4667_0_Roberval Silva

Building of gender identity through topic organization: the discourse of a transvestite Roberval Silva University of Macau Macau Abstract This work focuses on the social­discursive construction of gender identity in the speech of a Brazilian transvestite. We analyze her verbal behavior in an interview, taking topic organization into account: the turn­taking process, the linguistic resources and the content of the topics. The theoretical basis builds upon interactional sociolinguistics, which analyzes language in use, as a living organism, within society. Specifically, we concentrate our work on studies that correlate language, identity and gender. We adopt here the perspective that sees gender as a social construction without the limits of binary perspectives (masculinity and femininity; homosexual and heterosexual). To undertake this study, we applied the ethnographic method of qualitative analysis. The analysis points to identities that cannot be understood within a traditional vision of gender. Key words: transvestite, topic, gender, interactional sociolinguistics, discourse. 1. Introduction This paper focuses on the social­discursive construction of gender identity in the speech of a Brazilian transvestite, Caroline, from Rio de Janeiro. Through face­to­face interaction, an interview, we analyze her verbal behavior, taking topic organization into account: the turn­taking process, the linguistic resources applied and the content of the topics. We assume here that one of the goals of transvestites is to try to resemble a woman – as Caroline claims – not to be a woman. Therefore, we will look for linguistic cues that she chooses and thus understands as female linguistic resources in Brazilian society. The right choices will help her to achieve her objectives. And her choices can show us which linguistic characteristics seem to be socially recognized as associated with women in face­to­face interactions. 2. Theoretical basis 2.1. Gender and Interaction The theoretical basis of our investigation builds upon interactional sociolinguistics (Silva, 2004, 1997; Ribeiro e Garcez, 1998; Schiffrin, 1994 and 1996; Tannen, 1984; Gumperz, 1982a/b; Goffman, 1959 1967, 1974), which analyzes language in its use, as a living organism, within society. Specifically, we concentrate our work on studies that correlate language, identity and gender (Oliveira, 2006; Moita Lopes, 2004; Kulick, 1998; Tannen, 1998; Silva, 2004, 1997; Lindsay, 1994; Lakoff & Tannen, 1994; Coulthard, 1991).
1 We adopt here the perspective that sees gender as a social, cultural and local construction (Schiffrin, 1996; Tannen, 1998) without the limits of the binary perspectives: masculinity and femininity, homosexual and heterosexual etc. (Oliveira, 2006; Kulick, 1998). Queer Theory (Oliveira, 2006; Punt, 2005; Moita Lopes, 2004; Seidman, 1997) also helps us to understand that sex, gender and sexual role are dynamic concepts under processes of negotiation that always occur grounded within a culture and also within a specific interaction. In our investigation, we consider that all elements that we have to handle are constructed by discourses. 2.2. Sex, gender and sexual role For our discussion, we assume that sex (to have a penis or a vagina), gender (male, female, gay, lesbian, transsexual, transvestite, bisexual etc.) and sexual role (passive or active sexual postures) are all social and cultural constructions made by discourses. To have a penis means different things in different cultures. There are different social interpretations of the anatomical sex. In Brazil, like in the majority of the countries, it is still an image of power. But it is not anatomical sex that determines gender. However, “if the anatomy is not a destiny, it is, at least, a reference and confluence of possibilities for the recognition of subjective organizations” (Nolasco, 1995:17). As regards gender, between (or among) male and female genders there are many other possibilities. And active or passive roles are not linked to male or female bodies; sexual roles are related to the field of desire. Therefore, all these perspectives open a vertiginous field of freedom. Nevertheless, contemporary society has not found an adequate strategy less rigid than the one which, for instance, links the adult role of a male gender to an active sexuality and to an anatomical body. Now we are not talking about theories any more. We are talking about how the majority of people understand these three aspects. It is usually based on a binary, a Cartesian perspective, that most people try to understand the world. This binary perspective (male/female) will be useful here once we assume that one of the Caroline’s goals is to resemble a woman (Silva, 2004, 1997; Silva, 1992, 1996) under traditional patterns of femininity. These patterns have already largely been exemplified in feminist, culturalist and contemporary research that links language and gender. Many characteristics have been raised: MASCULINITY (stereotype) Power Distance The street Domination/ Competitiveness Public spaces Force Self­centered Action Activity Aggressiveness Directness FEMININITY (stereotype) Solidarity Intimacy/ Connection The house Subordination/ Support Private spaces Fragility Centered in the other Reaction Passivity Affectivity Indirectness
