Transformers

Abstract

This photographic series is part of Transformers, an artistic project that makes visible crossdressing among butch lesbians, drag kings, and trans* masculine individuals. These are lives that deconstruct the assertion that masculinity is not performative, that is to say, a cultural imperative that preserves masculinity as a privilege reserved solely for men. These are lives that, be it through performance (drag king) or their very own bodies (transgender), resist strategies of normalization and gender construction. Using a series of photographs taken in 2010, I subvert some of the heroic masculinities that circulate within Spain. Through the use of tools such as parody and crossdressing, I destabilize the binary perspectives of gender that dominate bodies and attempt to overcome the rigid categories that signify masculinity and femininity. This project, therefore, addresses the constant pendular swinging between the representation and identification of bodies. The blending of crossdressing onstage and masculinity off-stage suggests that the line between drag and transgender becomes permanently muddled. In my case, this means being able to choose to live my masculinity in a more organic way, integrated into my daily life.