventure for me, and yeah,
that's that's me. When I saw younger me, I all outside,
girl like, ill outside and sugaring, I found to be
the most fun out of everything.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
We hope you're enjoying this conversation.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Stay tuned, there's more to come.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
And we're back. We hope you enjoyed the break and
are ready to listen to the rest. Latinas might not
always have access to sex ed, So what do we do?
We discuss sex with our peers and look at TV,
film and music for answers. With that in mind, can
Riaton serve as a loose intro to sex education.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
In Pehrel specifically the semo right Donnie style? And so
absolutely it's it's it's sex, absolutely from the way you
dance it, from the way that you engage with it,
that like you pick up on them lines, and the
songs that all of a sudden you're incorporating it. I
(16:22):
love flirting, I love flirting in like I love that
ship absolutely is a precursor. And then the songs that
are of course super explicit and the songs that have
more like metaphorical expressions both of them, like you find
I found myself. First of all, Hegetton has maintained me bilingual.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
Absolutely absolutely forgot that resisting respectability politics means embracing her
once childhood nickname as her artistic name La Gatta.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I was scared because I'm like, I'm queer, I'm black,
and I'm a woman, three things that Latinidad fucking hates.
So I was like, damn, it's gonna be hard. And
so I danced a lot with respectability at the beginning
of my career because I was like, they're not gonna
like me. There was very little representation. The data I
(17:22):
collected was telling me like, it's gonna be hard, player,
do you want this? And then like just life in general,
like I've experienced racism my whole life, right, and xenophobia
within the rama my whole life, let alone career, and
so you know, in the beginning, I was dancing a
bit like should I just go with my name Catalina
(17:44):
or should I just go with God? Because the other
thing to it, too is like Gata. In Boston, people
know my name, they know the story. It's very normal.
But in Latin America, every time someone calls me Gata,
They're like, where at the MN I used to dance
all out respectability And I was like, no, I'm gonna
(18:05):
make this platform called and it's gonna give me visibility
and it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Gata has toured all over the country with her pereo
one on one course, and while facilitating a workshop at Harvard,
a young woman asked her about her opinions on regaton
as being degrading to women. Here's how Gata answered her question.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
She was like, this music is like that. It doesn't
you know, try and women. That doesn't celebrate women in
the in the right light. And I would say, you're
absolutely correct, You're absolutely correct, And like hip hop, if
we want this music to reflect a higher perception of women,
(18:53):
we first need to enact that in society. This art
is just reflecting what's going on in society and societ.
Women are getting killed, femicide is going up, domestic violence
is going up. Like we're getting unaalized, we're getting killed,
we're getting abused. It's the truth, you know, and it's
it's a reality.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
If we view Reggeddon as a reflection of the current
world we live in, we can also admit that Reggeddon
portrays the reality that a lot of women also enjoy sex.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Another reality is is that women like sex.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
God forbid, I like fucking like god for like, my.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
God, women like sex, enjoy sex. We seek sex, you know,
like over and over. It's not a myth, it's not
it's life. And in twenty twenty five, they're still like
this and perception that sex is something that happens to women,
(19:56):
not something that we seek and that we like and
that we joy and that we have boundaries with even
when we're being uta self, you know what I mean,
like comes with boundaries, like yeah, you could do that
because I let you, you know what I mean. I
like people don't think like that. It's always like, oh
that's that's like so outdated, backwards, et cetera. And so
(20:25):
I answer the question just like that with her, and
she appreciated it because I'm like, look, if we want
these bad things to come out of music, we need
to first take them out of society. One thing does
not happen without the other. The good woman and how
women's autonomy and women's come okay, uh, deserving or not?
(20:46):
Who gets respect or not? And boundaries or not? And
that's a very dangerous okay, and sliding scale always it's
always sliding.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
While there may be some valid critiques of men, critiques
often come from a place of anti blackness.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
There's an absolute connection between criticus on Ragatton and anti blackness.
