Papers by Julieta Vartabedian
Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 2024
Based on the ethnographic work I conducted with a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers in Rio ... more Based on the ethnographic work I conducted with a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, this article aims to analyze how they adopt technologies to transform and beautify their bodies that question the biomedical model of our society: their bodies are not read as "docile", "healthy", or "productive" since they do not "fit into", nor pretend to fit into the dominant sexual binary. On the other hand, beauty -as a political and transformative field -is one of the main elements that travestis have to find their place in the world through their (trans)national displacements: they are self-constructing as social subjects who claim some intelligibility while they become beautiful travestis. Therefore, travestis believe that beauty is a (transitory) space of liberation that, ultimately, reveals how certain biopolitical technologies have failed to produce undisciplined bodies and beautiful travestis who -through their survivalrebel against a heteronormative power that considers that their bodies are not worthy of mourning and, consequently, "deserve to die".
Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 2024
Based on the ethnographic work I conducted with a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers in Rio ... more Based on the ethnographic work I conducted with a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, this article aims to analyze how they adopt technologies to transform and beautify their bodies that question the biomedical model of our society: their bodies are not read as "docile", "healthy", or "productive" since they do not "fit into", nor pretend to fit into the dominant sexual binary. On the other hand, beauty -as a political and transformative field -is one of the main elements that travestis have to find their place in the world through their (trans)national displacements: they are self-constructing as social subjects who claim some intelligibility while they become beautiful travestis. Therefore, travestis believe that beauty is a (transitory) space of liberation that, ultimately, reveals how certain biopolitical technologies have failed to produce undisciplined bodies and beautiful travestis who -through their survivalrebel against a heteronormative power that considers that their bodies are not worthy of mourning and, consequently, "deserve to die".
Ciência & Saúde Coletiva , 2024
Based on the ethnographic work I conducted with a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers in Rio ... more Based on the ethnographic work I conducted with a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, this article aims to analyze how they adopt technologies to transform and beautify their bodies that question the biomedical model of our society: their bodies are not read as "docile", "healthy", or "productive" since they do not "fit into", nor pretend to fit into the dominant sexual binary. On the other hand, beauty-as a political and transformative field-is one of the main elements that travestis have to find their place in the world through their (trans)national displacements: they are self-constructing as social subjects who claim some intelligibility while they become beautiful travestis. Therefore, travestis believe that beauty is a (transitory) space of liberation that, ultimately, reveals how certain biopolitical technologies have failed to produce undisciplined bodies and beautiful travestis who-through their survivalrebel against a heteronormative power that considers that their bodies are not worthy of mourning and, consequently, "deserve to die".
Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 2024
Basado en el trabajo etnográfico que realicé junto a un grupo de travestis brasileñas trabajadora... more Basado en el trabajo etnográfico que realicé junto a un grupo de travestis brasileñas trabajadoras del sexo en Río de Janeiro y Barcelona, en este artículo pretendo analizar las formas en que ellas emplean las tecnologías para transformar y embellecer unos cuerpos que cuestionan el modelo biomédico de nuestra sociedad: sus cuerpos no son leídos como “dóciles”, “saludables” ni “productivos” ya que tampoco “encajan”, ni pretenden encajar, en el binarismo sexual dominante. Por otro lado, la belleza – en tanto campo político y transformador – es uno de los principales elementos que las travestis tienen para encontrar su lugar en el mundo a partir de sus tránsitos (trans)nacionales: mientras se convierten en bellas travestis, están al mismo tiempo construyéndose como sujetas sociales que reclaman cierta inteligibilidad. Por lo tanto, la belleza para las travestis es un espacio (transitorio) de liberación que, en definitiva, pone en evidencia cómo ciertas tecnologías biopolíticas han fallado al producir cuerpos indisciplinados y bellas travestis que – con su supervivencia – se rebelan frente a un poder heteronormativo que considera que sus cuerpos no son dignos de duelo y, en consecuencia, “merecen morir”.
