Publication: Sobre travestis, clientes y maridos: género y sexualidad en la construcción de las identidades de travestis brasileñas trabajadoras del sexo
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2014
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid: Servicio de Publicaciones
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Abstract
Este artículo examina el modo en que las travestis brasileñas trabajadoras del sexo interactúan social y sexualmente con sus clientes y maridos para construir sus identidades como travestis. Las travestis, que no son transformistas ni transexuales, constituyen un tipo de identidad de género que no sólo pone de relieve cómo se hace el género, sino que al mismo tiempo descentran la manera en que los cuerpos se convierten en legibles. Las travestis encarnan un tipo ideal y ficcional de mujer y, simultáneamente, hacen uso de una genitalidad considerada típicamente masculina. Partiendo de una de las formas en que se organiza la sexualidad en Brasil —modelo “activo/pasivo”—, se observa que se establece una relación jerárquica entre, por un lado, quienes son considerados “hombres de verdad” y, por el otro, quienes son feminizados, desvalorizados y estigmatizados por ser sometidos sexualmente. Paradójicamente, las travestis transitan con fluidez entre ambos márgenes de la sexualidad y del género. El artículo destaca que importa distinguir la manera en que se actúa y se interpretan los roles de género para poder comprender las prácticas sexuales de las travestis y dar sentido a cómo construyen su propia manera de entender la feminidad.
This article examines the way Brazilian travesti sex workers interact socially and sexually with their clients and husbands in order to build their identities as travestis. Travestis, who are not cross-dressers nor transsexuals, constitute a kind of gender identity that not only emphasizes how gender is done, but at the same time decentralizes how bodies become “legible”. Travestis embody an ideal and fictional type of woman and, simultaneously, make use of a considered typically male sexuality. On the basis of one of the ways in which sexuality is organized in Brazil —“active/passive” model—, a hierarchical relationship is established between, on the one hand, those who are considered to be “real men” and, on the other hand, those who are feminized, devalued and stigmatized for being dominated sexually. Paradoxically, travestis pass fluently between both margins of sexuality and gender. This article highlights that it is important to distinguish how gender roles are acted and interpreted in order to understand the sexual practices of travestis and to make sense of how they construct their own way of understanding femininity.
This article examines the way Brazilian travesti sex workers interact socially and sexually with their clients and husbands in order to build their identities as travestis. Travestis, who are not cross-dressers nor transsexuals, constitute a kind of gender identity that not only emphasizes how gender is done, but at the same time decentralizes how bodies become “legible”. Travestis embody an ideal and fictional type of woman and, simultaneously, make use of a considered typically male sexuality. On the basis of one of the ways in which sexuality is organized in Brazil —“active/passive” model—, a hierarchical relationship is established between, on the one hand, those who are considered to be “real men” and, on the other hand, those who are feminized, devalued and stigmatized for being dominated sexually. Paradoxically, travestis pass fluently between both margins of sexuality and gender. This article highlights that it is important to distinguish how gender roles are acted and interpreted in order to understand the sexual practices of travestis and to make sense of how they construct their own way of understanding femininity.