“WE ARE ALL BORN NAKED AND THE REST IS CDZINHA”: a netnography on Chat UOL in Cuiabá-MT

Abstract

This study investigates cdzinhas of Cuiabá (MT), men who temporarily dress as women for sexual purposes, seeking to understand their motivations and interactions on Chat UOL. To understand them, we need to study those who preceded them in the field of temporary gender performances: the crossdressers of the 90s and 2000s. In Brazil, these studies were deepened just twenty years ago, with rapid changes since then. Using netnography as a method, free observations and direct questions were addressed to the participants of Chat UOL. The objective is to understand how cdzinhas occupy this “online space”, by asking why they are in that “place”, and as a result, how they benefit sexually from temporary transvestism. The results reveal that the cdzinhas exert power by attracting heterosexual men, keeping their identities secret. Furthermore, cdzinhas do not necessarily declare themselves to be gay men, much less transvestites. The research was based on authors such as Azevedo (2020) and Braga (2015), who discuss the relationship between masculinity and the feminization of others. Furthermore, this study sought to delineate a general profile of the cdzinhas audience, highlighting that they are straight men, married and without feminine mannerisms. Revealing the complexity of gender and sexuality relations in this context.