2 We know that these characteristics/concepts cannot be associated exclusively with men or women; nor they can be combined in a Cartesian manner to define one third gender. They appear in different manners (linguistically and extra­linguistically) in each different interaction in which the subjects (men and women) are involved. However, in Brazil, they are socially recognized as symbols that belong, oppositely, to feminine or masculine universes. Some of these characteristics we will use as reference points to analyze the discourse of Caroline. 2.3. Topic organization and gender studies To use topical units in our study is justified in the following ways: (1) they can translate the degree of the participants' involvement in the interaction, exposing their positions (Shuy, 1981); (2) within the literature on gender, it is proposed that men and women show interest in different topics (Yieke, 2007; Coulthard, 1991; Barbosa, 1996; Johnstone1993, Coates, 1986); (3) the change and/or the maintenance of topics acquires importance because it is evidence of the interactants’ position before each other and before the topics. The possibility of conflict in this area, based on management of the categories of "power" and "solidarity" (Brown & Gilmam, 1960), can allow us to observe the profile of gender that the participants present; as Yieke (2007:37) observes, in general “topics are introduced and changed only by the dominant participants” and “a member who manages to have a proposition accepted as a topic will gain status within the group”(2007:39); (4) many conversational elements in the management of topic are more visible to the subjects' observation in their interactions. Because of that, those elements can be controlled and reproduced more easily. As Goffman (1959) claims, there are some pieces of information that we want to give (given information) and some that escape of our control (given off information). The first type is more controlled by interactants. 3. Methodological basis Our data was collected from a face­to­face interaction, a one hour recorded interview, which occurred in a bar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The people who took part in the encounter were Beto (a male teacher, Masters student of literature, 39 years old); Ana (a female doctor, 28 years old); Roberto (a male researcher, 31 years old), and Caroline. The subject of our research, Caroline, is a young transvestite. She declares that she is 17 years old, which in Brazil means that she is almost a legal adult. However, in actual fact, she could be a little younger than she professes.
3 The sequence of topics, in a conversation, is made in quite a complex way. Because of this complexity, it is necessary to pinpoint and classify the topics in the interaction. To accomplish this, we use the suggestion of Koch (1991). The author subdivides topical organization in levels. She calls "Supertopic" the highest level. It contains "topical frames", which are subdivided into "subtopics", which can themselves be fragmented into "topical segments". SUPERTOPIC: TOPICAL FRAME: SUBTOPICS: TOPICAL SEGMENTS: The life of Caroline Hormone hormone and syphilis who taught her about hormones when she the the stopped problems frequency taking that the of use the hormone hormone can cause For each sequence we use as an example, we indicate its number, its title and the page where it can be found in our corpus. Our corpus was divided in 64 topic sequences. 4. Analyzing the Data: in the Apparel of the Speech, the Interpretation of the Feminine 4.1. A warning Turn­taking can happen in different ways. Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson (1974) show us two basic techniques: Technique i: current speaker selects next speaker; Technique ii: next speaker selects himself/herself as next. Such techniques, in accordance with the type of interaction and culture, will be respected to greater and lesser degrees. A speaker can, for instance, interrupt the turn of another speaker or take the turn even if the turn has been given to another. The tendency in our data is for such techniques to be relatively respected. In spite of this, at some points in the dialogue, especially at the beginning, Caroline takes the turn from one of the interactants in order to make corrections or to express disagreement. Example 01 ANA Cê parou de tomar o:::: a injeção há quanto tempo? CAROLINE Parei ... tem três meses já que eu parei de tomar Que pode dar sífilis no sangue. ANA Não, não pode não. CAROLINE Pode. O sangue fica muito água. ANA Não. Sífilis só pega com::: com contato sexual Eh:: Não pega (também) com:: com hormônio não CAROLINE Tem uma amiga que falou: “Pára de tomar muito hormônio