There are I don't know how many different initiatives to
try to white in it, and I mean in it sonically,
like with the sounds, like literally making the decision, the
conscious decision of removing drums from the African instruments that
(21:27):
were at the core of like It's its music, from
like the two thousands of what we now today considered reggaeton,
A lot of the drums are gone.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Gata cites reggediton as saving her life. She's also dedicated
her career to saving the history of reggaeton.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I think part of the reason why I have so
many different nationalities within the House of Reggaeton.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Is because I give people respect.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I respect Puerto Ricans, I respect Dominicans, I respect Jamaicans,
I respect Pandamanians, I respect everybody. And the manner by
which I stopped doing my storytelling, I follow the best
advice I've ever gotten, and I say it everywhere Michael
and Michael and Manwan told me.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
If Raggaton is the beach, people.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
From these different countries were adding their grains of stand
to this beach.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
That's what Ragaton is.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I'm like, that's beautiful, and that's how I move about things.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Gata's work has not come without its challenges. While working
on a project for Netflix, Gata was docked.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
I got that threat to immediately, like, people are like,
why is she working on it? She's not Puerto Rican,
And I'm like, the show's not about Puerto Rico. It's
not about Puto Ricans. It's about a kid who moved
to Miami to make his career in the Latin music industry.
That's what I was pitched. That's what we developed. And
then Raggaeton was like, you know, a highlight of the show.
(22:48):
But it's not like the history of reggaeton. It's not
you know, it's this isn't like a Puerto Rican scene
of reggaeton. Like this is a kid who will to
Miami to work in the Latin music industry, and if
you're in the industry or know about the industry, it's
very accurate. Despite that, I got a lot of death
threats a lot. You should die, people trying to find
(23:12):
my mom, my family members online, and like it's like
this was the best job I've ever had, you know.
I was so respected in that room, you know, like
my opinion had so much weight. I was compensated fairly,
you know, And that was the other side to it,
you know. So I've consciously had to take a break
(23:33):
because of how difficult shit was, because it's like death
threats is insane, you know, and there's a ton of
xenophobia at the source of that. I love being got,
I love being am. People don't see these things. They
don't and so I give myself grace every chance I
(23:54):
can get. I'm very happy for my next chapter. I
deserve it, you know, like I deserve it. This platform
deserves it. I'm out here.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
I feel very.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Good right now, you know. Like I feel like now
I can be louder than ever, so like and now
I have a system of like care and my loved
ones besides me, So I feel very good.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Gota system of care looks like talking to her friends,
going to therapy, going to the gym, and limiting her
social media usage.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Sometimes I just mad to plug out majority of my
tweets now don't even come from my phone. I come
from like a third party app. And then sometimes like
I do want to like see what people are saying,
so like I'll be on the app, but i'll mute
what I I'll tweet in you. So in the process
of my healing, I feel like I feel I'm get more. Yeah,
hell yeah, I'm exactly where I need to be, exactly
(24:49):
with what I have. And so now that I have
like this restored feeling that feels very good and a
nice now I only surround myself with what I should like,
with people who I actually love me.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Gata is guided by her intuition, her work, ethic, her values,
and now, in addition to being a historian and public figure,
she's releasing music this year.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
I've never said no more in my life. I've never
walked away from things more in my life. If I
even have an inkling of a bad feeling, and it's
not paranoia, it's intuition, I walk away. And I'm not
thirsty for things because I know what I deserve and
I know I'll get great things. So like there's no
reason for me to be thirsty and doubt someone's line.
If it's not honoring me. I'm out, that's it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
This interview with Gata taught me that when young people
have the information they need to explore the world and
themselves safely, that it can lead to some really interesting
life lessons that prepare young people to become the adults
they were always meant to be.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Next time on Senora sex Said, we're ooined by Bambi Salceo,
president of the Trans Latina Coalition.
