Gender as Metaphor: Narratives about Transvestites in Argentina Digital Press (2004–2009)

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the narratives of transvestites in ArgentinaDigital Press (2004–2009). The methodology which will be carried out is qualitative and itincludes some aspects of narrative analysis. The theoretical framework is founded on post–structuralism and on the perspective of gender intersectionality. We found that the mediarecreated several antagonisms: red zones/green areas; transvestites/neighbours. People livingin those areas feel threatened by transvestites, who turn those spaces into Red Zones.The green space defense functions as a discursive argument seemingly neutral and objective,but which tacitly suggests ways displacement and discrimination in the urban space.We concluded that body features and social marginality operate as moral attributes thatmade possible to project images of decadence in opposition to idealized images of bodyand genre. This binary moral system hides gender and social class conflicts.