Travesti
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In cultures of South America, a travesti is a homosexual male, who has a feminine gender identity and is primarily sexually attracted to non-feminine men ("androphilia"). In South America the distinction between gender identity and sexual orientation isn't usually made. Travestis of Latin America have been described as a third gender, although not all see themselves this way.
In French-speaking countries, travesti means transvestite, anyone who is dressing up as the opposite sex. In the Greek language, the same word (τραβεστί) is also used to describe people of the third gender, who might engage in prostitution.[1]
Travestis' feminine identity includes feminine dress, language, and social and sexual roles. However, in contrast to transsexual women, they do not suffer from gender dysphoria and often don't see themselves as women. Many describe themselves as gay or homosexual men. Travestis modify their bodies with hormones, breast implants, or silicone injections, but do not seek genital surgery.
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[edit] Third gender
Travestis can be contrasted with transformistas (drag queens), who dress as women for performance and entertainment. As with other non-Western sex and gender identities, travestis don't easily fit into a Western taxonomy that separates sex and gender. Some writers in the English language have described travestis as transgender or as a third gender. Don Kulick described the gendered world of travestis in urban Brazil as having has two categories: "men" and "not men", with women, homosexuals and travestis belonging to the latter category.[2] In her 1990 book, From Masculine To Feminine And All points In Between, Jennifer Anne Stevens defined travesti as "usually a gay male who lives full time as a woman; a gay transgenderist."[3] The Oxford English Dictionary defines travesti as "a passive male homosexual or transvestite."[4]
[edit] Sex industry
Travestis often work in prostitution and pornography. One travesti organisation in Argentina reported in 2005 that 79% of the 302 travestis interviewed in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata work principally as prostitutes.[5] A similar subculture of biologically male transgendered prostitutes found in other countries include femminiello, kathoey and hijra. Slang terms for travesti that emerged from sex work in other countries include she-male, tranny and ladyboy as well as a number of rhyming terms, including chicks with dicks, sluts with nuts, dolls with balls, & dudes with boobs.[6]
[edit] See also
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Look up travesti in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής
- ^ Kulick, Don (1998). Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998)
- ^ Stevens, Jennifer Anne (1990). From Masculine To Feminine And All points In Between. Cambridge, MA 02238: Different Path Press. ISBN 0962626201.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. Cambridge, MA 02238: Oxford University Press, USA. 1989. ISBN 978-0198611868.
- ^ La gesta del nombre propio, edited by Lohana Berkins and Josefina Fernández for ALITT (Asociación de Lucha por la Identidad Travesti y Transexual, "Association for the Fight for Travesti and Transsexual Identity"), published by Ediciones de Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, 2005
- ^ Sigel, Lisa Z.; John Phillips (2005). "Walking on The Wild Side: Shemale Internet Pornography". International Exposure: Perspectives on Modern European Pornography, 1800-2000. Rutgers University Press. pp. 254–271. ISBN 0813535190, 9780813535197. http://books.google.com/?id=KiyY_nlqaQEC. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
[edit] References
- Kulick, Don (1998), Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998) ISBN 9780226461007
- Prieur, Annick (1998), Mema’s House, Mexico City: On Transvestites, Queens, and Machos (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998) ISBN 0-226-68257-9
- Fernández, Josefina (2004) Cuerpos desobedientes: de género, Buenos Aires, Edhasa, 2004.
- González Pérez, César O. (2003) dos al desnudo: homosexualidad, identidades y luchas territoriales en Colima, México, Miguel Angel Porrúa, 2003.