Speaker 7 (26:06):
You know, as a trans woman, right like I have
surpassed the life expectancy of many trans women, and so
it's it's really beautiful that I get to be called
yelder nos vemos Ceo.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Senora Sex Said is a co production between Locata Productions
and Michael Dura Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
This show is executive produced by Mala Munios and Them.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Also executive produced by Jaselle Bances.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Produced by Stephanie Franco.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Creative direction by Mala Munios.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Story editing by the ASAFM.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Music direction by Grisol Lomeli.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
And music produced by Brian Gazo
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Logallumnlia
I movehead. Your kids are always throwing parties at your house, bors.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Bos.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
I would rather the party here where I can watch them,
than out in the street.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Sow is gay Senora, Senora, Senora, Senora, Senora, Senora, Hi, Senora,
(00:32):
Welcome to Senora. Sex Ed Senora sex Said? Is not
your Mommy sex Talk. This show is la platica like
you've never heard it before. With each episode, we're breaking
the stigma and silence around sex and sexuality in LATINX communities.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Latinas have been hyper sexualized in popular culture, but notoriously
denied sex education. This podcast is an intergenerational conversation between
Latinas from gen X to Gen Z, covering everything from
puberty and body image to representation in film, television, and music.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Just a reminder that in this show, a Senora is
a woman with a lot of life experiences and stories
to share.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Maybe she's in her thirties, Maybe she's in.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Her forties or fifties or older. Maybe she's trans, maybe
she sits.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
We are your hosts and producers, Viosa and Mala.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You might recognize us from our flagship podcast, Lokata Radio.
Since twenty sixteen, we've covered all kinds of topics, ranging
from politics, to mental health, current events, and of course sex.
We still have so much to learn, though, and we
hope you listen to each episode with the Senoras and
Senoritas in Your Life, Chapter twenty three Reggaeton.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Before we dive into today's episode, we want to provide
you with a content warning. This episode contains mention of
actual assault and suicide. Please take care of yourself.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I was raised by two hyper Christians. Like my parents
fell in love in church. Let's start there, so Clari right,
My parents were deacons. They were Bible study teachers, Bible
school teachers, like they're deep in it.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
That's Gotta. She's a historian, recording artist, and creator of
the platform Regat. Like many of the latin As we've interviewed,
she was raised in a Christian household.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Many of our previous guests expressed not having access to
comprehensive sex ed at home or at school, but Gata
had access to sex ed by way of her public
school education.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
In high school, they used to have like this sex
positive like educator come through, call her the sex lady.
So like the sex lady came through and she would
like teach us about like the female condom, and I
feel like I tried everything. I was like, why not
try this, try that, try this. So I started with
the regular condom, and then I tried the female condom
(03:12):
and I didn't like that because I felt like it
moved too much. And then I tried the maeuver ring
but like I'm putting my fingers all up in there,
like I like me and yes, we get acquainted, but
all so damn like it was a lot. I think
it's like a common thing here in mask, Like I
went to a public school, proudly went to a public school.
(03:33):
Shout out to Briant, And as far as I can remember,
with like friends who were like in other schools, there
was always like like she went around to different schools
and she would like, like, you know how like they
do gym health class. She'd come in during that gym
health class and she'd basically take over the class.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Gata is grateful for the sex said she and her
peers received, and reflects on how having all the info
kept them safe, especially as social media became more prominent
in the mid two thousands.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
If it wasn't for her, like, I feel like a
lot of my peers would have been seen moms, like
you know, like she she counseled us, she gave like
she let us know what's up. She like instilled in us,
like what it means for us to have like standards,
not in regard to like I'm better than you type thing,
but like more so like confidence, dignity, you know, because
(04:28):
especially back then, this is like, oh my god, back then,
I'm only thirty my space, you know, like face Mihinte, MySpace,
you know, like photo blocket, like everybody trying to figure
out what their sexy is and how to express themselves.
During this time, It's like it was very interesting in
the midst of like the boom of Regaton and like
(04:49):
you know, like the music that was influencing our shenanigans.