4 vai da::: sífilis no seu sangue.” Aí, eu parei de tomar. ANA Did you stop taking the:::: the injection how long ago? CAROLINE I stopped... I stopped taking it three months ago. Because it can cause syphilis in the blood. ANA No, it cannot. CAROLINE It can. The blood became water. ANA No. Syphilis only diffuses with::: with sexual contact Eh:: It doesn't diffuse (also) with:: with hormone. CAROLINE I have a friend that said: "Stop taking a lot of hormone It will::: causes syphilis in your blood." Then, I stopped taking it. We can notice that Caroline disagrees with Ana twice. The first time, she was very direct: “pode – it can”. This is a characteristic of the masculine discourse: “directness”. The second time, she keeps her position, but she tries to avoid conflict, using the reported speech of a friend. In this way, she mitigates her responsibility for the disagreement. In conclusion: she does not limit herself to a passive role, waiting for someone to select her as the next speaker. She does not adopt passivity because, for example, the participants are older then her. This is very important to stress because it seems that she chooses the management of topic as a resource to construct her gender, maybe because this linguistic resource can be more controlled by her (Goffman, 1959). The fact it is that, in this way, her behavior is very regular, like it is carefully planned. As we said, we assume that Caroline is undertaking a project: to construct a profile recognized as feminine in Brazilian society. The linguistic resources that we try to identify are cues of her project. The same resources in other situations, even in her own speech in other interactions, can have different meanings. As well, it is imperative to emphasize that we are not trying to label her with a specific gender. As we already mentioned, gender cannot be viewed as a Cartesian category. 4.2. Turn­taking process Throughout the whole interview – 64 topic sequences ­, Caroline in general contributes to the interaction only by answering our questions. However, she introduces or tries to introduce topics/subtopics in 8 sequences, which we divide in three groups.
· In four (4) sequences, she waits for someone to select her; she takes the turn, contributes to the previous topic and then introduces a new topic/subtopic during her own turn.
· In three (3) sequences, she takes the turn and introduces a new topic after some moments in which nobody has the turn. These sequences correspond to the end of the encounter when the focus was no longer on Caroline, but on payment of the bill in the bar.
5 · In one (1) sequence, she tries to introduce a topic, fails, but does not struggle to maintain the topic. We will observe some sequences of each type. 4.2.1. Topic change during her own turn Let us analyze the method by which Caroline changes the topic in some sequences. Sequence 6: “working locales of transvestites” ­ page 5 1 ROBERTO Mas ela tava sozinha? Queria sair só com você? CARLINE Tava sozinha. Os outros segurança tava atrás no outro carro. ROBERTO Ela mesma que falou com você? CAROLINE Ela mesma que falou comigo. BETO Onde isso? Copacabana? CAROLINE Copacabana. Figueiredo Magalhães com Santa Clara. BETO Ali… qual ponto ali… é /.../ CAROLINE É na Atlântica todinha. Tem travesti:: (0,5) tem mulher:: (1,0) Mas tudo misturado. ROBERTO Ah, é misturado? Não tem separação de grupos? CAROLINE Tem na na Rainha Elizabete, na Sá Ferreira e na Santa Clara que é só travesti. Tem algumas puta também, mas elas são legais com a gente. ROBERTO Não dá problema de briga, essas coisas não? CAROLINE Não dá não porque elas sabem que não pode com a gente. ROBERTO (Risos) BETO Mas olha. Tem uma diferença aqui também, não tem? ROBERTO But was she alone? Did she want to go out only with you? CARLINE She was alone. The other body guards were behind in the other car. ROBERTO She spoke to you in person? CAROLINE She spoke to me in person. BETO Where was that? Copacabana? CAROLINE Copacabana. Figueiredo Magalhães with Santa Clara. BETO There… which working place there… it is /.../ CAROLINE It is in all Atlântica. There is transvesti::tes (0,5) There is wo::men (1,0)But everything mixed. ROBERTO Ah, is it mixed? There is no separation of groups? CAROLINE There is in in Rainha Elizabete, in Sá Ferreira and in Santa Clara where there is only transvestites. There is also some whores, but they are nice with us. ROBERTO There are no fighting problems, that kind of thing? CAROLINE There aren’t because they know that they cannot fight with us. ROBERTO (Laughter) BETO But look. There is also a difference here, isn’t there? 1 We have made a translation of all the excerpts so that the readers can follow our analysis. About the transcription, we indicate the new topic in bold.
