Contesting Sexual Morality. Futurism, Masculinity, and Homosexuality in Florence, 1913-1914

Abstract

The article seeks to contribute to studies on gender and sexuality among Italian avant-gardes by focusing on the Florentine Futurist journal Lacerba (1913-1915). It argues that the journal sustained a provocative campaign against conventional sexual morality, which included a vindication of sexual diversity and homosexuality. Through the writings of contributors such as Italo Tavolato and Giovanni Papini, Lacerba combined Futurist rhetoric with an elitist, iconoclastic, and irreverent conception of sexuality. The article concludes that Lacerba’s campaign to sexual reform was severely curtailed by the authors’ nationalism.

Keywords

• Futurism
• Sexuality
• Lacerba
• Masculinity and Nationalism
• Homosexuality