Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture)
Product ID: 1629183
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In this dramatic and compelling narrative, anthropologist Don Kulick follows the lives of a group of transgendered prostitutes (called travestis in Portuguese) in the Brazilian city Salvador. Travestis are males who, often beginning at ages as young as ten, adopt female names, clothing styles, hairstyles, and linguistic pronouns. More dramatically, they ingest massive doses of female hormones and inject up to twenty liters of industrial silicone into their bodies to create breasts, wide hips, and large thighs and buttocks. Despite such irreversible physiological changes, virtually no travesti identifies herself as a woman. Moreover, travestis regard any male who does so as mentally disturbed. Kulick analyzes the various ways travestis modify their bodies, explores the motivations that lead them to choose this particular gendered identity, and examines the complex relationships that they maintain with one another, their boyfriends, and their families. Kulick also looks at how travestis earn their living through prostitution and discusses the reasons prostitution, for most travestis, is a positive and affirmative experience. Arguing that transgenderism never occurs in a "natural" or arbitrary form, Kulick shows how it is created in specific social contexts and assumes specific social forms. Furthermore, Kulick suggests that travestis —far from deviating from normative gendered expectations—may in fact distill and perfect the messages that give meaning to gender throughout Brazilian society and possibly throughout much of Latin America. Through Kulick's engaging voice and sharp analysis, this elegantly rendered account is not only a landmark study in its discipline but also a fascinating read for anyone interested in sexuality and gender. Review: I loved this book - I loved this book. It takes an in depth description and analysis of the lives of travesti in Salvador (Brazil) and uses it to illuminate many of our taken-for-granted assumptions about gender in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Is great material for thought and classroom discussion, and it truly takes seriously the task of presenting perspectives of the research subjects. Review: quite interesting book - interesting book to read i needed this book for my anthropology class
| Best Sellers Rank | #437,369 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #370 in Medical Psychology of Sexuality #616 in LGBTQ+ Demographic Studies #637 in Psychology & Counseling Books on Sexuality |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 68 Reviews |
A**L
I loved this book
I loved this book. It takes an in depth description and analysis of the lives of travesti in Salvador (Brazil) and uses it to illuminate many of our taken-for-granted assumptions about gender in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Is great material for thought and classroom discussion, and it truly takes seriously the task of presenting perspectives of the research subjects.
A**2
quite interesting book
interesting book to read i needed this book for my anthropology class
E**Y
Read this even if it's not for class!
I originally read this book for my Anthropology of Sex class in undergrad. While I do think that many people seem to be reading it for class, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in anthropology and/or trans culture, even if not of Brazil in particular. It's a short read and Kulick's writing style is easy to follow. It's a great ethnography that does a wonderful job giving a voice to "travestis" (a word used to describe the transgendered prostitutes in Brazil and many other parts of South America) and really gave good insight to the trans culture and LGBT rights and rights of sex workers in Brazil. Do keep in mind that this book was published in 1998, and that Kulick's academic background is primarily Linguistic Anthropology, though he has become highly influential in studies surrounding the queer community.
D**I
Educational
Unbiased, factual, written from a journalistic perspective. Shocking to say the least. Brazil is a vacation hotspot, and a lot of men travel to Brazil for sex. It's always good to know something about where you're going and what possible things you may see/encounter while you're there. Some of these transgendered men look 100% like women, and you can't tell the difference. Before you pack your bags and head off to Brazil with a suitcase full of condoms & viagra, it probably wouldn't hurt to survey the landscape and case the bank before you raid the vault. FYI: The level of dedication and commitment these individuals give to transforming themselves into objects of attraction for men is unreal. Yet, they DON'T consider themselves, call or see themselves as women. They straight up see themselves as gay men, who simply fashion and adorn themselves as objects of attraction for other men. Yet they do everything like women. Interesting. This book opened my eyes - and where I may have once judged transgendered people, I now withhold such judgments. If you're comfortable judging transgendered people, don't read this book.
B**Y
Great Ethnography!
I read this ethnography for an anthropology class on sex and gender and it is definitely my favorite read from this class so far. Kulick does so a good job giving voices to this extremely marginalized group. The kindle version has constant typos that need to be fixed. Lots of "I"s were instead typed as 1s. This is the only flaw but besides that everything else about this book is great! Highly recommended!
M**O
A insiders view...
Travesti is not a book for those looking for a cheap trill. Nor is it a book for the faint hearted. It is a study about a fringe element and that is rarely pretty. Violence, sex, robbery, death, drugs and unhappy relationships fill this book from front to back. The only reason I took away a point was the feeling that the author did get a tad too close to the subjects he was studying. I think he was trying too hard. Yet his results, the information and view points he was able to record, was amazing and really forced me to look at life and gender in a whole new fashion.
T**N
Very good research approach
Although information is form the 1990's it was very interesting to compare with my experience with trans sex workers in Hawaii during the same time period. Very good research approach.
L**.
Great Book
This was a great book! I really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. It is a great study of gender and sexuality.
L**K
An amazing ethnographic experience that will appeal to many people
An amazing ethnographic experience that will appeal to many people. Well written with a brilliant and funny style and a deep insight into travesti life
M**T
incredible research - kudos to Don Kulick
just an amazing book from an amazing anthropologist
S**K
the article didn't arrived
the article didn't arrived.... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :(
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