Abstract
Grounded in ethnographic research, the paper reflects on identity positions of men who sell sexual pleasures in the streets of downtown Recife. The anus appears as the major symbol of masculinity of men on the sex market. They are classified by the availability of their anus on the sex market: boys ativos (not available), boys bicha (easily available) and boys flex (price negotiable). Rare commodity, because of its use as source of pleasure to dishonor man, it becomes a symbol of power and subjugation in the relations established on the sex market; a marker of manliness and "more value".
Keywords:
masculinity; sex workers; sex market; sexual practices