From a gender approach, the present work has the goal of investigating the specificities of female homosexuality in prison. From the discursive analysis of interviews conducted with two incarcerated women, we investigate the meanings associated to the experience of "becoming a man" in prison. In prison, the two participants assumed male names and looks, being recognized by other inmates and by the prison staff as men. The goal is to understand the kind of privileges these women acquire as the result of adopting typical male behaviors in prison. Results show that the two participants experience the status and the rights usually associated to men, such as polygamy and the legitimized use of force, reproducing in prison the hierarchical organization that characterize heterosexual relationships in society.
Female homosexuality; Gender; Discourse; Transvestism; Incarceration