Those who reject the male/female bipolarity as a gender identity are grouped under the ‘transgend... more Those who reject the male/female bipolarity as a gender identity are grouped under the ‘transgender’ category. Furthermore, there is a tendency in queer studies to consider these kinds of identities as necessarily transgressive. However, not all the bodies that do not meet the heteronormativity of gender and sexuality can be considered along the axis of transgression. Frequently, we run the risk of falling into a conceptual ethnocentrism when considering identities that must be understood as transgressive and transgendered. My field experience with a group of Brazilian travestis in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona makes me consider that although they challenge heteronormativity, they do not necessarily transgress it nor can they be easily homogenised within categories which escape their understanding. It is convenient to contextualize culturally and socio-historically the terms used to avoid the colonization of experiences representing a complex, diverse and polyphonic reality from the ...
Brazilian 'Travesti' Migrations
Sexualities, 2017
Most literature on prostitution centres exclusively on street and female sex workers. Considering... more Most literature on prostitution centres exclusively on street and female sex workers. Considering the lack of inclusion of trans sex workers within research agendas and public policies, in this article I analyse websites where trans women offer their services in Portugal and the United Kingdom. I examine the way trans women escorts present themselves to potential clients through detailed descriptions of their bodies’ sizes, physical attributes, personal characteristics, and lovemaking skills, and how they negotiate gender, nationality, race, ethnicity and sexuality in relation to the cultural and socio-economic demands of the market. An intersectional framework provides the critical perspective from which to consider how certain trans narratives are displayed through these online advertisements while decentring hegemonic notions (mainly, white and middle class) of representing trans experiences. This exploratory research aims to better understand the online trans sex industry as a place of empowerment where ‘beautiful’ trans escorts can strategically position themselves in order to succeed in a competitive market and, simultaneously, lay claim for a certain degree of (finite) recognition.
Drawing on my fieldwork experience with Brazilian travesti1 sex workers in Rio de Janeiro, I argu... more Drawing on my fieldwork experience with Brazilian travesti1 sex workers in Rio de Janeiro, I argue that travestis’ desire for beauty both structures their daily experiences and empowers them. Travestis have to engage with a complicated, dangerous and expensive career in order to construct their identities. The attainment of a beautiful body is at the heart of their interest. Travestis seek a sense of ‘perfection’, that is, they strive to be like women, but beautiful and desirable ones. Their aim is to create bodies that can achieve feminine and glamorous shapes. Every bodily improvement reinforces their self-identity and status within the group. Although their lives can be very hard – it is difficult to be a travesti in Brazilian society, which is rather intolerant of sexual and gender diversity – it is through the processes they engage in to produce beautiful and feminine bodies that travestis give meaning to their existence and find a place for themselves in their communities and in the world, despite that place being uncertain and marginalised. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the article focuses on the embodied experiences of a group of Brazilian travestis. Instead of considering travestis’ beauty as a mere imitation of normative femininity, my goal is to redefine beauty in relation to its capacity to create identities and subjects who feel empowered and desired. Finally, travestis’ creation of agency through beauty is analysed against the background of heteronormativity and ongoing transphobic violence in Brazil.
Qualitative Research, 2015
This article offers an exploration into the ways in which the researcher’s body enters into a per... more This article offers an exploration into the ways in which the researcher’s body enters into a permanent dialogue with the practices and the discourses of the research participants, and is transformed into an essential investigative tool. Based on my ethnographic experience amongst a group of Brazilian travesti sex workers, I will show how my own ‘imperfect’ body, according to the travesti canons of feminine aesthetics, became an element that awarded me visibility and served as a bridge to interaction with them. At the same time, I was accidentally interpreted by the group as the ‘photographer’. From this corporeal interaction, and via the medium of the camera, I was able to legitimize my position amongst travestis and open a new field of theoretical enquiry, developing, therefore, Wacquant’s proposal (2004) on a ‘corporeal sociology’ in the understanding of the active role that the body takes in the research process.
En el presente artículo me propongo reflexionar acerca de los procesos transmigratorios que inter... more En el presente artículo me propongo reflexionar acerca de los procesos transmigratorios que intervienen en la construcción de las identidades de género travestis. Me centraré en las experiencias migratorias de las travestis brasileñas que han viajado y viajan a Europa para insertarse en el mercado del sexo local. Emplearé el concepto "migración trans" para hacer referencia a la especificidad de sus proyectos migratorios: no sólo migran buscando un mayor bienestar social, simbólico y económico, sino que también sus movilizaciones geográficas inciden en la manera de transformar y embellecer sus cuerpos. Las identidades travestis son creadas en estos tránsitos continuos. Al mismo tiempo, se analizará que sus identidades son reconfiguradas en el contexto europeo pues resaltan particularmente su brasileñidad como una estrategia para sobresalir y distinguirse del resto en un mercado del sexo cada vez más limitado por las políticas públicas y la crisis económica.
