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Reclaiming Travesti Histories

Giuseppe Campuzano

1 Colonial ordinances and assumptions Christianity and then returned to their former Indian
If any Indian male dresses in female Indian clothes administrators. The Crown expected to recuperate
or any Indian female in male Indian clothes, the … the control of production by integrating Indian
Mayor should arrest them. The first time they administrators into the colonial scheme of power.
should be given one hundred lashes and have their This new organisation also claimed, at least on paper,
hair cut in public. The second time they should be to preserve parts of native cultures. The requirement
tied for six hours to a pole at the market in full of Christian conversion and the prioritisation of
view of all. The third time they should be sent to production implied the opposite, and led to
the sheriff of the valley or to the Mayor of the suppression of some indigenous identities.
Villa de Santiago de Miraflores, to have justice
done to them in conformity with the law. Travestis, a term that has survived into contemporary
(Gregório Gonzales de Cuenca Ordenanzas de los times and is used in Latin America to describe those
Indios [Ordinances of the Indians], 1556) who cross genders, cross-sex and cross-dress, came
from one of these suppressed identities. The very
This ordinance, passed 450 years ago by the Spanish concept of travesti (literally, ‘cross-dressing’) was born
colonial government, was the first legal proscription out of the colonisers’ fixation with gender binaries
of travestism in Peru. Its origins lie in the Bible: ‘The including the imperative to dress according to one’s
woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a place within a rigid gender dichotomy, in which there
man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s were two clearly defined sexes and two genders
garment …’ (Deuteronomy Ch. 22, verse 5), and ‘Doth premised on these sexes.2 Pre-Hispanic gender was
not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have read through this lens; travestism became, within this
long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman schema, dressing across the binary.
have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given
to her for a covering’ (1 Corinthians Ch. 12, verses While travesti was originally a pejorative adjective, it
14–15).1 Bonnie and Vern Bullough observe that since has been reworked into a political noun by
‘simulated sex-change was often a part of the fertility Argentinean and Peruvian travesti activists, renaming
cults of the time, the biblical writers were probably the ‘duality as power’, which androgyny and
much more hostile to cross-dressing at this time than hermaphroditism meant in ancient cultures of both
were later commentators’ (Bullough and Bullough East and West. In this article, I trace the pre-Hispanic
1993: 40). They underestimated later levels of hostility. history of travestis in Peru. I explore what recovering
the valorisation given to the role of the travesti in
Nearly 500 years ago, the Spanish colonisers came indigenous culture has to offer the struggles of travestis
to Latin America to assume control of the Inca for rights and recognition in contemporary Peru.
Empire (c. XIII–1538 AD). Their desire for the
rumoured unlimited gold was a large part of the 2 The pre-Hispanic gender continuum and
reason for their subjugation of the continent, along colonial reaction
with the prestige of Empire and a cheap labour In pre-Hispanic times, gender was not limited to only
force. Judge Gonzales de Cuenca presented the masculine or feminine. Principles of non-binary
Ordenanzas de los Indios as the genesis of a new thinking remain apparent in the design of the
order. This departed from the encomienda system, traditional Andean woven Aymara bag, which is
where indigenous localities were assigned to settlers formed through repeated paired bands of different
to manage, and moved to the reductions system, colours in a way that each has its pair on the
where indigenous localities were converted to opposite half of the bag (Cereceda 1986). The total

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Figure 1 Ink roller printing from the original Moche culture huaco (pottery), in Arboleda (1981)

