MARICAS CHICHARRAS Y TRAVESTIS: MERCADOS, ESPECTÁCULOS E INTERCAMBIOS TRANSNACIONALES EN LOS ORÍGENES DE LA IDENTIDAD DE MUJERES TRANS (BUENOS AIRES, AÑOS 1960-1970).

Gabriela Álvarez, Ana

This article explores the appearance of travesti and of marica quemante or marica chicharra identities in the city of Buenos Aires during the 1960s and 1970s. Through interviews with trans women from the time and the use of archives, I observe the emergence of these identities gendered as feminine. Making inventive use of new biotechnologies, performances and prosthetics, these identities distiguished themselves from the arc of homosexualities by creating an eroticized femininity. Their spaces of experimentation were the artistic field as well as that of prostitution. One of the differences between these two was its degree of publicity or clandestinity: whereas travesti was a public category in theatre for «vedettes» who acted onstage as women, mariuca chicharra or quemante was being used by the maricas themselves as a way of emphasizing their femininity and attempt to pass as women while working the streets, both in order to attract clients and to avoid being arrested by police.

BUENOS Aires (Argentina); TRANS women; FEMININE identity; FEMININITY; GENDER identity; TIME management; HOMOSEXUALITY; ARCHIVES

Revista Uruguaya de Ciencia Política, 2022, Vol 31, Issue 1, p103

0797-9789

Academic Journal

10.26851/RUCP.31.1.5