The scene where Gianni and Fernanda are in bed in a hotel and she starts to do some sort of sex act with him. She asks him if he's ever done it before, and he says no. She then asks if he enjoys it and he says yes. Fernanda then slaps him and storms out, saying she never wants to see him again. What exactly was it that made her so angry??
shareIMO: She was angry because in the scene in the cafe Charlo(?) tells her that all men are fags and that they'll all take it up the butt. So Fernanda tries with Gianni to see if that is the case. Gianni is receptive to her sexual advances and is willing to allow her to go all the way with him. This upsets Fernanda because she wants Gianni to accept her as a woman, not as a transexual man. It makes her feel cheap so she gets upset and decides she doesn't want to see Gianni anymore because unbeknownst to him, he made her feel like she was still just a prostitute and not the woman he's in love with. Had he refused her advances she would have felt validated as a woman.
!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!
Which also brings me to the end. If Gianni was so crazy about Fernanda AND willing to be with her sexually as a transexual man AND willing to still be with her even after discovering his wife was pregnant, then why didn't Fernanda just tell him she wasn't sure she wanted to go through with the operation? Clearly, Gianni was madly in love her and seemed like he would accept any choice she made as long as they stayed together. This made it hard for me to feel sympathetic toward Fernanda because in the end, her final decision was so rash and drastic. She didn't talk it out with Gianni at all.
***spoilers***
well, bowery boy, i kind of see it the other way around. it seemed to me gianni wasn't 100% sure he wanted to be with her, or else he wouldn't have just given up as he did. maybe she realised he wasn't really ready to be with her. i think that the what you pointed out – he wanted to be with her no matter what – showed that maybe he was so troubled she sensed it wasn't shere she was meant to be. we have to agree that a sex change operation is a major change and it brings a lout of changes to a relationship... my guess is he was jut marvelled at life outside the box and giving a new experience a shot while for fernanda it was something obviously more serious and there was much more at stake...
I actually think it's a bit more complex than that. They both obviously loved each other, I don't think it was that they doubted each's love for the other, it's more the fact that Fernanda can never be a real woman. She has wanted to be a "normal" woman her whole life, to meet someone to love, to settle down, and in the end to be able to have a family, whether she realizes it or not. It wasn't until Livia comes and tells her that she's pregnant (and what's more, that it's the one thing that Gianni has always wanted above all else), that she realizes that she can never really be a woman, no matter how much she wishes and prays for it.
When Livia came, she realized that though Gianni was in love with her, eventually her inability to give him a child would undermine their relationship (on both of their sides, because she is always going to want to give him a child, and will always feel inadequate). So, she leaves him so that he can have the child that he wanted even if it means she loses out on her dream.
The reason she decided not to get the operation in the end isn't because she doesn't want it, it's because she realizes that even if she gets it, it isn't going to be what she wants. So she realizes the futility of going through with the operation, and instead goes back to the streets, where having male genitals will give her a life that she can count on, even if it too is a lowering of her true dreams.
She was angry because he allowed her to penetrate him, and liked it. I'm in a sexuality studies class and we a reading a book entitled "Travesti" by Don Kulick, which documents and explains the lives and beliefs of Brazilian Travesti (which Fernanda was).
Basically travesti want a man, a really manly man who enjoy being dominant in bed. Gender roles is defined in bed as well. The travesti wants to be treated as a woman (though they believe that they are truly male, and thus homosexual. Fernanda's case of wanting a sex change would be severely frowned upon by other travesti because they see a man who wants to biologically be a woman as "touched in the head").
Even though the man is having sex with another man, because he is penetrating the travesti his is not considered homosexual. Travesti dump their boyfriends if they find out that the men like to be penetrated or enjoy sucking they travesti's penis. In fact, the man will never even go near the penis for to do so would be gay. Fernanda even mentioned that Gianni does not touch her penis.
Travesti fell very disturbed if their man enjoys being penetrated or preforming fellatio. They believe that this man will "give his ass" to anyone, and want nothing to do with him.
This is why Fernanda was so upset when Gianni enjoyed her finger in his butt. However, unlike most travesti, she takes him back.
The book is fascinating, I highly recommend it.
"Even samurai have Teddybears, and even the bears get drunk."
That explains it pretty well. Thanks!
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