Brazilian Crossdresser Club

Abstract

This article studies a virtual community, the Brazilian Crossdresser Club (BCC), that aggregates stigmatized people who met soley because of the Internet. These men, united around a shared and well kept secret—dressing as women—participate actively in the club looking for friendship, support, and a place for open communication. The BCC demonstrates a high degree of organization and its members a lucid consciousness of the roles they play in society and among other virtual peers. This qualitative case study demonstrates that the Internet is a good environment for meeting people with the same desires and frustrations, and that certain communities, such as the BCC, would never be formed if it weren’t for the net’s capability of gathering people through communication. Cyberspace is a space where users can sustain an identity that does not correspond to their identity "in real life".