Abstract
The objective of this article was to discuss a series of issues pertaining to outdoor sex work practiced by low-income travestis in São Paulo, Brazil. Qualitative methods conducted among this segment of the population revealed sex work as almost inseparable from the existence of travestis as a social group. Among them, the outdoor modality was the most prominent and social stigma was a predisposing factor for their entrance (and permanence) in sex work. The results showed that some of the difficulties they faced regarding work must be understood as a consequence of them being self-employed, informal workers occupying public spaces, much like street vendors. The points they shared in common with Brazilian street vendors included the struggle for street space, their rejection by local residents and shopkeepers, police persecution, and higher credit and rental expenses. All this led to mutual exploitation within the group, difficulties in changing occupations, predatory competition for customers, and difficulties in forming professional associations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The metropolitan region of São Paulo, with a population of approximately 20 million, has close to 163,000 street vendors (IBGE, 2008). This is more than 10% of the region’s self-employed workers.
This means that the travestis not only came from poor families, which is common in Brazil, and, as one of us discuss in another paper (Garcia, 2009a), but that they also remained poor for reasons to be explored further on in this article.
According to studies that compare “indoor” and “outdoor” sex-work, the latter is more dangerous than the former, because its greater visibility leads to greater verbal, physical, and sexual violence by police, clients, boyfriends, and passersby (Dalla, 2000; Maher, 1996; Murphy & Venkatesh, 2006; Scott et al., 2005; Vanwesenbeeck, 2001). Murphy and Venkatesh (2006) also underscored the greater propensity for the use of drugs, a more negative self-esteem, and shorter-lived careers in outdoor sex work, while Vanwesenbeeck (2001) highlighted the diminished use of condoms in the segment.
We estimate that they are less than 10 percent of the total number of travestis.
Some travestis in the group refused vehemently to work inside cinemas, saying they felt ill at ease working in “closed-in areas.” They often referred to the streets as a space of freedom. These observations can be related to the study conducted by Freitas (1985) with female sex workers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He felt there were important traits that differentiated outdoor sex from indoor sex work, given that in the latter there is a physical frontier between “inside” and “outside,” that segregated sex workers, creating in them a feeling of exclusion. Since there is no defined physical frontier on the streets, there is no immediate spatial segregation. Other characters, other than clients, circulate in these areas, which leads to other kinds of interaction and reduces the feelings of exclusion mentioned. We consider this to be a viable interpretation to explain the refusal of many travestis interviewed to work in cinemas.
This was in concordance with studies on transgenders conducted in other parts of the world, like those among transgender women of color of San Francisco (Sausa, Keatley, & Operario, 2007), hijras in South India (Reddy, 2005) or katoeys in Thailand (Jenkins, Ayutthaya, & Hunter, 2005). The trajectory of San Francisco’s transgender women of color studied by Sausa et al. (2007) is very similar to that of Brazilian travestis in terms of the discrimination and stigmatization that generates precarious education, separation from the family, unemployment, housing difficulties, indebtedness, etc.
The customer considered “active” is the one that played the male role in the sexual relation. This included the anal penetration of the travesty, who also fellated and masturbated the customer.
Some researchers have also observed this component in other transgender modalities. One case in point is the study conducted by Clements et al. (1999) with MTF transgenders in San Francisco. In a recent study, Weinberg and Williams (2010) observe that “those transwomen who could produce the most successful femininity occupied the highest tier of desirability in the competition for MSTW (men sexually interested in transwomen)” (p. 377).
The need to find a group of like people where one’s condition is accepted has also been noted in studies that focus on other sex worker modalities, like the study conducted by Davies and Feldman (1999) with male sex workers of London and Cardiff and by Murphy and Venkatesh (2006) with women sex workers in New York.
The rivalry between young and older travestis is also commented on by Ferreira (2003).
The decorum exhibited by the travestis, when gathered together, was substantially different from that shown by most Brazilians. For example, it was common for them to display to each other their breasts or buttocks. This caused some problems with the institution where the group met, since at times they did this in rooms they shared with the institutions’ patients, who complained about their behavior.
Something similar was observed by Trevisan (2000). In some parts of the city of São Paulo, residents, with the backing of the local government, would resort to measures that would make it difficult for cars to pass through streets normally occupied by travestis and female sex workers. For example, they would change the direction of streets or set up barriers to impede the circulation of cars. The persecution of travestis” clients in Brazil and police shakedowns are similar to those described in international literature on sex work (Scott et al., 2005).
For travestis, atentado ao pudor (indecent exposure) refers to any act considered obscene, like excessive nudity. However, Article 233 of Brazil’s Penal Code makes specific mention of ato obsceno (obscene act), which differ from atentado violento ao pudor (indecent assault)—Article 214—that refers to acts that involve violence or serious, sexually motivated threats against someone (except rape).