I'm like grateful to her because like she put it
right in front of us and she let us ax
questions and she bought that like safe space, where like
she was like, no question is a stupid question, That's
what's up. Like I knew where the clip was from,
like thirteen, like we love it here.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Gata's love for pereo and reggaeton started early.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I have video tapes that I'll use in my documentary
One Day of me dancing to henad Al and Chicho
Maang and you know Nanda boom, like when I was
a baby, So you know, it was like literally in
my bones, like my family used to do like dance contest.
They would waive money over us and be like bayaya
(05:36):
to us dancing reggaeton. So those are like super early memories,
but consciously, as like a person who chose it. I
always like, bring this up. My cousin Macho who He's
like me preton, mom were like a month and a
day apart. He was a chamberlain and a kisas And
this is the year that Daalzone came out and he
(05:57):
pulls me. He's like, yo, we're dancing, let's go, and
everybody's periando and I'm like, oh my god, this is
like this is so cool, Like I like this, and
I'm like grinding for the first time whatever year that was, however,
Oh I was was the first time I grinded, and
I was like, nah, I want more of this. And
then I became like consciously obsessed with I was like,
(06:17):
oh this is nasty, and like I love this, and Mommy,
she's like Mira le Mona, and I was like mm hmm,
whatever you say was like I'm outside like the holy
so like.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, Reggaeton was not just a music that got that
enjoyed dancing to. It was also a life raft that
helped her survive tragic experiences like the death of her father.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I had mentioned like a couple of times, like my
dad passed, so like he committed suicide when I was twelve,
and that was.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Obviously very difficult, Like I was PAPPI.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Was like my right hand. It's like as dramatic as
it sounds, like it saved my life. Like I was
so depressed. I have, you know, like attempted suicide a
couple times as as a teenager. I was out like
out of my mind, you know, like super super depressed.
And raggaetone literally was like the one thing that's like,
(07:19):
you know, it kept me moving, like it had me
like animala.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
At fourteen years old, Gotta wasn't allowed to leave the house,
but her mom did let her host parties if it
meant that she'd be at home. From then on, Gata
started throwing infamous house parties.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
My mom, you know, now seeing a super depressed preteen
you know, and then like she wants to raise me right,
but she doesn't want to like put me in a
box too much mant but she also wants boundaries, but
she also wants me to have fun. She would let
me throw all the parties I want it. She would
not let me leave the house, but she would let
(08:00):
me throw all the parties I wanted. If I have
a landline, people would call. They'd call singing because they
would think it's my cell phone, and it's the house
phone my mom picks up like a scatto. And so
when I got my mom's like a ya. My parties
(08:23):
were fire, like you know. It was to a point
where people would show up to my house on like
Friday and they'd be like, oh, you're not throwing a party.
I'm like no, and they're like, what can you throw
one now? Like it'd be like fine, and they like
they I'd be like, you ask my mom because I
don't want ask my mom because I'm scared of her
right now.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
And they'd be like, we're like fourteen.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Like I saw the Boy and it's like like it
was historical. But my house was like a safe space
before I knew what a safe space was. Like I'm queer,
and my queer babes would always come through. And I
never discriminated at the door, like I'd like, now you
can't come in. And there were parties who would do
(09:10):
that here in Boston, like now you can't come in,
even if you were dark skinned. Sometimes they'd be like, nah,
we don't want you there. There's too many morenos here,
like it get very comic, casinophobic, very fast. But my
house I didn't play that shit.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Gota's childhood in Boston, her love for Regaton, her desire
for something new, all set her up for her next chapter,
her twenties in New York City. We hope you're enjoying
this conversation.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Stay tuned. There's more to come.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And we're back. We hope you enjoyed the break and
are ready to listen to the rest. Forgata, leaving Boston
was the move she needed to learn about herself and
explore her sexuality outside of the conf a regular home
life in her hometown.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I went to New York like I could changed my
whole environment, Like there was no shadow over me, like
no permission. It was just go out and do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Gotha spent her teenage years grieving the loss of her father.