6
Caroline changes or reorients the topic in her own turn, avoiding, for example, conflict. There is no struggle for the turn; she accepts Beto, Ana and Roberto as controllers of topic management. Through intonation (in the example above), the adverbial clause (“when”) and the explanatory conjunctions (“because”) (in the examples below), the changes of topic become more gradual. ROBERTO Ah, she is his sister? CAROLINE Yes. Then I / When he arrived from São Paulo, I looked for him. "Wow, your brother is handsome!" ANA But it is twenty minutes a period? CAROLINE "It is twenty minutes already” Because there are men who want to kiss want to date things like that In other words, they become less authoritative, underlining the character /+ informative/ and /– conflictive/. The slight presence of conversational markers as "but", "no", at the beginning of most of the sequences contributes to making her introductions of topics more subtle. These resources help to construct a very cooperative, non­conflicting, supportive profile for Caroline. The concern with the other, her informative nature, which is widely associated to femininity, seems to be quite present in the conversational style that she uses here. This interactional behavior helps her to build a feminine image for herself. She shows herself to be a competent female speaker. However, under a content analysis, her speech points to different perspectives. When she speaks about the atmosphere in one of the places where she works, the Avenida Atlântica, she exhibits the powerful position that the transvestites' group has compared to the female prostitutes. In this aspect, she reveals a behavior traditionally viewed as masculine, because the transvestites' position (Caroline’s own position) is invested with the dominance, leadership and competitiveness that we can glean from her words. ROBERTO CAROLINE There are no fighting problems, this kind of things? There aren’t because they know that they cannot fight with us. On the other hand, there are also topics – in another example – that show her femininity. The topic "feminine childhood" is an icon. In this topic, she justifies her adoption of the feminine gender as if she had no choice. Her femininity is something already "naturalized" in her life: she was always feminine, she always preferred to be associated to interactions and tasks socially viewed as feminine.
7 Sequence 9: "feminine childhood" ­ pages 5/6 CAROLINE ROBERTO BETO CAROLINE Não tive a infância de rapaz. Sempre de garota. Por quê? Como assim? [Mas/ (2) É eu tive:: (1) várias coisas. Meu pai /.../ situação. Então eu tive/ nunca gostei/ nunca me importei negócio de jogar bola, soltar pipa. Sempre brinquei de casinha, gostava de encerar a CAsa, passar PAno limpar VIdro, lavar LOUça, aprender a coziNHAR /.../ foi indo foi indo hoje tou uma mulher feita. (2) [Até hoje. CAROLINE I didn't have boy's childhood. Always a girl’s. ROBERTO Why? What do you mean? BETO [But/ CAROLINE (2) An… I had:: (1) several things. My father /.../ situation. Then I had / I never liked / I never cared for playing soccer, for flying kites . I always played house, I liked to wax the HOUse, to iron the CLOthes, to clean GLAsses, to wash DIshes, to learn how to COOK /.../ things happened and happened then today I am a perfect woman(2) [until today. Within the topic “boyfriend conquest”, she uses feminine strategies to approach the boy concerned. For instance, she asks her boyfriend's sister for cooperation to solve a problem: to attract the potential lover. This also puts her in synchrony with the feminine universe. CAROLINE “Aí, faz a linha. Faz a bem. Bota ele na minha fita” Aí ela, ela falou assim /.../: “Eu posso dar um toque nele”. CAROLINE "Oh, be nice with me. Help me. Put me in contact with him.” Then, she said like this /.../: "I can talk to him.” Her management of topics is thus well applied in order to resemble a woman and succeed in her project. 4.2.2. Turn Taking and topic change In the other three sequences, she takes the turn and introduces a new topic after a moment in which nobody has had the turn. Here Caroline shows the same collaborative behavior. But in these sequences she shows some other characteristics associated with femininity: indirectness and involvement strategies.