The principal need was the preparation of meals. Because many travestis did not assume this function, they ended up eating in restaurants and bars, generating an expense that in view of how much they earned, was an elevated one.
In another article (Garcia, 2009a), the main feminine identities incorporated by the travestis are discussed. Although the “submissive woman” is one of these identities, it manifests itself much more to define the travesti’s passive role vis-a-vis the marido (companion) than to describe the “housewife” role reserved for women in Brazil’s traditional gender division. Passion and sexuality had a place in their imagined feminine ideal. Housework did not.
There were times in the group that we were warned not to question the high prices paid by travestis to live in boarding houses. We were also told not to suggest housing alternatives at the risk of receiving a doce (travesti jargon for some form of punishment, which could be physical like a beating, or financial like a robbery).
The risks involved in being indebted to a madam are also described by Benedetti (2000).
Moraes (1996) said that, unlike other stigmatized categories with immediately evident and distinctive traits that cannot be hidden, like Afro-descendants and the handicapped, the sex worker’s stigma is not immediately perceived.
Trevisan (2000) cited figures that estimate at 500 the number of travestis in France and another 500 in Italy in the mid-1990s. He observed that those in France were accused of “stealing” clients from French female sex workers and of fostering a rise in crime rates. In Italy, many became drug addicts and started trafficking heroin.
This was a highly discussed theme in the group, although we did not encourage them to abandon sex work. We consider the professional recognition of sex work and the improvement of its working conditions to be as important as reflecting on its viability after a certain age. Like other jobs in which aging is an element that limits professional success in Brazil (e.g., models and soccer), it is important to think of alternatives in which age is not such a strong impediment.
This was also cited by Benedetti (2005) who saw this function as a response to the discrimination in stores that did not sell the proper sizes and did not allow travestis to pay in installments.
Some travestis worked as housekeepers before becoming sex workers or when they were not earning enough as such.
Many of the alternatives to sex work mentioned in the group were similar to those described by Kulick (1998). In Salvador, older travestis resorted to drug trafficking, or worked as housemaids for other travestis, or owned a food and drink stall. They also worked as cafetinas or bombadeiras.
Ferreira (2003) said “the travestis in the city of Belém had the same complaints arising from clients” fears of AIDS and police extortion, as well as the fights among travestis and the thefts they committed.
References
Bardin, L. (2004). Análise de Conteúdo. Lisboa: Edições 70.
Benedetti, M. R. (2005). Toda feita: O corpo e o gênero das travestis. Rio de Janeiro: Garamond.
Clements, K., Wilkinson, W., Kitano, K., & Marx, R. (1999). HIV prevention and health service needs of the transgender community in San Francisco. International Journal of Transgenderism, 3, 1–2.
Dalla, R. L. (2000). Exposing the “Pretty Woman” myth: A qualitative examination of the lives of female streetwalking prostitutes. Journal of Sex Research, 37, 344–353.
Davies, P., & Feldman, R. (1999). Selling sex in Cardiff and London. In P. Aggleton (Ed.), Men who sell sex: International perspectives on male prostitution and HIV/AIDS (pp. 1–22). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and danger: An analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Ferreira, R. S. F. (2003). As “Bonecas” da Pista no Horizonte da Cidadania: uma jornada no cotidiano travesti. Unpublished master’s thesis, Federal University of Belém, Brazil.
Freitas, R. S. (1985). Bordel, Bordéis: Negociando identidades. Petrópolis: Vozes.
Garcia, M. R. V. (2008a). Care of the body among low-income travestis. Sexualidades: A working paper series on Latin American and Caribbean Sexualities, 2, 1–15.
Garcia, M. R. V. (2008b). Prostituição e atividades ilícitas entre travestis de baixa renda. Cadernos de Psicologia Social do Trabalho (USP), 11, 241–256.
Garcia, M. R. V. (2009a). Identity as a “patchwork”: Aspects of identity among low-income Brazilian travestis. Culture, Health, & Sexuality, 11, 611–623.
Garcia, M. R. V. (2009b). Alguns aspectos da construção do gênero entre travestis de baixa renda. Psicologia USP, 20, 597–618.
Grandi, J. L., Goihman, S., Ueda, M., & Rutherford, G. (2000). HIV infection and syphilis behavioral risk in Brazilian male sex workers. AIDS and Behavior, 4, 129–135.
Green, J. N. (2001). Beyond carnival: Male homosexuality in twentieth-century Brazil. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2008). Trabalhadores por Conta Própria–Perfil e Destaques. Retrieved from http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/trabalhoerendimento/pme_nova/parte1.pdf.
International Labor Organization. (2002). Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—asia/—ro-bangkok/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_098314.pdf.
