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Critique Essay History Nonfiction Theory

Playing Back the Nation: Waria, Indonesian Transvestites

By Tom Boellstorff, 2008

Waria (better known as banci or béncong), who can be provisionally defined as male-to-female transvestites, are wellknown members of contemporary Indonesian society. Waria are best understood not as a third gender but a male femininity. By exploring how waria reconfigure concepts of authenticity, I address the relationship between the waria subject position and Indonesian national culture.

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