When she turned eighteen, she realized she needed to prioritize
her own happiness, until a sexual assault threatened her progress.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
What I've left out of this is that I actually
survived an assault and I was really pid. Well, obviously
the assault in itself is infuriating, but I was extra
pists because I spent my teenage years angry, sad because
my dad and all this stuff. And then once I
turned like eighteen, I was like, you know, he's dead
(10:50):
and I'm here, aren't I, So like we need to stop,
Like you need to love yourself and your life for
you because what does this serve and who does this benefit?
Like you need to snap out of this, you know,
as much as you can, because part of it, of
course is it's you know, psychological like you know, but
(11:11):
like the other part to it is like, so like
let me put myself for that, so I like change
my attitude, you know. And then shortly after I experienced
out of saults, I was pissed because it's like, bitch,
I was ready to take on the world and then
this happens and I was like, no, no, I refuse
to be sad. We're not doing another decade, sad.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Part of the healing work Forgata was putting herself back
out there and keeping herself safe.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I rebelled against the idea of me putting myself back
into a shell. And so by doing that, like I
wouldn't say I've done like risky behavior because I was
always very like, you know, letting my friends and where
am I, you know, like columns, always like I wasn't,
you know, like doing too much in regards to like
(12:01):
putting myself in danger. But I was like not, but
and and I was like exploring like it was on
every dating app. And I was like, fuck it, you
better buy me dinner. You're gonna buy me lunch, like
all this stuff. I'm in college.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
Fuck it.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
So me putting herself back out there also meant exploring
her queer identity.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Now I'm in an environment where because growing up in
a religious household, I'd always tell myself I will be
gay later because my mom was just like, you know,
she had a lot of reservations. So it wasn't like
I could live out loud. But in New York I
was living out queer and out loud. So that's another thing.
(12:42):
That I had the joy of exploring, especially in New
York City Queer Central, like it was nice and so yeah,
I would definitely say I made very good use of
my twenties.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Gottha also dabbled with being a sugar baby. Here's what
she experienced.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
When I was in college, I had a sugar daddy
or three, and it was it was a good time.
Like it was you know, like I was like fuck it,
Like what's the worst.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
That could happened?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I had really positive experiences. Uh.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
I literally had three.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
I won point and I divided them by days of
the week, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, first Saturday,
Sundays are for me. As fifty Shades of Gray was
coming out, I wrote looking for fifty Shades.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Of Fun Girl.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I got like three inquiries. Like this guy wrote back.
He was like a CMO. He was a CMO and
he was like he was serious about it. He sent
me like a list of rules, and this is my
first exposure to that. I never knew how this world worked.
(13:51):
He sent me with the rules. He's like, review them
and we'll discuss them during dinner. And I'm like huh.
And we go through the rules and like that was
my first counter being a sub, and I'm like, wow,
like this is it was fun. It was fun, Like
I just.
Speaker 6 (14:08):
I never.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Thought of like certain aspects of that as something to
be enjoyed. Like that was a level of sexuality that
I guess was unlocked. That became that was locked. That
became unlocked for me, and I loved it. And since then,
I've had, in all fairness, maybe like three subs myself
because I was like, what would it be like for me.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
To switch?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And I was like, oh, I could be as Oh,
like my mind opened up. Thank you New York City
in regards to like how I engage with this and
my the dominant min the sub whatever. And I was
a dom for like three different guys. It was very
It was a lot. It was too much for me,
just because I realized, I'm like, as powerful as I
(14:55):
feel in this moment and as much money as is
coming in, part of me feels like there was something
that I needed to unpack first before I spun the
block on it. But during the time, like it was good,
Like when I say it lasted like maybe like three
months with each of them, which is a good amount
of time. That's not like you know, Mayana, but it
(15:15):
was still like a very new adventure for me, and yeah,
that's that's me. When I saw younger me, I all outside,
girl like, ill outside and sugaring, I found to be
the most fun out of everything.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
We hope you're enjoying this conversation.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Stay tuned, there's more to come.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
And we're back. We hope you enjoyed the break and
are ready to listen to the rest. Latinas might not
always have access to sex ed, So what do we do?