Itikawa, L. (2004). Geometrias da clandestinidade: O trabalho informal no centro de São Paulo. In A. A. Comin & N. Somekh (Eds.), Caminhos para o Centro: Estratégias de desenvolvimento para a região central de São Paulo (pp. 339–362). São Paulo: EMURB, CEBRAP, CEM.
Jenkins, C., Ayutthaya, P. P. N., & Hunter, A. (2005). Kathoey in Thailand: HIV/AIDS and life opportunities. Washington: USAID.
Kulick, D. (1998). Travesti: Sex, gender, and culture among Brazilian transgendered prostitutes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mafra, P. D. (2007). Camelôs Cariocas. In G. Velho (Ed.), Rio de Janeiro: Cultura, política e conflito (pp. 191–207). Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar.
Maher, L. (1996). Hidden in the light: Occupational norms among crack-using street-level sex workers. Journal of Drug Issues, 26, 143–173.
Moraes, A. F. (1996). Mulheres da Vila. Vozes: Petrópolis.
Murphy, A. K., & Venkatesh, S. (2006). Vice careers: The changing contours of sex work in New York City. Qualitative Sociology, 29, 129–154.
Ostrower, I. M. (2007). Fazendo do limão uma limonada: moralidades, estratégias e emoções entre vendedores ambulantes nos ônibus do Rio de Janeiro. Retrieved from http://teses.ufrj.br/PPGAS_M/IsabelMilanezOstrower.pdf.
Parker, R. (1999). Beneath the equator: Cultures of desire, male homosexuality and emerging gay communities in Brazil. New York: Routledge.
Perlongher, N. (1987). O negócio do michê: Prostituição viril em São Paulo. São Paulo: Brasiliense.
Plumridge, L. W. (2001). Rhetoric, reality and risk outcomes in sex work. Health, Risk, & Society, 3, 199–215.
Ramires, F. J. (2002). Severinos na metrópole: a negação do trabalho na cidade de São Paulo. Retrieved from http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8132/tde-19072002-105048/publico/dissertacao.pdf.
Reddy, G. (2005). With respect to sex: Negotiating Hijra identity in South India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sausa, L. A., Keatley, J., & Operario, D. (2007). Perceived risks and benefits of sex work among transgender women of color in San Francisco. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 768–777.
Scott, J., Minichiello, V., Marino, R., Harvey, G. P., Jamieson, M., & Browne, J. (2005). Understanding the new context of the male sex work industry. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 320–342.
Sharpe, K. (1998). Red light, blue light: Prostitutes, punters, and the police. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co.
Silva, H. R. S. (1993). Travesti: A invenção do feminino. Rio de Janeiro: Relume-Dumará.
Terto, V. (1989). No escurinho do cinema…: sociabilidade orgiástica nas tardes cariocas. Unpublished master’s thesis, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Trevisan, J. S. (1997). O espetáculo do desejo: homossexualidade e crise do masculino. In D. Caldas (Ed.), Homens (pp. 51–91). São Paulo: Editora SENAC.
Trevisan, J. S. (2000). Devassos no paraíso: A homossexualidade no Brasil, da Colônia à atualidade. Rio de Janeiro: Record.
Vale, A. F. C. (2000). No escurinho do cinema: Cenas de um público implícito. São Paulo: Annablume, Fortaleza, Secretaria de Cultura e Desporto do Estado do Ceará.
Vanwesenbeeck, I. (2001). Another decade of social scientific work on sex work: A review of research 1990–2000. Annual Review of Sex Research, 12, 242–289.
Weeks, J. (1996). The body and sexuality. In S. Hall, D. Held, D. Hubert, & K. Thompson (Eds.), Modernity: An introduction to modern societies (pp. 293–364). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Weinberg, M. S., & Williams, C. J. (2010). Men sexually interested in transwomen (MSTW): Gendered embodiment and the construction of sexual desire. Journal of Sex Research, 47, 374–383.
Welzer-Lang, D. (1994). Prostitution: Les uns, les unes et les autres. Paris: Éditions Métailié.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) (the Education Ministry’s Coordination for the Improvement of University Level Personnel). We would like to thank all research study participants, the Editor, and reviewers of this article, and the following researchers, who contributed with the discussion of some arguments presented: Vera Paiva, Ph.D., Sérgio Adorno, Ph.D., Marília Carvalho, Ph.D., Antônio Carlos Diegues, Ph.D., and Geraldo Paiva, Ph.D. Finally, we would like to express our special gratitude to Stan Lehman, for editing and reviewing the article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Garcia, M.R.V., Lehman, Y.P. Issues Concerning the Informality and Outdoor Sex Work Performed by Travestis in São Paulo, Brazil. Arch Sex Behav 40, 1211–1221 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-010-9702-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-010-9702-4