Running Mascara: The Hermeneutics of Trans Visual Archives in Late Franco-Era Spain

Abstract

This article traces the curation of visual archives of trans subjectivity by the Franco regime. It focuses specifically on the experiences of three trans women who were prosecuted in the early to mid-1970s. Based on the definition of photographs as “material performances,” the author reconsiders recent debates about the “ethics of turning away” from forensic documents. Since Spanish privacy laws forbid the full reproduction of defendants’ photographs, this study also delves into the ethics of research on trans visibility in contexts of criminalization. The examined evidence demonstrates the disproportionate targeting of poor trans women as well as the centrality of the paseo (stroll) in their daily struggle for belonging. The confiscated photographs show a community of trans women posing in natural or public settings using different techniques to highlight the eroticism of their bodies. Likewise, trans women’s representational strategies centered joy, sisterhood, and intimacy as tenets of a livable life.