8 Sequence 49: "comment on the time" ­ page 33 CAROLINE Quer dizer, cortou minha tesão inteira por mulher Até antes eu não gostava. (7) ROBERTO É (risos de R e A) CAROLINE Deixa eu ver a hora ROBERTO I:::: ANA Que horas são? ROBERTO Passou um pouquinho CAROLINE Passou um pouquinho ANA Que horas são? BETO Dez pra uma. CAROLINE This means: it cut completely my desire for women Until before I didn't like. (7) ROBERTO It is.. (laughters of R and A) CAROLINE Let me see the time ROBERTO I:::: ANA What time is it? ROBERTO It passed a little bit CAROLINE It passed a little bit ANA What time is it? BETO Ten to one. Maynard (1980) points out that silence is one of the formal elements that indicates a problematic situation that guides the speakers to a topic change. When a silence appears in an interaction, depending on the culture, the speakers can interpret it as a space that needs to be filled. The author claims that silence can be a flaw in the speakers' topic change. In that sense, the turn is available to whomever wants to take it. This is what Caroline does after the silence occurs: she takes the turn, while maintaining her easygoing and collaborative attitude. An aspect that is also extremely interesting in this sequence is Caroline’s use of indirectness. Caroline does not explicitly say that the interview should finish because of the time; she merely suggests it. CAROLINE Deixa eu ver a hora CAROLINE Let me see the time Indirectness can be a relevant aspect in femininity (Lakof 1975). But as Tannen (1994) affirms, it is necessary to analyze each element carefully and locally (in each interaction) in order not to associate power and solidarity in a Cartesian way to certain linguistic strategies. Here the indirectness can be interpreted as a way to indicate a
9 desire without being authoritative; as a way to transfer power, giving to the other interactant the responsibility of making our desire happen. The importance of this strategy here is such that this sentence was responsible for the termination of the encounter. In the next example, a parallel sequence occurs before Caroline takes the turn: the interactants get out of the frame (Goffman, 1974; Tannen & Wallet, 1987) “interview with Caroline” to the frame “pay the bill”. Therefore, the turn is available and she takes it. Sequence 51: "plans for another encounter" ­ page 34 ROBERTO BETO ROBERTO BETO CAROLINE Vamos embora então? Vamos perdir essa conta então? Cadê minha /.../ ? A conta. Marca um dia aí vocês vêm cedo. aí eu já não cobro vocês. Já conheço vocês já. Gostei de vocês. Aí vocês marca um dia /.../ Quer fazer uma última reportagem, tirar FOto. Essas coisa assim. ROBERTO BETO ROBERTO BETO CAROLINE Lets go? Lets ask the bill? Where mine /.../ ? The bill. Lets marks one day you come early. Then I don't charge you I know you already I liked you. Then you mark one day /.../ If you want to make a report, to take PicTUre. That kind of thing. In this sequence, when Caroline takes the turn and introduces the topic “plans for another encounter”, she brings the interactants from the frame “pay the bill” back to the frame “interview”. Like in the previous sequence, she is signaling her need to leave. She is also exerting a certain domain not observable before. Her postures at the end of the encounter display some aspects linked to masculinity: dominance, control, objectivity (Aries 1997). Now we shall observe the last sequence of this section. In this sequence, the laughter shows some casualness and a certain intimacy. Structurally, laughter can create one moment in which nobody assumes the turn, and, thus, can prepare the field for Caroline to take the turn and to introduce another topic: "presentations".
