'Slaves of our own making' the fabrication of masculine identities between Java and Bali

This article examines the construction of masculine identities among a specific gang of Javanese migrants who work in the sex market for homosexuals in Bali. It addresses youthful masculinities in Indonesia, with reference to the creative use of physical and symbolic violence in the construction of masculinity, the transformation of the body into a material resource, the fabrication of a particular bodily craft that centres on the ostentation of specific corporeal qualities, and the collective apprenticeship of homosexual acts and practices for the sex market. It challenges embodied violence as a destructive force, and argues that it is an important means of asserting masculinity over other sex workers and rival gang members to establish control over the sex market and territoriality within the boundaries of the touristoriented area of south Bali. © 2011 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World.