number of bands is always odd so one of them [A]nything that undermines confidence in the
always remains without a pair, acting as the central scheme of classification on which people base
axis (Chhima), separator as well as nexus of these two their lives sickens them as though the very ground
halves. This concept of ‘one amongst paired things on which they stood precipitously dropped away.
but without a pair’ (Chhullu), can be used to re- The vertigo produced by the loss of cognitive
interpret the persons depicted as below by Spanish orientation is similar to that produced by the loss
chroniclers throughout Colonial America: of physical orientation … People will regard any
phenomenon that produces this disorientation as
… generally among the Andean and Yungas, the ‘disgusting’ or ‘dirty’. To be so regarded, however,
demon has placed this vice beneath a sort of the phenomenon must threaten to destroy not
sanctity, so that every temple or major only one of their fundamental cognitive
worshipping place has a man or two, or more, categories but their whole cognitive system.
depending on the idol, who dress as women ever (Davis 1983, cited in Bornstein 1994: 72)
since they were children, and talk as such,
imitating women in their manners, dress and The practices of these ‘priests’ were so at odds with
everything else. On holidays and religious festivals, the Spanish colonial theocentric and phallocentric
the masters and nobles have carnal and indecent view, that the Spaniards could rationalise that they
intercourse with these people. This I know because were saving natives even while they were exploiting
I have punished two of them: one of them an them and obliterating elements of their culture.
Indian of the Andes, in a temple that they call Colonial ordinances ordered the ‘Indians’,
Guaca, from the province of Conchucos, border of categorising and counting them: a powerful tool to
the city of Huanuco; the other one was from the enforce the docility and utility of Indian bodies.
province of Chincha. I talked to them about this
wicked thing they committed, and aggravating the 3 Controlling bodies
indecency of this sin, they answered that it was A pre-Hispanic print (Figure 1), agreed by several
not their fault, because ever since their childhood anthropologists to be depicting a religious event,
they have been put there by their chiefs for this shows winged men preparing and offering a brew to
wicked and abominable vice, and to be priests and a copulating couple, one superhuman and one
guard the temples of their idols. (Pedro Cieza de ‘bi-gender’, while gods and humans watch and wait,
León 1553, La Crónica del Perú [The Chronicles of eating human meat as part of the ritual. The
Peru, author’s translation]) travestied body appears to mediate between the
natural and supernatural worlds.
For the Catholic colonialists, there was no place for
alternative gender roles. But why should those who Let us now move to contemporary Peru, where in
took on such roles have provoked such hatred, some parts of the Andes, travestis perform ancestral
condemnation and punishment as described above? harvest rituals – now portrayed as ‘dance exhibitions’,
To illuminate this question, I turn to Murray Davis: which continue to play an important social role within

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communities. They have exchanged calientito (an However, the Peruvian travesti remains as the hinge
Andean alcoholic beverage) for beer, and low heels between pairs, previously connecting the pre-
for transparent platform shoes, as they successfully Hispanic worlds of gods and humans and the living
transform their ritual into a technical dance show. It is and dead, and now, linking past to present. Travestis
instructive to note that this happens in places where persist in performing mediating roles within society,
development has not been wholly successful. This then as shamans and now as beauticians or witches,
does not mean that development constitutes therapists that listen and transform – by injecting
destruction, nor that these societies have remained liquid silicon into the bodies of their peers.3 This
‘pure’. What I am suggesting is that perhaps the contemporary scene powerfully resembles that
diminished impact of development has permitted the portrayed in the Moche pottery portrayed above: a
building of a bridge, maybe not too solid or group of travesti friends warming up with some
formulated, but enough to allow inclusion through a alcoholic beverage offered by the ‘patient’, chatting
correlation between two cultures, past and present. about and planning the non-anaesthesia septic
procedure to be realised – that would realise them.
In post-colonial times travesti has been interpreted The exploration of the self, with its post-modern
through the identities of ‘LGBT’ (lesbian, gay, bisexual shifts, remains intact. Travestis connect the different
and transgender). The inclusion of travesti within sides of beings: spiritual and material, reality and
these normative sexual identities shows how dream. They and their roles have not disappeared.
alternative genders have become categorised They have mutated.4
through the lens of sexuality as a result of a lack of
historical perspective. The association of travesti with 4 The twenty-first century travesti
sexual – rather than alternative gender – identities Modern legal battles around transgender identity
has led to them being subject to discrimination and recognition are subject to and reproduce gender
attack on the basis of their assumed sexuality. A normativity. Even the most progressive, as in
report by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights Belgium, Germany, the UK and Spain, fail to validate
notes that the Peruvian Túpac Amaru Revolutionary ambiguous gendered self-expression. While people
Movement (MRTA) ‘tended to view gay men and in these countries have won certain rights to change
lesbians as “anti-revolutionary” or as “products of sex, they do not yet have any rights to choose to stay
bourgeois decadence” and therefore as a threat to at an in-between state, or transit back and forth.
the leftist political project’ (ICCHRLA 1996: 19). Concepts like ‘gender dysphoria’ or ‘gender identity
Chauvin (1991) reports that in 1990 and 1991, more disorder’ are used to justify transsexual operations
than 40 travestis were killed in Lima, Peru, by right- and legal recognition of changed sex. However,
wing groups known as mata cabros or ‘kill faggots’. these concepts are in themselves anchored to
By these means, the Peruvian Truth and gender normativity, denying intersexualism and
Reconciliation Commission’s final report records the occasional travestism. In this context of gender
MRTA ‘aimed to legitimate themselves before the normativity, some travestis have adopted ‘hysterical’
population, encouraging the social preconceptions practices pursuing an idealised femininity. These are
against homosexuality’ (IFCVR 2003: 433). outlined below.

