ABSTRACT
Although there are many different men in brothels and many different fantasies being portrayed, the performances commonly observe evoke female aggression and male passivity. Ironically, in brothels–different from supposedly normative (homo)sexual relationships–commerce with women is necessary, even though the main fantasy being sold is the centrality of male sexual indifference. With women being more aggressive in brothels and men more passive, the body language of the two genders is often reversed. One of the most common explanations we hear is that, unlike women, men have a “biological drive” to have sex with many partners. According to this view–traditional in Western sexual philosophy–brothels permit men to maintain social monogamy while exercising their biological imperative. In carioca brothels, instrumentality, denial of subjectivity, reduction to body, reduction to appearance, and silencing seem to apply. The main fantasy that men consume in a brothel is one of their centrality. The brothel is an inversion of normal courting behavior.