We discuss sex with our peers and look at TV,
film and music for answers. With that in mind, can
Riaton serve as a loose intro to sex education.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
In Pehrel specifically the semo right Donnie style? And so
absolutely it's it's it's sex, absolutely from the way you
dance it, from the way that you engage with it,
that like you pick up on them lines, and the
songs that all of a sudden you're incorporating it. I
(16:22):
love flirting, I love flirting in like I love that
ship absolutely is a precursor. And then the songs that
are of course super explicit and the songs that have
more like metaphorical expressions both of them, like you find
I found myself. First of all, Hegetton has maintained me bilingual.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
Absolutely absolutely forgot that resisting respectability politics means embracing her
once childhood nickname as her artistic name La Gatta.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I was scared because I'm like, I'm queer, I'm black,
and I'm a woman, three things that Latinidad fucking hates.
So I was like, damn, it's gonna be hard. And
so I danced a lot with respectability at the beginning
of my career because I was like, they're not gonna
like me. There was very little representation. The data I
(17:22):
collected was telling me like, it's gonna be hard, player,
do you want this? And then like just life in general,
like I've experienced racism my whole life, right, and xenophobia
within the rama my whole life, let alone career, and
so you know, in the beginning, I was dancing a
bit like should I just go with my name Catalina
(17:44):
or should I just go with God? Because the other
thing to it, too is like Gata. In Boston, people
know my name, they know the story. It's very normal.
But in Latin America, every time someone calls me Gata,
They're like, where at the MN I used to dance
all out respectability And I was like, no, I'm gonna
(18:05):
make this platform called and it's gonna give me visibility
and it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Gata has toured all over the country with her pereo
one on one course, and while facilitating a workshop at Harvard,
a young woman asked her about her opinions on regaton
as being degrading to women. Here's how Gata answered her question.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
She was like, this music is like that. It doesn't
you know, try and women. That doesn't celebrate women in
the in the right light. And I would say, you're
absolutely correct, You're absolutely correct, And like hip hop, if
we want this music to reflect a higher perception of women,
(18:53):
we first need to enact that in society. This art
is just reflecting what's going on in society and societ.
Women are getting killed, femicide is going up, domestic violence
is going up. Like we're getting unaalized, we're getting killed,
we're getting abused. It's the truth, you know, and it's
it's a reality.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
If we view Reggeddon as a reflection of the current
world we live in, we can also admit that Reggeddon
portrays the reality that a lot of women also enjoy sex.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Another reality is is that women like sex.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
God forbid, I like fucking like god for like, my.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
God, women like sex, enjoy sex. We seek sex, you know,
like over and over. It's not a myth, it's not
it's life. And in twenty twenty five, they're still like
this and perception that sex is something that happens to women,
(19:56):
not something that we seek and that we like and
that we joy and that we have boundaries with even
when we're being uta self, you know what I mean,
like comes with boundaries, like yeah, you could do that
because I let you, you know what I mean. I
like people don't think like that. It's always like, oh
that's that's like so outdated, backwards, et cetera. And so
(20:25):
I answer the question just like that with her, and
she appreciated it because I'm like, look, if we want
these bad things to come out of music, we need
to first take them out of society. One thing does
not happen without the other. The good woman and how
women's autonomy and women's come okay, uh, deserving or not?
(20:46):
Who gets respect or not? And boundaries or not? And
that's a very dangerous okay, and sliding scale always it's
always sliding.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
While there may be some valid critiques of men, critiques
often come from a place of anti blackness.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
There's an absolute connection between criticus on Ragatton and anti blackness.
