Trans Women in the Spectacle Room: Ambiguity Between the Construction of Masculinity and Femininity

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-313-9_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Trans Women; Masculinity; Femininity; Patriarchal Culture

Abstract

Society in Java is still related to patriarchal culture which upholds standards of masculinity for men. Because of this standardization, it becomes taboo when men cannot fulfil masculinity standards. In the social reality of Semarang as the capital of Central Java Province, the existence of trans women is still taboo. Therefore, there is an anomaly that occurs. The change in body construction from men with penises to women with vaginas does not necessarily mean they are recognized as a ‘complete’ woman. The achievements made by their talents do not necessarily mean that they can be easily accepted in society. The society around still assumes them as a man, they should fulfil the culture of masculinity that is suitable to heteronormativity standards, so they are often seen as abnormal humans. Trans women have tried to reach their equality and recognition as complete women through activities in PERWARIS Satu Hati (Persatuan Waria Semarang Satu Hati). Through this reality, using Lippa's theory of Nature, Nurture, and Productivities, we found that trans women play a role according to the standards of femininity. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews, we also found that there are double standards that ensnare trans women. When they were criticized for failed to fulfil the standards of masculinity, they actually became pioneers in the entertainment sector in Semarang with high salaries, which proves that ambiguity between masculinity and femininity can become a space that makes money for them to survive. Because trans women are not accepted to work in the formal sector.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Vania Pramudita Hanjani
AU  - Dinara Tsafina Asmarani
AU  - Rafaela Tiara Devitasari
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/07
TI  - Trans Women in the Spectacle Room: Ambiguity Between the Construction of Masculinity and Femininity
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Culture and Sustainable Development (ICOCAS 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 10
EP  - 17
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-313-9_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-313-9_3
ID  - Hanjani2024
ER  -