Psychomedical Interventions with Transgender People in Portugal and Brazil

A Critical Approach

Bibliographic Data

ID15515964
AuthorsLiliana Rodrigues (0000-0001-6900-9634, Universidade do Porto, corresponding author), Maria Soares (0000-0002-1545-9979, Universidade do Porto), Maria Da Conceição De Oliveira Carvalho Nogueira (0000-0002-9152-754X, Universidade do Porto), Conceição Nogueira (Universidade do Porto)
Year2021
Volume19
Issue1
Pages267-267
Publication date2021-12-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph19010267
PMID35010527
OpenAlexW4200051302
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited14

This study aims to analyze biopsychomedical interventions with transgender people. For this purpose, we carried out 35 semi-structured interviews with people who self-identify as transsexuals and transvestites in Brazil and Portugal. The responses of the study participants were systematized according to a thematic analysis, which led to the emergence of the following three main themes: "institutional power", "expectations of trans-bodies", and "experiences in health services". This study demonstrates how some trans people perform bodily modifications to fight the transphobia they experience throughout their lives. In addition, they believe that, by making their bodies conform to each other, they may become more attractive and desirable. The process of cisnormativity is, furthermore, conveyed by the idea present in the answers of some respondents: that having "integrated" bodies means facing less discrimination and that they will, therefore, obtain more satisfactory ways of personally and socially experiencing their identities. This study contributes to a deepening critical reflection on the experiences/exclusions of trans people, especially in the psychomedical context of "normalization" devices. Hence, just as social structures produce and sustain transphobia, the same structures are responsible for combating it

Family medicine · Geography · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Men who have sex with men · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Sociology · Transgender · Transgender Person · Transgender women · Gender Studies · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Gerontology

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