There are I don't know how many different initiatives to
try to white in it, and I mean in it sonically,
like with the sounds, like literally making the decision, the
conscious decision of removing drums from the African instruments that
(21:27):
were at the core of like It's its music, from
like the two thousands of what we now today considered reggaeton,
A lot of the drums are gone.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Gata cites reggediton as saving her life. She's also dedicated
her career to saving the history of reggaeton.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I think part of the reason why I have so
many different nationalities within the House of Reggaeton.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
Is because I give people respect.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I respect Puerto Ricans, I respect Dominicans, I respect Jamaicans,
I respect Pandamanians, I respect everybody. And the manner by
which I stopped doing my storytelling, I follow the best
advice I've ever gotten, and I say it everywhere Michael
and Michael and Manwan told me.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
If Raggaton is the beach, people.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
From these different countries were adding their grains of stand
to this beach.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
That's what Ragaton is.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I'm like, that's beautiful, and that's how I move about things.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Gata's work has not come without its challenges. While working
on a project for Netflix, Gata was docked.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
I got that threat to immediately, like, people are like,
why is she working on it? She's not Puerto Rican,
And I'm like, the show's not about Puerto Rico. It's
not about Puto Ricans. It's about a kid who moved
to Miami to make his career in the Latin music industry.
That's what I was pitched. That's what we developed. And
then Raggaeton was like, you know, a highlight of the show.
(22:48):
But it's not like the history of reggaeton. It's not
you know, it's this isn't like a Puerto Rican scene
of reggaeton. Like this is a kid who will to
Miami to work in the Latin music industry, and if
you're in the industry or know about the industry, it's
very accurate. Despite that, I got a lot of death
threats a lot. You should die, people trying to find
(23:12):
my mom, my family members online, and like it's like
this was the best job I've ever had, you know.
I was so respected in that room, you know, like
my opinion had so much weight. I was compensated fairly,
you know, And that was the other side to it,
you know. So I've consciously had to take a break
(23:33):
because of how difficult shit was, because it's like death
threats is insane, you know, and there's a ton of
xenophobia at the source of that. I love being got,
I love being am. People don't see these things. They
don't and so I give myself grace every chance I
(23:54):
can get. I'm very happy for my next chapter. I
deserve it, you know, like I deserve it. This platform
deserves it. I'm out here.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
I feel very.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Good right now, you know. Like I feel like now
I can be louder than ever, so like and now
I have a system of like care and my loved
ones besides me, So I feel very good.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Gota system of care looks like talking to her friends,
going to therapy, going to the gym, and limiting her
social media usage.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Sometimes I just mad to plug out majority of my
tweets now don't even come from my phone. I come
from like a third party app. And then sometimes like
I do want to like see what people are saying,
so like I'll be on the app, but i'll mute
what I I'll tweet in you. So in the process
of my healing, I feel like I feel I'm get more. Yeah,
hell yeah, I'm exactly where I need to be, exactly
(24:49):
with what I have. And so now that I have
like this restored feeling that feels very good and a
nice now I only surround myself with what I should like,
with people who I actually love me.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Gata is guided by her intuition, her work, ethic, her values,
and now, in addition to being a historian and public figure,
she's releasing music this year.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
I've never said no more in my life. I've never
walked away from things more in my life. If I
even have an inkling of a bad feeling, and it's
not paranoia, it's intuition, I walk away. And I'm not
thirsty for things because I know what I deserve and
I know I'll get great things. So like there's no
reason for me to be thirsty and doubt someone's line.
If it's not honoring me. I'm out, that's it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
This interview with Gata taught me that when young people
have the information they need to explore the world and
themselves safely, that it can lead to some really interesting
life lessons that prepare young people to become the adults
they were always meant to be.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Next time on Senora sex Said, we're ooined by Bambi Salceo,
president of the Trans Latina Coalition.
Speaker 7 (26:06):
You know, as a trans woman, right like I have
surpassed the life expectancy of many trans women, and so
it's it's really beautiful that I get to be called
yelder nos vemos Ceo.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Senora Sex Said is a co production between Locata Productions
and Michael Dura Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
This show is executive produced by Mala Munios and Them.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Also executive produced by Jaselle Bances.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Produced by Stephanie Franco.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
Creative direction by Mala Munios.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Story editing by the ASAFM.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Music direction by Grisol Lomeli.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
And music produced by Brian Gazo
Speaker 4 (27:26):
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