This research is based on an ethnographic study conducted in 2008. The study took place in Ecuador's coastal province of Manabâi and investigates the lives of a community of transvestite males, known locally as travestâis. This research holds that the social space in which the travestâis live and work, in Puerto Lopez, is negotiated and maintained through a complex interchange of three key factors: the experience of mother's love, the local economy, and sexual desire. The social space itself is defined as a "binary passage." Most of the travestâis are employed as hairdressers, and they draw a wide range of clientele from Puerto Lopez and surrounding smaller villages. Yet, how is it that travestâis can lead open and productive lives in a region that highly values machismo? This research focuses on both the origins of the travestâis' social space and the means by which it is maintained through key discourses. / by Eve E. Brooks. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_4252 |
| Contributors | Brooks, Eve E., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | vii, 93 p., electronic |
| Coverage | Ecuador, Ecuador, Ecuador, Ecuador |
| Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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