We see here the results of a tragic 4.1 Body transformation

misunderstanding: in their revolt against post- Many of my travesti colleagues and friends inject
colonial sexual freedoms, the anti-colonialists liquid silicon into their bodies to increase
inscribed further the ideology of the colonialists. voluptuousness of chest, hips and buttocks, in spite
Here we see biblical ideology being reinforced by the of the potential for disfigurement and threats to
(atheist) extreme left wing. Sexual activists and health (e.g. substance migration around the body,
researchers perpetuate this worsening situation by tumours, necrosis, infection, pulmonary embolism or
working within a colonial framework, instead of death). This ‘decision’ has many edges. The travesti
building development upon pre-colonial discourse. majority is poor, and thus excluded from other more
expensive options for bodily transformation, since
Gender lost its breadth, depth and elasticity during health policies define these procedures as ‘cosmetic’,
the colonial exchange of beliefs and ideologies. This although they are essential to their psychological
has not been recouped in post-colonial times. well-being. Travestis also seek alternative services –

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shamans, beauticians, automedication – since they do developed two genders, one for her social scene and
not trust the health services. These factors, combined work, and one for her family life.
with a lack of knowledge and low self-esteem result
in a complex route back to liquid silicon as the only 4.4 Denial of the ‘former’ male they were
way to meet their goal. Cosmetic surgery implants When he decided to dress as a woman, Jana tore up
and automedicated ingestion of hormones, although family photographs of herself where she appeared as
perhaps initially ‘successful’, can also fail in the a man, and asked her mother to give away all her
medium or longer term due to side-effects or men’s clothes to the church. At the same time, he
changes in aesthetic trends. gave up work as a teacher of religion and she
became a hairdresser. Some days later she bumped
One friend, Carla, for example, had injected liquid into ‘himself’ at home; her mother had disobeyed,
silicon into her forehead, cheeks, chest, hips and giving her past clothes to her brother. Today Jana is a
buttocks to achieve the desired voluptuousness. After travesti activist with a Masters degree in gender
emigrating to Europe and earning enough money, studies. When watching a family video, she came
her aesthetic and procedure perceptions changed. across a strange man on the screen; suddenly she
She decided to go for silicone implants. The surgeon realised that man was herself. When prompted on
told her that in order to do so, they would have to what she experienced when facing up to ‘himself’
remove all the liquid silicon, including from those again, she could not describe the feeling. A sort of
parts of the body to where it had migrated, prior to pity, maybe embarrassment, maybe nostalgia, filled
proceeding. Carla decided to go ahead with this her face: ‘It seems that man should have happened a
painful procedure that has now left large scars. long time ago’.
When I asked her if she was satisfied with the
results, she answered affirmatively. Might she have 4.5 The worst of both gender roles
pursued different aims or used different methods Travestis have inherited the worst of both gender
without normative pressures? roles. When a travesti is beaten, she is perceived as
male enough for policemen, or anyone, to freely hit
4.2 Choice of ‘macho’ partners and violent him. In relationships it depends. Sometimes
relationships masculinity prevails when it comes to working to
I met Rosa when we were teenagers. Some years maintain the family and/or partner. Sometimes
later I ran into her at a club and asked where she had femininity prevails, as travestis are subjects of violence
disappeared to. She answered that she now has a and victimisation by the same family circle. Suddenly,
violent and controlling partner who does not allow once again, masculinity takes over when the law
her to leave home, and that she was out partying arbitrates. In the labour market, discrimination means
only because he was away on a work trip. After sex work is almost the only available option.
some time I met her again. She told me everything
was better, that things changed since they started This wrong time/place situation has deepened for
‘modern’ (exchanging active and passive roles) sex, contemporary travestis with the incongruity between
and the beatings, verbal violence and isolation had their practices of a sensuality that defy gender
stopped. Gender-busting practices have liberated boundaries, and a discourse of binary genders as the
both partners. cornerstone of identity construction. Through their
journey, from dresses to bodies, travestis have turned
4.3 Denial of their sexually active role the ‘hystericisation of the woman’s body’ – that
Travestis commonly admit to taking only a passive Foucault argued in an early draft of his Histoire de la
role with their sexual partners, and may ridicule Sexualité (Foucault 1979) – into an essence, and
those who do otherwise. When I met Gata at a appropriated it within their own discourse;
discotheque, we quickly started talking about men transmuting the violence outside and taking it inside
and sex. Later a common friend told me Gata had a their minds and bodies.
female partner and two children and that she does
sex work as the breadwinner for her family. I asked It is not simply a matter of assigning travestis a unique
our common friend why Gata had not told me. The gender or sexuality, nor taking for granted their
friend explained that other travestis tease Gata about homosexuality or their desire to become a genital
it, to which she objects violently. Gata had somehow woman.5 Travestis need freeing from normative

