Other Transits: Bodies, Practices, Representations of Femminielli and Transsexuals

Original title: Altri transiti: corpi, pratiche, rappresentazioni di femminielli e transessuali

By: Vesce M.C.

First published in Italy: Mimesis, 2017

Genere: Non-fiction, anthropology

Overview: An interesting essay on the figure of the Neapolitan femminielli facing “homologation” to the current dominant models of homosexuality, transsexuality, and transgenderism. These have become a sort of threat to the cultural identity of femminielli, rooted in this geographical context since long ago. From time immemorial, in fact, in Naples and its province, effeminate homosexuals, more or less explicit cross-dressers and transgender persons have their place in society. They are free to act in small spaces of creativity during local “rituals”, such as marriages, figliata or juta in Montevergine. No longer constrained in a tragic male body, the femminielli are transforming into other identities, embodying their character and sensitivity. These identities are being questioned today.