The enemy of the new man
Subtitle: homosexuality in fascist Italy
By: Lorenzo Benadusi ; translated by Suzanne Dingee and Jennifer Pudney
Contributors: Dingee, Suzanne; Pudney, Jennifer
Series: George L.  Mosse series in modern European cultural and intellectual history; George L. Mosse series in modern European cultural and intellectual history
Publisher: The University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Madison
Language: eng
Number of pages: 432
ISBN-13: 9780299283940; 9780299283933
Subjects: Fascism; Fascism and sex; Masculinity; Gay men; History
Work titles: Nemico dell'uomo nuovo
Description: 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 --
Notes: Originally published as Il nemico dell'uomo nuovo: L'omosessualità nell'esperimento totalitario fascista. Milano : Feltrinelli, 2005.