Annual Review of Critical Psychology 11: 279-297. , 2014
Those who reject the male/female bipolarity as a gender identity are grouped under the 'transgend... more Those who reject the male/female bipolarity as a gender identity are grouped under the 'transgender' category. Furthermore, there is a tendency in queer studies to consider these kinds of identities as necessarily transgressive. However, not all the bodies that do not meet the heteronormativity of gender and sexuality can be considered along the axis of transgression. Frequently, we run the risk of falling into a conceptual ethnocentrism when considering identities that must be understood as transgressive and transgendered. My field experience with a group of Brazilian travestis in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona makes me consider that although they challenge heteronormativity, they do not necessarily transgress it nor can they be easily homogenised within categories which escape their understanding. It is convenient to contextualize culturally and socio-historically the terms used to avoid the colonization of experiences representing a complex, diverse and polyphonic reality from the academic stance and that of political activism.
Quaderns-e 18(1): 80-97. , 2013
En Barcelona se han desarrollado diferentes prácticas para controlar y regular el espacio público... more En Barcelona se han desarrollado diferentes prácticas para controlar y regular el espacio público de la ciudad. Con relación a la prostitución, se han implementado una serie de mecanismos para, en definitiva, limitar el libre ejercicio del trabajo sexual callejero. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar una doble lectura del espacio en relación al trabajo sexual. Por un lado, se examinarán las diferentes políticas públicas y normativas ideadas para eliminar de las calles los "problemas" que "incomodan" al "buen" ciudadano. Y, por el otro lado, particularmente atendiendo al caso de las travestis brasileñas trabajadoras del sexo, se analizarán las prácticas que ellas han creado para seguir viviendo de una actividad que no sólo representa la única fuente de ingresos a su alcance, sino que es el principal medio que las empodera y les permite exhibir públicamente su feminidad.
Oñati Socio-Legal Series, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2011
En este artículo la autora reflexionará sobre la gestión del espacio público en Barcelona a travé... more En este artículo la autora reflexionará sobre la gestión del espacio público en Barcelona a través del caso del trabajo sexual. Se analizarán las distintas modalidades que el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona ha promovido para, en definitiva, controlar y restringir el libre ejercicio del trabajo sexual callejero. Partiendo del reconocimiento que los espacios no son plenamente accesibles para todas y todos, se explicará el modelo de 'civismo' que Barcelona pretende implementar. Mediante antiguas prácticas de zonificación, se observa una voluntad política de invisibilizar esta actividad al mismo tiempo que se perpetúa la vulnerabilidad de las propias trabajadoras.
In this paper, the author will reflect on the management of public spaces in Barcelona through the case of sex work. The different ways that the Barcelona City Council has promoted the control and restriction of the free exercise of street sex work will be discussed. Recognizing that the spaces are not fully accessible to everyone, the model of 'civility' that Barcelona plans to implement will be explained. As a result of former zoning practices, there is a political will to make this activity 'invisible', which perpetuates the vulnerability of sex workers themselves.
en: López Mora. Fernando (editor), Modernidad, Ciudadanía, Desviaciones y Desigualdades: Por un Análisis Comparativo de las Dificultades del Paso a la Modernidad Ciudadana, Córdoba: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba., 2010
Observatori del Sistema Penal i els Drets Humans, 2009
Volem agrair a l'Institut Català de les Dones el suport econòmic que ens oferí per poder dur a te... more Volem agrair a l'Institut Català de les Dones el suport econòmic que ens oferí per poder dur a terme aquesta recerca. Així mateix, voler donar les gràcies als centres d'acollida de les tres ciutats per haver-nos obert les portes i haver-nos posat en contacte amb les dones. Finalment, volem agrair molt especialment a totes les dones amb què vàrem oferir el seu temps per explicar-nos les seves experiències. A elles està dedicada aquesta recerca.
