Analysis Of Travesti s Travesti Essay - 1318 Words

Is there such thing as being in between a male and a female? Don Kulick clears up this question through his field study in his book Travesti, which is about Brazilian male prostitutes who feminize themselves in order to obtain not only customers, but boyfriends as well as a sense of femininity. I have come to the conclusion that the overall main argument presented in this book is the identity because the travesti identify themselves in a unique way compared to what most other people would identify them as. To be clear, travestis don’t have any confusion with their identity, it is the rest of the world that has a hard time categorizing them. The travestis’ perception of gender is developed through the way in which genitals are used during sex (Kulick, pg. 227). A male who â€Å"penetrates† and is never â€Å"penetrated† is referred to as a man, while others who are â€Å"penetrated† and may â€Å"penetrate† are referred to as either homosexuals or females (Kulick, pg. 227). Travestis range between both of these identities by feeling masculine when they â€Å"penetrate† their clients or partners, and feminine when they are â€Å"penetrated† (Kulick, pg. 227). This fluctuation creates a confusion as to whether Travestis should be labeled as â€Å"men† or â€Å"women†. Travestis possess a lot of mixed roles. They dress like women, gossip, prefer being penetrated, wear makeup as well as wigs, and even pump their bodies full of silicone and hormones in order to look more feminine for men (Kulick, pg. 66). On theShow MoreRelatedThe Representation Of The Binary Pair Nature And Culture 1966 Words   |  8 PagesThe inclusion of the binary pair ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ as a category of analysis in social sciences has raised many debates. Anthropologists have often been criticized for universalizing these categories and forcing them into non-western societies. Therefore, many scholars have aimed to show how the complex reality of the world cannot be reduced to a simple nature-culture dichotomy. Setting outside their own cultural values, anthropologists have focused on the body and how its different perceptionsRead MoreSambia Social Interaction Essay1216 Words   |  5 Pagesgathering, I observe no male counterpart to the previ ously described same-sex interaction between the women. Kulick’s paper shows that gendered ideas of sexuality and masculinity are highly contextual. In Kulick’s study of gender in the Brazilian travesti community, the masculinity of a male-gendered person is not threatened by sexual contact with another male as long as they are the ones performing the act of penetration (Kulick 574). In the context of a Brazilian society, the act of being penetratedRead MoreHomosexuality and University Press5666 Words   |  23 Pages2001. Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Forging Gay Identities. Organizing Sexuality in San Francisco, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Henning Bech, When Men Meet. Homosexuality and Modernity, Cambridge: Polity, 1997. Alan P. Bell amp;  Martin S.  Weinberg, Homosexualities. A Study of Diversity Among Men amp; Women, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978. David Bell amp; John Binnie, The Sexual Citizen. Queer Politics and Beyond, Cambridge: Polity, 2000. -, amp; Gill Valentine (eds), Mapping