Summary of the Thesis or Main Ideas in this Book
Thesis statement
Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes use dramatic and compelling narratives to highlight the plight of homosexuals as well as give an insight of transgenderism and biological sex as part of the gendered notion itself.
Travestis are a group of males who adopt feminine lifestyles, names, and clothing as well as linguistic pronouns and depend mainly on prostitution for survival. The author gives a deep analysis of transgendered approaches used by society to understand homosexuals and LGBT prostitutes. Kulick examines the causative effects of Travesti prostitution and gives a positive and affirmative explanation to the art amongst the special group in Latin America.
Transgenderism in Travesti prostitution never occurs in a natural arbitrary form, rather it is socially reconstructed to portray societal social forms. Their deviation from normative gendered expectations may, in fact, distill and set the stage for the hidden message on this group of people. The book, therefore, is a gives an analytical and dissector views on gender and sexuality as well as social anthropology.
The social reconstruction of physical appearance led to the classification of the Travesti as the third gender. Travesti themselves don't associate with this category. It is evident that by attempting to show their underlying logic and lifestyle, Travestis use prostitution and body modification techniques as a social tool to compensate their identity crisis. The uniqueness of a Travesti, the art of being neither male of female proves that gender and sex is an art that is socially inseparable. Although there are many other cultures in which individuals cross, in various ways and through various means, gender lines, travestis seem to be among the few who irrevocably alter their body to approximate that of the opposite sex without claiming the subjectivity of that sex (Travesti, 6).
The travestis phenomena of cultural inversion and separation of their gender and sexuality travestis acquire a sense of personal fulfillment that is they convince themselves and others that they are more liberated, tolerant and have more social capabilities than previously thought. Whenever the travestis make an appearance in the annual analysis of the Brazilian society, they often celebrate and depict themselves in both feminine and masculine roles. Their primary motive is the grafting of female attributes onto a male physiognomy.
It is crystal clear that travestis could productively be analyzed as a unique factor of the larger gendered phenomena. The larger picture painted here is that travestis are the embodied concentrations of the larger configurations of sexuality, gender, and sex. Travestis use their unique physical practices to celebrate who they are. Their bodily practices supersede the notion of their mixed gender and sexuality.
Therefore, the gendered messages that exist in society as a result of their lifestyle and practices are anthropological in nature. The travestis have defied cultural anthropology to adopt their own unique cultures. Many in society saw this diversion in their sexuality as a psychological disorder urgently in need of medical intervention.
Brazilians rarely acknowledge positively the unique lifestyle of travestis. Many of the people in society defy much of the lurid modern folklore and commentary that is driven by the Roman Catholic tradition of a patriarchal definition of both man and woman. Kulick suggests in his work that the travestis in the Brazilian society acts to reinforce rather than invert the traditional cultural views on sex and gender.
In our judgment travestis should therefore never be seen as less human. Thus the anthological approach of the book to gender and sexuality and the cultural social norms that traditionally defined it. Instead, the work by Kulick largely traverses us through Brazilians notion of man and woman. Through the author’s engaging voice and sharp analysis, this masterpiece is not only a landmark study in cultural anthropology but also a fascinating guide to sexuality and gender.
Kulick explores the traditional notion of sex and gender in the society. Throughout the course of the book, cultural anthropology is evident. Kulick uses ethnography to build our conscience to an experiential understanding of the travestis. The gender of the travestis themselves can be categorized and summarized as choosily feminine.
Traditionally the gender of penetration centered on the fundamental principle that the penetrator is male while the penetrated is female regardless of the gender of either. For travestis this is not the case. The art of prostitution amongst the travestis has acted to change this tradition. Most of the travestis are paid to penetrate clients and as a result, hardly maintain a gendered relationship with their boyfriends. The sexual behavior amongst the travestis largely determines the gender (Suthrell, 23).
The book, therefore, acts a link between modern cultural anthropology and acts to crystalize the Brazilian understanding of gender and sexuality as an emerging cultural phenomenon. The author, therefore, acts to give the reader a proper insight view into the rarely and inaccurately presented anthropological presentation of the life of the travestis. The travestis are normally the most feared, marginalized and least accepted members of the society. The media normally portrays them as crazed, violent and depraved (Blackmer, 12).
Kulick, therefore, humanizes them and removes the sense of the third gender in the human categorization. Travestis, therefore, are our fellow men who choose a different path to their sexuality and as a result need love and affection (Lewis, 47). In a book full of vivid description and nuanced insights, the most disturbing revelation is the fact that travestis themselves don’t consider to be women.
They, therefore, acquired cosmetically their mixed physical attributes as a mark of their identity. It is anthropologically interesting how this group of cosmetically induced mixed gender serves to enlighten our plight of the understanding of the Travesti society in Brazilian culture. Modern anthropology should examine the Travesti lifestyle not from a gendered perspective but from a broader notion of human sexuality. Travestis although have adopted a female physique have not shaded the masculine part of their personality. They feel as male with female characteristics. It is essential that cultural anthropology merges the findings of Kulick in order to present the perfect findings on the lives of travestis. We need to listen to a travestis version of themselves and merge with scholarly findings.
Work Cited
Kulick, Don. Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Print.
Blackmer, Corinne E, and Patricia J. Smith. En Travesti: Women, Gender Subversion, Opera. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995. Print.
Lewis, Vek. Crossing Sex and Gender in Latin America. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Internet resource.
Suthrell, Charlotte A. Unzipping Gender: Sex, Cross-Dressing and Culture. Oxford: Berg, 2004. Internet resource.
