Woman born a man

This woman, Roberta Close, was assigned a male identity at birth. She is from Brazil and next week, my presentation partner and I will address the market for transsexual models in Brazil for our Portuguese class. Close would later pose in Playboy and be named the most beautiful woman in Brazil.

Another Brazilian figure I would like to include in this discussion is Laerte Coutinho, a Brazilian cartoonist who also resists the binary coding of "male/female." One of the topics I'd like to explore is 'What makes Brazil so open to sexual identity fluidity?' and conversely 'What makes the U.S. less receptive of the same?'

Lately the news has been engaging discourses surrounding transsexualism, highlighting in particular Laverne Cox from Orange is the New Black,  Janet Mock who recently released Redefining Realness, Rupaul who has been accused of being transphobic and a little girl whose school chastised her for not being feminine enough. The TED circuit hasn't missed a beat in featuring Geena Rocero, a transgender Filipina woman and model who has decided to 'come out' in a very public way.

I'm [trying to] take this opportunity to educate myself in ways I can be more sensitive to, about and for difference, in my language, in my questions, in my personal ethos.

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