Eskimos in the Amazon. Dialogues around the De-pathologization of Transsexuality

Original title: Esquimesi in Amazzonia. Dialoghi intorno alla depatologizzazione della transessualità

By: Ballarin C., Padovano R.

First published in Italy: Mimesis, 2013

Genere: Social sciences

Overview: Like Eskimos in the Amazon, transgender and transsexual people live in a context that did not expect them, always at odds with the social rules and cultural conventions of their habitat. At every latitude and in every time there have been people with non-conforming genders, defined by various names: “Hijras” in India, “Sworn Virgins” in the Balkans, the “Two Spirits” of Native Americans, the “Femminielli” of Naples… The reality of Transgender lives, freed from the stigma of pathologization, can bring forth a comprehensive redefinition of what we are, as women, men, trans, lesbians, gays, intersex.