10 Sequence 62: "Caroline asks that we introduce each other" ­ page 38 CAROLINE Ah, você já sabe, né? Trinta aqüé, né? (Risos) CAROLINE Ah, tá por dentro do babado (risos) BETO Tá por dentro do babadinho. CAROLINE­ Tá por dentro do babadinho todinho. (riso de B) CAROLINE Gente, vocês não se apresentaram! ANA Ah, é. ROBERTO Ah, eu sou o Roberto. ANA Eu sou Ana. BETO Nome da [minha tia.] BETO [ Beto.] ANA E ele é o Beto. CAROLINE Nome do meu primo. CAROLINE Ah, you know, right? Thirty aqüé 2 , right? (laughter) CAROLINE Ah, you know the terminology (laughter) BETO He knows the terminology . CAROLINE­ You know the terminology very well. (laughter from B) CAROLINE Guys, you did not introduce yourselves! ANA Ah, you are right. ROBERTO Ah, I am Roberto. ANA I am Ana. BETO The name of [my auntie.] BETO [ Beto.] ANA E he is Beto. CAROLINE The name of my cousin. The laughter opens space for anybody. It is not necessary to struggle to speak. Then Caroline takes her turn. It is her time to monitor the administration of topics. After all, she has already executed her obligation. In summary, we could observe that Caroline takes the turn and changes topics basically in moments in which nobody has the turn. Therefore, she does not need to struggle for the turn. As we have said, it seems that she chooses management of topic as a resource to construct her gender. In the only example in which she does not do this – when she tells us about her cousin's death – the topic was deviated; but, even so, she did not persist to maintain the topic that she had introduced. Her attitude remains non­authoritative. This is what we will observe in the next section. 2 It is a common word used by transvestites and homosexual. It is linked to african­brazilian religions and means “money”.
11 4.2.3. Attempt to raise a topic Finally, let us analyze one more sequence which is an important symbol for our work. In this sequence, Caroline tries to introduce a topic, fails, but she does not struggle to maintain the topic. Sequence 29: "death of a female cousin" ­ page 17 CAROLINE ANA BETO­ CAROLINE BETO CAROLINE BETO CAROLINE BETO ANA CAROLINE Não. Corro pra dentro do hotel [[ Ali tem um hotel] [[ Ali tem um hotel] Tem um hotel ali atrás que a delegada fechou, a Marta Julião. Que a o quê? Que a delegada fechou e abriu agora há pouco tempo. Fechou por quê? Porque ela pegou a “de menor” lá dentro. Ah Você ainda é “de menor”, né? [ Agora há pouco tempo passou/ Sou. Agora há pouco tempo passou uma reportagem Foi até a (minha prima) que deu a entrevista Ela faleceu agora, sexta­feira, na noite de Ano Novo. BETO Faleceu como? CAROLINE Ela foi com um cliente prum hotel O cliente queria que ela se drogasse Ele estava muito drogado, mas muito drogado mesmo Então ela: “Não me droga. Que não sei que, que não sei que lá” Ela por ser muito feminina, aí ela: “Ah, não to gostando, não gosto dessas coisas não. Vou me embora” Aí o cliente segurou ela pelo cabelo. E o segurança do hotel viu. Não fez nada. Segurou ela pelo cabelo. Aí foi deu o maior soco, tocou na(fonte) dela. Ela ficou meio inconsciente, ficou tonta. Aí ele foi deu um soco na cara dela. e (sufocou) ela com travesseiro. Aí matou. CAROLINE No. I run inside of the hotel ANA [[There, there is a hotel] BETO [[There, there is a hotel] CAROLINE There is a hotel there behind that the police officer closed, Marta Julião. BETO What? CAROLINE That the police officer closed and she opened there a little while ago now.
12 BETO CAROLINE BETO ANA CAROLINE Why did she close? Because she caught a "de minor" there inside Ah You are still "de minor", right? [Now a little time ago was shown/ I am. Now a little time ago was shown a TV report It was my cousin who was interviewed She passed away right now, Friday, in the Night of New Year BETO How did she pass away? CAROLINE She went to a hotel with a client The client wanted her to take drugs He was very drugged, but very very drugged. Then she said: “Don’t give me drugs. Blah blah blah" Because she was very feminine, she said: "Ah, I don’t like this situation, I don't like those things. I am going to leave. " Then the client held her by her hair. And the security guy of the hotel saw it. He didn't do anything. He held her by her hair. Then he gave her a big punch, It reached her face She was half unconscious, she was dizzy. Then he gave a punch in her face. and (suffocated) her with a pillow. Then he killed her. The interactants were talking about how Caroline avoids the boys who attack the transvestites. She says that she escapes to a hotel. At that moment, Beto and Ana repeat in unison "Ali tem um hotel ­ There, there is a hotel". Caroline tells us that the hotel was close to a police station. She answers some explanatory questions about what she said. After she continues her story about an interview related to the hotel. Then, she tries to insist on the development of her topic, repeating part of a sentence: CAROLINE [ Agora há pouco tempo passou/ Sou. Agora há pouco tempo passou uma reportagem CAROLINE [Now a little time ago was shown/ I am. Now a little time ago was shown a TV report Beto, however, interferes, changing the course of Caroline's speech: BETO Faleceu como? BETO How did she pass away?