en: Encarna Bodelón y Gemma Nicolás Lazo (comps.), Género y dominación. Críticas feministas del derecho y el poder. Barcelona: Anthropos y Observatori del Sistema Penal i els Drets Humans (UB), 2009
(Con)textos. Revista d´ Antropología i Investigació Social, num. 1, 2008
E-Quaderns, num. 10/b, 2007
Los aportes feministas en torno a la dicotomía sexo/género así como los debates entre esencialist... more Los aportes feministas en torno a la dicotomía sexo/género así como los debates entre esencialistas y constructivistas han permitido que el cuerpo se convierta en un elemento central para repensar las identidades sexuales. A nivel teórico, el cuerpo se ha entendido como un “texto” que refleja el simbolismo de la sociedad o como un agente del mundo social. Sin embargo, ¿qué lugar tiene el cuerpo material en estas discusiones? ¿Por qué las identidades se presentan cada vez más descorporeizadas? ¿Se puede escapar de un cuerpo natural que justifica la subordinación de quienes se alejan del modelo heterosexual y normativo? Mediante un estudio etnográfico sobre la transexualidad femenina y las modificaciones corporales que llevan a cabo para actuar y representar una cierta noción de feminidad, se argumentará que el cuerpo sigue siendo el espejo para las construcciones de género, un cuerpo dotado de una materialidad que tiene un origen social e histórico.
Observatori del Sistema Penal i els Drets Humans (UB), 2006
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Papers by Julieta Vartabedian
In this paper, the author will reflect on the management of public spaces in Barcelona through the case of sex work. The different ways that the Barcelona City Council has promoted the control and restriction of the free exercise of street sex work will be discussed. Recognizing that the spaces are not fully accessible to everyone, the model of 'civility' that Barcelona plans to implement will be explained. As a result of former zoning practices, there is a political will to make this activity 'invisible', which perpetuates the vulnerability of sex workers themselves.
In this paper, the author will reflect on the management of public spaces in Barcelona through the case of sex work. The different ways that the Barcelona City Council has promoted the control and restriction of the free exercise of street sex work will be discussed. Recognizing that the spaces are not fully accessible to everyone, the model of 'civility' that Barcelona plans to implement will be explained. As a result of former zoning practices, there is a political will to make this activity 'invisible', which perpetuates the vulnerability of sex workers themselves.
Los jóvenes gays y futuras travestis suelen abandonar sus pueblos o pequeñas ciudades de origen para comenzar a vivir sus identidades de género de manera plena. Río de Janeiro es una gran escuela para transformarse definitivamente en travestis. Ingresan en un sistema jerárquico de relaciones sociales, aprenden a modificar sus cuerpos y performar una determinada manera de entender la feminidad, se entrenan como profesionales del sexo y se preparan para dar el siguiente paso: Europa. Este continente es importante para entender las historias, pasadas y presentes, de sus migraciones transnacionales. En tanto “europeas”, “exitosas” y, algunas, “tops”, muchas pueden conseguir un estatus material, social y simbólico que las distingue del resto de sus compañeras. Estos tránsitos geográficos/espaciales son, asimismo, acompañados por transformaciones corporales concretas. Desde sus primeros “montajes” y tomas de hormonas, pasando por los sucesivos “bombeos” de silicona líquida industrial, hasta llegar a las tan codiciadas cirugías estéticas, ellas transitan sus propios itinerarios identitarios. En definitiva, cuando las travestis migran no sólo transitan por distintos territorios, sino que al mismo tiempo están construyendo su propia identidad como travestis.
Utilizo el concepto ‘migración trans’ para reflejar que sus movilizaciones espaciales no se efectúan exclusivamente para ganar dinero como trabajadoras del sexo, sino también para satisfacer demandas más amplias a nivel corporal (feminizar sus cuerpos), social (ser respetadas por la sociedad y admiradas por el resto de las travestis) y sexual/genérico (vivir con mayor libertad sus prácticas sexuales e identidades de género). En suma, en la tesis se reflexiona acerca de los cuerpos, la sexualidad y las migraciones de las travestis brasileñas que buscan un lugar –muchas veces frágil- en el mundo. Este recorrido teórico y etnográfico atraviesa los contornos de una geografía travesti que se revela curvilínea, “femenina”, “bella” y, simultáneamente, “viril”.