Abstract Drawing on my fieldwork experience with Brazilian travesti1 sex workers in Rio de Janeiro, I argue that travestis’ desire for beauty both structures their daily experiences and empowers them. Travestis have to engage with a complicated, dangerous and expensive career in order to construct their identities. The attainment of a beautiful body is at the heart of their interest. Travestis seek a sense of ‘perfection’, that is, they strive to be like women, but beautiful and desirable ones. Their aim is to create bodies that can achieve feminine and glamorous shapes. Every bodily improvement reinforces their self-identity and status within the group. Although their lives can be very hard – it is difficult to be a travesti in Brazilian society, which is rather intolerant of sexual and gender diversity – it is through the processes they engage in to produce beautiful and feminine bodies that travestis give meaning to their existence and find a place for themselves in their communities and in the world, ...

中文翻译：

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美丽重要：巴西TravestiSex工作者感觉美丽

摘要 根据我在里约热内卢与巴西 travesti1 性工作者的实地工作经验，我认为 travesti 对美的渴望既构建了他们的日常体验，又赋予了他们权力。Travestis 必须从事复杂、危险和昂贵的职业才能建立自己的身份。获得美丽的身体是他们兴趣的核心。Travestis 寻求一种“完美”的感觉，也就是说，他们努力像女人一样，但美丽而令人向往。他们的目标是创造可以实现女性化和迷人形状的身体。每一次身体的改善都会加强他们在群体中的自我认同和地位。尽管他们的生活可能会很艰难——在巴西社会中很难成为一名流浪汉，