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Travesti: Sex, Gender And Culture Among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes

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According to Don Kulick’s book, Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes, we discover more about gender and sex in different cultures among human beings. It could be an eye opening for someone never been to Brazil. As always, we cannot use the experiences we have in our culture to compare what’s the right or what’s the wrong practices of other cultures. We all have different practices and Kulick opens a door for us to a transgender-like subculture in Brazil. A travesti is a biological male who wants to attract and be wanted by other men. According to the interviews in the book, travestis kind of grow up to become what they are. As kids, most of them have similar traits such as effeminate, playing with dolls, …show more content…

They will leave home by themselves or generally expelled from their home and in need to search for money as their only dependent are themselves. Majority of travestis will not find other jobs except working as prostitutes in Brazil as they grew. They will usually meet and live in small rooms with older travestis who will guide them to become more successful travestis. This is the stage where travetis take in large amount of easy access and cheap hormones and silicone injections. Why? Because in the Brazilian culture, most heterogeneous male desires a woman with thicker thighs, hips, and a round butt called “bunda”. It is a social norm in the travestis community that bigger bunda yield more clients. Thus, to become a successful travestis, he needs to take in tons of female hormones pills and liters of silicone injections in order to look more feminine and woman like. Take the account of Pastinha interviewed by Kulick when he asked about why she had injected silicone into her body:
P: Hm, to earn money, you know?
D: Really?
P: Yeah. Because you need a beautiful body to be able to earn money, you know? Because if you don’t have/be/because men like to see… Travestis have beautiful bodies to be able to earn money. (Kulick:89)

Pastinha, as many other travestis injects liters of industrial silicone into their body to earn more as a successful

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