Mexico City ? It was supposed to be his finest hour. There was Gilberto Rincon Gallardo, head of Mexico’s first anti-discrimination commission, on the floor of Congress presenting a groundbreaking, 40-page bill to ban all forms of discrimination in the public sector.

But not even this country’s most vocal anti-discrimination advocate thinks the bill has much chance of becoming law.

“I think there’s no question that they’ve lost interest,” Rincon Gallardo said of the legislators. “The government has shown no interest in this issue.”

While Congress prefers to table the issue, a growing number of Mexicans are complaining that obvious acts of discrimination  being racist, sexist or even violent toward women  have become part of the social fabric and are often the basis for what much of the country finds funny.

Soap operas routinely show men beating up women: slapping them in the face, throwing them on a couch or shoving them down the stairs.

A commercial for a Sony laptop features a female executive who struts around gleefully while a pack of men use a digital camera to snap pictures of her backside, then burn a CD depicting her derriere at every angle.

A recent daytime talk show on one of Mexico’s most important television networks featured a drawn-out boxing match between a midget and a kangaroo.

Department stores and street vendors sell oversized lip disguises and dark makeup that let Mexicans “look like their favorite black basketball player.”

And one of Mexico’s most successful movie series continues to be those revolving around “La India Maria” Â “Maria the Indian” Â who bumbles her way through challenging tasks like operating a washing machine or riding an elevator. As in many Mexican movies and television shows, the Indian is played by a white actress.

Carlos Monsivais, an author and social critic, said Mexican humor has forced many in the country to laugh at jokes they don’t think are funny. “They have to laugh at something because it would otherwise be hurtful,” he said.

Victims themselves

The majority of Mexicans  most of whom are varying shades of mixed Indian and European ancestry and can be victims of discrimination themselves in the United States  tend to view racism and sexism as a foreign phenomenon.

Still, President Vicente Fox took the unprecedented step of establishing the Citizen’s Anti-Discrimination Commission upon taking office in December 2000.

His choice to head the group was Rincon Gallardo. As a minor party presidential candidate, he had advocated rights for homosexuals and people with disabilities during the 2000 campaign that saw Fox and his chief rival, Francisco Labastida, question each other’s sexual preferences.

After presenting the anti-discrimination bill, Rincon Gallardo said that the measure had been his commission’s top priority  but that it may never see the light of day.

“Without a doubt I’m angry,” he said.

Tough nut to crack

The commission has launched a series of radio and television spots urging employers to combat ageism by hiring workers older than 40 and other spots discouraging sexism and domestic violence.

Still, advertisers find that embracing racist and sexist stereotypes sells everything from cars to cookies, packs people into nightclubs and can even give a boost to a politician trailing in the polls.

“We are a country that likes to laugh, and sometimes we look for humor in places that may seem inappropriate,” said Ignacio Montenegro, who runs an advertising agency and is a former president of the Mexican Association of Advertisers.

But Montenegro said market studies that once showed a Mexican public hungry for stereotypes now reveal a more liberal outlook.

“There is an effort on the part of advertisers to respect the evolving attitudes of the Mexican public,” he said.

Rosario Novoa, a women’s rights advocate, organized a 1999 boycott that forced a clothing company to remove billboards featuring women in underwear with their legs spread.

She said advertisers are still too quick to fall back on their traditional approaches.

“It’s a problem of intelligence, creativity and maturity. Commercials can be funny and effective without being aggressive or offensive,” Novoa said. “Many advertisers understand that but they aren’t following those rules.”

Not just Mexico

Standards on what is socially acceptable vary widely all over the world, and Mexico is not alone in Latin America.

Chilean tennis player Marcelo Rios is known in his homeland as “El Chino” Â “The Chinaman” Â because he has a darker complexion and wavier hair than the average Chilean.

The samba number “Face Slap” and its chorus  “When we make love, what does she ask for? S-S-Slap in the face”  was one of the top songs during last year’s carnival in Brazil.

From Cuba to Colombia, men affectionately refer to all but the slimmest of their girlfriends, sisters and colleagues as “Gorda,” or “Fatty.”

Throughout the region, catcalls are common not only in the street, but also in offices and stores.

“If a woman is pretty, why not tell her so?” asked Pablo Hernandez, a taco vendor. He stood on a street corner whistling and yelling “Hey pretty mama” at passing women as he dished out corn tortillas .