Little Raoul

Abstract

Little Raoul depicts the early years of María Esther Duffau – popularly known as ‘la Raulito’ (Little Raoul) and ‘la Pelada’ (the Baldie). A young, marginalized female, la Raulito cross-dresses as a boy in order to survive on the streets of Buenos Aires. Her life alternates between loitering, vagrancy and petty crime, capture and escape. While on the streets she develops a masculine socialisation (e.g., playing football with younger boys) and bonds with one of them, Medio Pollo (Half-Chicken). She also develops significant emotional connections with a cabaret dancer named Celia as well as with a sympathetic psychiatrist. La Raulito also works as a delivery ‘boy’ for a newsstand dealer, Juan. After various failed attempts at establishing stable attachments, she hits the road with Medio Pollo. The hard-hitting open ending attests to the lack of resolution in her marginalized life