Stela Schroeder
to interpreting a realistic story were in erotic films like The Sex of the Abnormals ( 1984 ) by Alfredo Sternheim . Though , even then Claúdia Wonder ’ s character – and in between the lines , her own trans identity – was reduced to a sexual object , and someone going through an “ existential crisis .”
According to Judith Butler ( 2004 , p . 6 ), “ Transgender refers to those persons who cross-identify or who live as another gender , but who may or may not have undergone hormonal treatments or sex reassignment operations . (…) there are those who identify as men ( if female to male ) or women ( if male to female ), and yet others who , with or without surgery , with or without hormones , identify as trans , as transmen or transwomen ; each of these social practices carries distinct social burdens and promises .” Butler ( 2004 , p . 1 ) also describes gender as “ a kind of a doing , an incessant activity performed (…) beyond oneself in a sociality that has no single author .” It suggests the existence of a conflict between the body and identity , gender and performance , when considering trans people . Laerte comes into contact with the necessity of a feminine body and behaviour as a signifier of her identity as a woman in Laerte-se . Although she had previously investigated herself as a transgender person , the trigger for the start of Laerte ’ s transition came with her son ’ s death in 2009 . She characterises her transition like entering “ a different country ”, where she was being challenged for wanting to be a woman yet did not know how to perform typically signifiers of one ’ s womanhood , like shaving and knowing how to sit . To Laerte , immersing into the female world involves putting on makeup and wearing dresses .
Following this want for a feminine performance , interestingly , Laerte positions herself within both of Lambert ’ s ideas of queer identity : that “ bodies are , of course , crucial to identity ” but identity also is “ the fluidity and messiness of people ’ s desires , feelings , memories , and actions , opening up political possibilities by demonstrating that identities are subject to change ”
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