Care of the body among low-income travestis

M.Vieira Garcia

This article is part of a broader study seeking to understand identity formation among low-income travestis. The research stems from a health promotion project of nearly four years, focusing on a group that held meetings at a public institution in central Sao Paulo. Drawing on research on travestis the author ... et al. seek to analyze their relation with the body. They found representations among them that confer an ambiguous character to the body, as simultaneously containing masculine and feminine elements in constant "struggle". This was revealed in their problematization of their penis, of ejaculation, and of sex reassignment surgery. An intense concern with bodily transformation was reflected in their search for a voluptuous and seductive body, revealing an internalization of the identity of a "superseductive woman".