The Enemy of the New Man: Homosexuality in Fascist Italy

by Lorenzo Benadusi, Suzanne Dingee (Translation), Jennifer Pudney (Translation)

In this first in-depth historical study of homosexuality in Fascist Italy, Lorenzo Benadusi brings to light immensely important archival documents regarding the sexual politics of the Italian Fascist regime; he adds new insights to the study of the complex relationships of masculinity, sexuality, and Fascism; he explores the connections between new Fascist values and preexisting Italian traditional and Roman Catholic views on morality; he documents both the Fascist regime’s denial of the existence of homosexuality in Italy and its clandestine strategies and motivations for repressing and imprisoning homosexuals; he uncovers the ways that accusations of homosexuality (whether true or false) were used against political and personal enemies; and above all, he shows how homosexuality was deemed the enemy of the Fascist “New Man,” an ideal of a virile warrior and dominating husband vigorously devoted to the “political” function of producing children for the Fascist state.
    Benadusi investigates the regulation and regimentation of gender in Fascist Italy, and the extent to which, in uneasy concert with the Catholic Church, the regime engaged in the cultural and legal engineering of masculinity and femininity. He cites a wealth of unpublished documents, official speeches, letters, coerced confessions, private letters and diaries, legal documents, and government memos to reveal and analyze how the orders issued by the regime attempted to protect the “integrity of the Italian race.” For the first time, documents from the Vatican archives illuminate how the Catholic Church dealt with issues related to homosexuality during the Fascist period in Italy.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, History, Gay

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Dasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Enemy of the New Man was originally published in 2005 but reprinted in English seven years later. In fact, the original printing was Italy’s first in-depth examination on homosexuality in Italy. As explained in the book’s introduction, while studying fascism raises no eyebrows in Italian academia, studying homosexuality still requires justification and being questioned on one’s own sexuality, something that many North American scholars no longer contend with. With such context, the importance of Benadusi’s research becomes clear as he argues that Italy’s unification, and lack of national identity gave way for a fascist, totalitarian regime to forge a national, hyper-masculine, and virile identity. This identity of the “new man” found its antagonist in the effeminate, homosexual and although the regime decriminalized the practice, the legal silence was filled by heavy repression and persecution of non-conforming individuals. The regime removed the formal law directly targeting homosexual activities, instead opting for a strategy of silence and less direct laws that largely targeted men who visibly represented the opposite of the “new man.” As such, the construction of homosexuality was an integral part to Italy’s fascist regime despite the “silence” in legal codes.
Benadusi focuses on the medical, legal, political, and social aspects of homosexuality and gender performance in Italy. A clear strength of this book is Benadusi’s ability to navigate the topic with the lack of Italian scholarship on the topic, instead relying on his own analysis of primary documents including legal records, police documents, and medical texts. However, one does wish there had been more time spent on the lesbian woman or the masculine woman. As Benadusi makes clear, fascist Italy cared deeply about the appearances of individuals and their performed gender, and while he notes that the regime was hostile towards masculine women who then sometimes faced exorcisms as punishment, he does not go into nearly as much depth as male homosexuals (p. 272). While the regime’s silence towards male homosexuals provided room for analysis, it does not appear that the silence towards women same-sex relations warranted the same degree of study.

[G.S. Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book - Whilst it looks at homosexuality, it provides another window to provide so much information about the Italian Fascist regime. It was so helpful with the writing of my new novel, Bread - A Romance.

[Stefania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recensione brevissima non basata tanto sul contenuto in sé (perché sarebbero necessarie molte più parole), ma sullo stile con il quale viene presentato.

Tendenzialmente non ho nulla da ridire sulla chiarezza con la quale vengono esposti gli argomenti, ma ci sono alcune parti in cui non è subito chiarissimo il periodo storico al quale si sta facendo riferimento. Ci sono infatti alcuni balzi indietro (XIX secolo) e alcuni in avanti (anni '50) che non sono sempre segnalati in maniera evidente, e causano un'iniziale confusione. Nulla di irrimediabile, ma ci tenevo comunque a segnalarlo.
Per il resto però i collegamenti non sono affatto arzigogolati, e anche gli aspetti più teorici vengono spiegati in modo semplice e lineare.

Quello che personalmente mi ha entusiasmata di meno è stata l'evidente ripetitività di certi concetti, che sono stati ribaditi più e più volte cambiando semplicemente la loro formulazione. Visto che il testo fa parte della bibliografia per un esame universitario potrei anche dire "repetita iuvant", ma in casi come questi preferisco di gran lunga la concisione.

Apprezzati invece i molti riferimenti fatti a casi più o meno famosi relativi all'omosessualità durante il fascismo. Non solo accrescono le conoscenze storiche, ma aiutano anche a visualizzare in modo più concreto alcuni aspetti teorici trattati nel libro.

[Iñaki Tofiño · Rating 5 out of 5]

Risulta quantomeno curiosa l'ossessione del fascismo con l'omosessualità, intesa come una manca de virilità contraria all'immagine del "uomo nuovo" che si cercò d'imporre sul popolo italiano durante il Ventennio. Carcere e confinamento, uso dell'accusa di pederastia contro i avversari politici... Benadusi esamina articoli di stampa, espedienti di polizia, archivi e saggi per fornire un'analisi de la differenza sessuale e di genere che mostra le particolarità de l'approccio fascista, diverso de la morale cattolica e de le convenzioni borghesi, però sempre discriminatorio.

[mohave · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'autore non ha preso seriamente il punto di vista foucaldiano e credo l'abbia capito poco. I gay erano nemici anche dei liberali, visto che la categoria di omosessuale l'avevano inventata i liberali. Gli esperti del 1800, che avevano inventato questo concetto come identità e come malattia, non erano fascisti, anzi tutto il contrario.
I fascisti e i nazisti non andavano dicendo nulla di nuovo: erano un prodotto della società liberale e come tali ripetevano gli stessi discorsi dei liberali.

[Michele Banale · Rating 4 out of 5]

una bellissima lettura, Benadusi è una buonissima penna che riesce a rendere molto piacevole anche un saggio che in genere non è un tipo di lettura che apprezzo particolarmente