13 Therefore, she finally changes the topic, speaking about the death of the transvestite who would have been interviewed – her cousin. In spite of that interruption, Caroline does not demonstrate any attempt to maintain the topic. She accepts the change peacefully: she does not impose the topic that she introduced and continues the dialogue contributing to the new topics that were introduced. It is also important to notice that Caroline again displays her collaborative attitude. She centers her attention on the other interactants in such a way that she interrupts herself in order to answer a question proposed by Ana. ANA You are still "de minor", right? CAROLINE [Now a little time ago was shown/ I am. Now a little time ago was shown a TV report This sequence is especially important in terms of content. The topic shows us the role that femininity and masculinity have in the construction of Caroline’s transvestite’s identity. She expresses what femininity can mean in her transvestite’s life. Femininity seems ambiguous. If on the one hand she wants to resemble a woman, on the other hand this can be dangerous. Her cousin was killed by a client. CAROLINE Ela por ser muito feminina, CAROLINE Because she was very feminine, Femininity in her world can be associated with fragility. That is why, when she tells us that female prostitutes cannot fight with the transvestites, we understand that: to keep and protect the femininity that the she is continuously building, she makes use of her masculinity. 5. Last comments Between masculinity and femininity there exist many other possibilities. Through Caroline, we are able to see everybody, as if she was a mirror that reflects many manners of being. Fundamentally, we cannot label her with a gender. Gender is always building and rebuilding itself. Caroline shows us a world without the limits of the male­female binarity. We cannot answer the question “which gender does Caroline have?”. However we can notice that she constructs her gender identity through topic organization. The cues that she gave us through the turn­taking process, linguistic resources and content of the topics could help us to understand the sophisticated process that guides the interactions between human beings. This sophistication indicates universes that cannot be imprisoned in two visions only.
14 Finally, we would like to say that, in Brazil, society is starting to notice that a binary perspective is no longer enough for understanding our world. If for most people it is very difficult to assume all gender possibilities, it is also true that, in some way, everybody already assumes this. That is why we can hear people saying that "this man" is "like a woman"; and that "this woman" is "like a man". Or even "what is he/she?". It seems that they are seeing more then two gender possibilities. But what I emphasize at this point is: it is more and more common to hear people in Brazil saying that "this woman" is like "a transvestite". Maybe "man", " woman", and "transvestite" are some of the genders recognized – but not yet assumed – in Brazilian society. References Aries, Elizabeth 1997. Women and men talking: Are they worlds apart? In Mary Roth Walsh (ed), Women, men and gender: Ongoing debates. Yale University Press, 91­100. Barbosa, Adriana Maria de Abreu 1996. Envolvimento e estilo conversacional: quando o sexo faz a diferença. Dissertação de mestrado PUC­Rio. Brown, Roger & Albert Gilman 1960. The pronouns of power and solidarity. In Thomas A. Sebeok (ed), Style in language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press, 253­276. Coates, Jennifer 1986. Women, men and language. London, Longman. Coulthard, Malcolm 1991. Linguagem e sexo. SP: Ática. Goffman, Erving 1959. Presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Anchor. Goffman, Erving 1967. Interaction rituals: Essays on face­to­face behavior. Garden City: Anchor. Goffman, Erving 1974. Frame analysis. New York: Harper and Row. Gumperz, John J. 1982a. Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gumperz, John J. 1982b. Language and social identity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Johnstone, Barbara (1993). Community and contest: Midwester men and women creating their worlds in conversational storytelling. In Deborah Tannen (ed), Gender and conversational interaction. New York: Oxford University Press, 62­80.
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