In his book Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes, Don Kulick studies the life of a certain group of transgendered prostitutes in Salvador, a Brazilian city. He explores various aspects of the lives of these prostitutes majorly their social lives, and why they do not identify themselves as females yet outwardly, they are women. In Portuguese they are known as Travestis. The Travestis are very common in Latin America, but they are more known and found in Brazil (Kullick 6). They usually look quite different when compared to other people. In most cases, they look bizarre and scary. Sex and gender differ in that sex are determined by our biology whether male or female or intersex; whereas gender is usually our social status as men or women. This work will look at Kulick’s research, what made him do the research and even the impact that this has on the society’s perceptions of sex, gender, and sexuality. In the western culture, the taxonomy separates sex and gender, but the Travestis ascribe to this definition.
In his ethnography, Kulick sets out to study the life of a group of transgendered prostitutes in Salvador (Kullick 6). Being a foreigner, he sets out to learn a lot from these particular people given the way many people in the society view them (Kullick 11). They feel very insecure when interacting with other people as they feel that many people do not like, and even gay people do not like them. Kulick set out to analyze how they change their bodies and the inspirations towards a particular gender (Kullick 11). Kulick also looks at their relationship to their friends and view towards their lives. This is to help have a definite description of them and their suitability into the society as a whole.
The question of sex and gender has occupied our social settings and many people usually question what specific term to use and at what point. The Travestis are males who during their lives, as early as age ten, decide to get a feminine appearance in most cases to please other men (Kullick 92). They adopt female names, their dressing, and hairstyles and even their pronunciations. Physically they are females, but they have a penis due to the modifications they have made to themselves, and this distinguishes them from females. They identify themselves as males, and not females and do not like it when they are identified as females. They usually modify their bodies by injecting themselves with even twenty liters of industrial silicon to develop large breasts, wide hips, big thighs and buttocks (Kullick 9). They may also undergo breast implants and hormone therapy so as to look as much as females as possible.
Kulick conducted fieldwork for twelve months in Salvador studying these Travestis (Kullick 11). To understand them, he had to stay close to them and even interact with them day and night. For eight month he lived with them in a small room he rented in a place in which thirteen of them lived. Along the street in which they lived there were also approximately thirty-five other Travestis living there (Kullick 11). He took breakfast with them, chatted with them quite often, could sleep with them on the same mattresses at the beach as they were smoking cigar, watched action movies together with them even late in the night from around 8pm up to around 1 or 2am, and could also visit them in the streets (Kullick 12). This helped him a lot in gaining their confidence and understanding them.
In his ethnography, as he starts his study of these people, Kulick poses two questions that he sets out to answer during his study. He asks, “What are they?” and “how do they see themselves” (Kullick 12)? These questions guide him for the eighteen months he stays with them. He uses his interaction with them to find out more about their lives and how they view themselves. He also asks himself why they choose prostitution as their business. Kulick could record their conversations after explaining to them what he was doing and with time they understood him and let him do so freely (Kullick 15). He developed a good relationship with them that he found them so friendly. This was a very good way to get to them and reach them and learn from them.
Kulick says that the Travestis usually get into prostitution for pleasure and also because most men look for them instead of looking for other men (Kullick 221). They also identify it as a source of income to meet their daily needs. They enjoy robbing men during the ‘business’, and they even say that most men ‘enjoy’ being robbed (Kullick 156). This forms part and parcel of their lives, and they use this means to take care of themselves.
Kulick has touched on some things in his work but majorly he has focused on them as good members of the society. If I could get a chance to talk to Kulick, my main concern would be his perception on the Travestis. He says that the Travestis should be treated as normal people in every society, but my concern is why someone would want to look like the opposite sex and yet not identify with that particular sex (Kullick 105). Why would they also not like the idea of being categorized into a third category? Their sexual orientation is male, and gender-wise they also identify themselves as males yet by their physical look they are females. Why don’t they identify with the gender that they resemble? Kulick spends time, eight months, living with this Travestis; does this not influence him and the fact that they are nice to him and seem rather normal, does that not interfere with his research and make it biased (Kullick 11)? There could be a probability of this influencing his perceptions on them and feeling ‘human’ towards them thus affecting his findings.
Considering the societal view, and even the fact that the society has kind of accepted homosexuality, why don’t they just remain males? Why should they deceive people to think that they are females and yet in the actual sense they are not? This cultural practice of being Travestis is very widespread this is in Brazil; especially in Salvador (Kullick 11).Wwhat impact does it have on the family institution in a society where people believe that a man must sexually unite with a woman to procreate? These are people who were raised up in a given family, through the union of a man and woman, why do they go against this? The use of illegal industrial silicon, would he encourage it and what if it results in unexpected outcomes and the effects becoming over pronounced (Kullick 95)? Travestis like robbing men during their business of prostitution and they also mutilate their bodies when approached by authorities (Kullick 156). This demands attention as it translates into increased crime rates. Several cases have been reported of ‘women’ robbing motorists while in reality they were Travestis.
Kullick’s work is very enlightening as far as the society is concerned. There are societies that do not recognize that such exist and even think that Travestis are born with a biological mishap. Understanding the process of becoming a travesty is critical and educating. Not only is his study educating but it is also fascinating at the same time.
Talking to the author of his work, the publication of the book should be viewed objectively. On one hand, it teaches the society to look at the Travestis as normal people and accept them in our society while on the other hand they can be looked at as promoting vices that degrade the moral fabric of our society. A large number of young boys would desire to become Travestis just because of this information and because of how the society has become it would be viewed as their right. Therefore, this book should be restricted to a particular audience, adults (above 18 years of age).
Every society has its social construction of gender and sexuality. Each one of us has a specific gender and gender identity. Gender identity denotes how we feel about ourselves, and is not dictated by whatever sex we are. An individual may be biologically a female and not socially a woman. In many societies, it is accepted that the man is meant for the woman and the woman should be for the man and not the case where the man is the man.
In conclusion, each person’s belief should be respected and whatever gender they adopt it should be highly respected. A third gender classification that exists should be allowed for those who do not identify themselves as either men or woman. As far as sexuality is concerned, concealing one’s sexuality is not a good thing. Every individual should be dressed so that they are easily identified by their sex. There could be cases whereby young people looking for prospective spouses, especially non-homosexuals are deceived by the physical appearance of Travestis, and they are driven to think that they are females and like them so much. Kullick’s work contributes greatly to understanding gender, sex and sexuality.
Works cited
Kulick, Don. Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Print
