<p>Lucia Hernandez Issue Brief</p><p>Latino - Women and Gender Issues Key Words  Machismo, Marianismo, Stereotypes, Queer, Transgender, Non-normative Description While research has been conducted to better understand Latin American gender roles, there has been little research and investigation on an important community that must navigate said gender (as well as sexuality) roles and expectations: the queer and trans* Latina community. Key Points  Cultural-specific values and beliefs shape gender roles and societal expectations  The trans* and queer Latina community are often rendered invisible and inconsequential</p><p> Trans* and queer Latinas face multiple vulnerabilities</p><p> The formation of identity is fluid with individuals encompassing various intersecting identities at once</p><p>Images</p><p> http://www.translatinacoalition.org/#!transvisible- report-english/c1j1m http://www.translatinacoalition.org/#!transvisible- report-english/c1j1m</p><p>By Julio Salgado http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxrmrkas n71qk6lmzo1_1280.jpg http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/health/self-made- woman-transgender-latina-tells-her-story</p><p>Brief</p><p>Gender roles and expectations are largely shaped by cultural-specific values and beliefs. Within the Latin American community, machismo and marianismo are used to describe the set of ideal attributes of males and females, respectively. Machismo, or the “cult of virility,” describes the ideal male as bold, intransigent, and sexually aggressive. The counterpart, marianismo, or the “cult of feminine moral superiority,” describes the ideal woman as selfless, submissive, and possessing great spiritual strength. Even as these ascribed roles and expectations are linked to Latin American countries, the ideals transcend borders and continue to be relevant in the United States.1The ascribed gender roles and expectations are especially important in the context of Latina queer and Trans* individuals and communities. Trans*, an adopted and embraced term from members of the Transgender community, is commonly used as a short version of the term Transgender, which is the umbrella term for people who “Transgress or defy imposed gender norms.”2 Individuals who self-identify as queer do not fall under traditional gender or sexuality norms; they are non-normative and would rather not identify with any particular label.3 </p><p>1 http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/uploads/Women_in_Latin_America_updated-1352754376.pdf</p><p>2 http://www.translatinacoalition.org/#!transvisible-report-english/c1j1m</p><p>3 http://community.pflag.org/abouttheq Unfortunately, because Trans* Latina’s “gender identity, migratory status, race, and language … defy the norm,” there is an “imposed invisibility” and silence surrounding them4. Trans* Latina women face various difficulties and social barriers daily, including difficulty in obtaining legal documents reflecting their name and gender identity, difficulty in accessing safe and affordable housing, difficulty accessing medical services where they are treated with integrity and respect, difficulty in accessing and securing well-paid employment, feelings of being uninformed about their legal protections and unsupported by local authorities. Information regarding Trans* and gender non-conforming communities’ social conditions is limited as is basic information about the community, for example the population size, since the Census Bureau does not collect data on Trans* and gender non-conforming people. </p><p>From the data that is available, it is clear that Latino/a Trans* people face many challenges. According to the 2011 U.S. report conducted by the National Center for Trans Equity, “Latino/a people often live in extreme poverty with 28% reporting household income of less than $10,000/year … The same report found that forty-seven percent (47%) of Latino/a respondents reported having attempted suicide.”5 In addition to the challenges previously stated, Trans* and queer Latinas encounter psychological challenges, especially with respect to managing their identity. These individuals have to deal with issues of race, gender, and sexuality while simultaneously being in the process of “becoming” and understanding themselves.6 Often they face discrimination within the different communities in which they feel they belong: “because of racism in the lesbian community and heterosexism in the Cuban community, there were few spaces that allowed them to embrace both identities at once.”7 Trans* and queer Latina women not only have to endure stigmas and face marginalization from their various communities, they also have to understand traditional gender roles in order to survive. For example, the “butch or masculine personas” were adopted by lesbian Latinas as a survival strategy8. </p><p>4 http://www.translatinacoalition.org/#!transvisible-report-english/c1j1m</p><p>5 http://www.translatinacoalition.org/#!transvisible-report-english/c1j1m</p><p>6 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/columbia/reader.action?docID=10367254</p><p>7 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/columbia/reader.action?docID=10367254</p><p>8 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/columbia/reader.action?docID=10367254 Trans* and queer Latinas remain highly invisible, yet the experiences they have to endure are very real and very present even if not visible to society at large. It is important to understand this community and its members as well as their identity within “national and transnational economics, politics, and cultures” while exploring the role of various types of violence, both interpersonal and state sanctioned. Trans* and queer Latina women are “involved in an ongoing struggle to reconstruct the rigid and confining gender roles received in their culture of origin” and are constantly managing and negotiating “various cultural systems and structural inequalities.”9 While there is no quick fix, becoming aware of these issues and continuing to pursue understanding, changes as simple as providing legal documents that reflect one’s name and gender identity can be made and provide a path for more changes, legal and social, to arise.</p><p>Works Cited</p><p>Moreno, Carolina. "Violence Against Transgender Women In Latin America Thwarts HIV Efforts." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/transphobia-latin-america-thwarts-hiv- efforts_n_2805976.html>. Women in Latin America. Washington, D.C. (1312 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington 20005): Latin America Documentation, USCC, 1975. Latin American Resource Center. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/uploads/Women_in_Latin_America_updated- 1352754376.pdf>. "TransVisible: Transgender Latina Immigration in U.S. Society." TransLatin@ Coalition. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <http://www.translatinacoalition.org/#!transvisible-report- english/c1j1m>.</p><p>Asencio, Marysol. Latina/o Sexualities : Probing Powers, Passions, Practices, and Policies. New Brunswick, NJ, USA: Rutgers University Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 21 April 2015.</p><p>Relevant Websites</p><p>9 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/columbia/reader.action?docID=10367254 http://www.translatinacoalition.org/ http://www.qwoc.org/ http://www.twocc.us/ http://www.hrc.org/</p>