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).