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pressures, to enable them to actualise their own traditions that show the existence of in-between
self-expression. Far from being unreflexive products genders reveals how we have been forced to fit
of culture, travestis undergo critical processes of self- colonial gender binaries. Peruvian travestis are not
examination, which might usefully be deployed in a alone: indigenous transgender identities existed
wider context. across cultures, space and time the world over,
suppressed and reviled by colonial Christianities.
4.6 Post-feminist transgender? Reclaiming our history calls for us not only to
Where is the post-feminist transgender? When did reconstitute the inclusive culture of the past, but to
vestments as symbols of power, the androgynous as reclaim travesti identities in all their variety. We
double synonym of perfection, get lost? How did the need to enquire into travesti pasts in all regions of
enriching multiple points of view (before: a female our country to affirm travestis in the present and
within a male body; after: a male within a female build respect for contemporary travestis’ desires and
body) as a major advantage, become denied? The needs, whether as consumers, religious people, sex
effort to reclaim travesti subjectivity has ramifications workers, bisexuals, parents or women. As this
that also affect women. The challenge to travesti article suggests, and as activities such as the Travesti
exclusion is not enough by itself. It needs to be Museum of Peru – a travelling exhibition
paralleled by studies of the subjectivities of Pre- celebrating pre-Hispanic and contemporary travesti
Hispanic Peruvian women, to challenge the culture – demonstrate, art’s political dimension can
stereotypes that exclude and oppress them.6 The be used to powerful effect in this struggle.
demand from travestis that they be recognised and
empowered as the women they visibly are, Maybe it is time for a new challenge of the structure
challenges the stereotype that the poverty and of ‘the Master’s House’, which as Afro–American
powerlessness of Peruvian women is natural, and can lesbian feminist Audre Lorde noted, cannot be
be allowed to remain. Thus the demand for travesti dismantled using the master’s tools. Travestis are
rights is inextricably bound up with the aims of the indeed objects of gender. But they are also subjects,
feminist movement to emancipate women, of all capable of gender self-determination, as many
kinds, everywhere. feminists in the 1960s demanded. It is time to listen
to the wide range of critical inter-sex and
5 Reflections transgender narratives and learn from their
The master’s tools will never dismantle the problematisation of conventional gender thinking,
master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to and from their experiences. To do this, we need to
beat him at his own game, but they will never work with women’s movements to move beyond
enable us to bring about genuine change. (Lorde the limiting dichotomies that constrain us all.
1984: 112) Applying the principle of gender relativity would
result in a healthier and wiser development, one in
For Peru’s travestis the struggle for rights and for which people can claim their rights to combine
recognition can be fortified if only we could genders, to transit and to choose.
reclaim our history. Revisiting pre-Hispanic

Notes Muslim complex of faiths insists on this particular

1 Deuteronomy Ch. 22, verse 5, and 1 Corinthians juxtaposition of binary sexes and genders.
Ch. 12, verses 14–15; King James Authorised 3 Examples like this have been held by legal and
Translation. health authorities to be unethical/criminal, but is
2 Much feminist work has problematised gender not dissimilar to reaction to anti-abortion policies
binaries (e.g. see Butler 1990). There is also and the lack of gender opportunities and a society
voluminous research on alternative transgender willing to find a culprit other that itself.
formulations in the anthropological and historical 4 On this point, the literary metaphor of Latin
studies of spiritual traditions, strongly reinforcing America as a travesti is useful; travestism becomes a
the view of gender as a continuum (e.g. see Eliade historical, not metaphorical, model for the cultural
1964; Bullough and Bullough 1993; Conner et al. development of any colonised territories such as
1997 and Herdt 1996). Only the Judeo/Christian/ the Americas.

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5 Sex work is an ideal metaphor when working on 6 The investigation ‘Divine and Human’ done by
this issue; gender and eroticism not as desires, Marisa Villavicencio and exhibited in 2004 in Peru,
rather as results, of the sex market and gender Mexico and USA re-contextualises women’s roles
labels. in former Peruvian societies.

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