Silicone agency and the making of female trans bodies in Argentina

Silicone injection has been a key feature of trans’ gender affirmation practices in Argentina and Latin America, an experience shaped by the criminalization of this community. Despite the growing scholarship on gender affirmation practices, silicone injection remains overlooked. This article aims to identify how silicone shaped the experiences of travestis in Argentina. This study proposes ‘following’ silicone as a method: contextualizing its meanings and actions through archival research on media, cultural and medical primary sources, legislation, photographs, secondary data produced by community organizations and government offices, and autobiographical texts. The findings are that silicone should be understood as a non-human agent that co-constituted travestis’ identity and bodily experience, that while being a global practice, enabled particularly precarious embodied experiences in a community socially excluded. This encourages new trans histories of embodiment that challenge the medical monopoly and explore the circuits of community knowledge and DIY medical practices. This research advocates for recognizing the argentine elderly trans community advocacy for social reparation and inclusive healthcare practices.