category: Continuing Discussions

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~.gender/sexuality/italy Continuing Discussions – Early View Volume 12 (2026)

Nicoletta Marini-Maio, Journal Editor – Continuing Discussions Editor
Guido Capaccioli and Samantha Gillen – Managing Editors
Deion Dresser, Matthew Guyton-Docherty, Mattia Mossali, Samuel Sylvester – Assistant Editors

Early View Volume 12 (2026)

Articles for the Continuing Discussions section are published on a rolling basis. The following articles have been peer-reviewed and accepted for the Continuing Discussions section of Volume 12 (2026).  They are in conversation with previous articles,

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~“Eh, no! La storia non è ancora finita”: AFAB-to-M Cross-Dressing and Gender Performativity in La bambina col falcone by Bianca Pitzorno

by Anna Finozzi, Dalila Forni

Given the scarcity of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s literature in Italy (Forni, Venzo, Biemmi), we propose examining established literary topoi that, when read through a queer, feminist, and intersectional lens, challenge traditional gender binaries. One of them is the assigned female at birth-to-male (AFAB-to-M) cross-dressing, a recurring motif in children’s fiction across cultural and historical contexts that “has … never been questioned or censured” but rather “simply been accepted” (Flanagan).

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~“The Kind of Girl Everyone Would Like to Be”: Neoliberalism and the Making of Successful Femininities in Upper-Secondary Italian Education

by Maria Taddia

In supposedly post-feminist times, where high-achieving girlhood entails high expectations but is riddled with contradiction, this multiple site case study explores how Italian upper-secondary school female students construct their identities as high achievers. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with students from three Northern Italian upper-secondary institutions were carried out and analyzed. Research findings illustrate the prevalence of narratives constructing success as a multidimensional and contradicting position to occupy, thus emphasizing the influence of deceitful notions around neoliberal individualism and post-feminism.

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~Making an Italian Non-Binary Language: Understanding Speakers’ Motives and Behaviors

by Ade Grossi

Institutionally approved Italian mandates binary gender inflectional markers, precluding speakers from communicating in a non-gendered manner. For many non-binary users this means not being able to adequately refer to themselves and their experiences. In the past few decades, both activists and scholars have been working on and promoting different grammatical strategies to move beyond binary gender communication. Nonetheless, the vast majority of Italian speakers are either unaware of or opposed to these advancements,

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~“Chillo è nu buono guaglione” di Pino Daniele: Verso un Sud intersezionale e queer

by Frances Clemente

In his eponymous second album, released in 1979, Neapolitan musician and singer-songwriter Pino Daniele brought the femminiello to the forefront of the modern music scene for the first time with the track “Chillo è nu buono guaglione.” Inspired by a real-life figure from Naples’ historic centre, the song recounts the daily life of a femminiello, an individual deeply rooted in the Neapolitan territory who is biologically male but exhibits behaviors traditionally associated with the female gender,

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gender/sexuality/italy 11 (2025) – Table of Contents

Nicoletta Marini-Maio, Journal Editor, Continuing Discussions Editor
Paola Bonifazio, Invited Perspectives Editor
Ellen Nerenberg, Open Contributions Editor
Alice Parrinello, Guest Editor
Leonardo Cabrini, Erica Moretti, and Colleen Ryan, Reviews Editors
Guido Capaccioli, Lisa Dolasinki, and Samantha Gillen, Managing Editors
Beatrice Basile, Matthew Guyton-Docherty, Deion Dresser, Mattia Mossali, Francesca Passaseo, Nicolò Salmaso, and Katherine Travers, Assistant Editors
Sofia-Teresa Di Bacco, Student Assistant

Table of Contents
Journal Editorial

ALICE PARRINELLO,

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~Una ricerca sul campo: Università, scelte e pregiudizi linguistici

by Catia Leonetti

The primary objective of this sociolinguistic study is to investigate the notion of “verbosity” traditionally associated with women’s language. A secondary aim is to explore whether this stereotype influences women’s decisions to select certain university majors potentially leading them to assume they are naturally more talkative because of their gender. Specifically, the study asks whether there is a correlation between verbosity, gender, and the discursive nature of particular academic fields,

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gender/sexuality/italy 8 (2021) – Table of Contents

gender/sexuality/italy, 8 (2021) 

Nicoletta Marini-Maio, Journal Editor
Paola Bonifazio, Invited Perspectives Editor
Ellen Nerenberg, Open Contributions and Continuing Discussions Editor
Erica Moretti and Colleen Ryan, Reviews Editors
Victor Xavier Zarour Zarzar and Lisa Dolasinski, Managing Editors
Arianna Avalle, Beatrice Basile, Leonardo Cabrini, Magda Collazo, Jacob DeCarli, Samantha Gillen, Katherine Travers, Assistant Editors

Table of Contents

Journal Editorial
NICOLETTA MARINI-MAIO, Dickinson College, 

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Intersectionality in Italian histories, cultural products, and social practices

Journal Editorial by Nicoletta Marini-Maio, Paola Bonifazio, Ellen Nerenberg

The editorial includes the Editors’ introductions to their respective areas: Nicoletta Marini-Maio announces the topic and guest editors of the Themed Section: “Intersectionality in Italian histories, cultural products, and social practices.” Marini-Maio also highlights the section Collaborations, which hosts discussions and descriptions of current scholarly collaborations. Paola Bonifazio presents the rationale of the Invited Perspectives.

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