Is gender-critical feminism feeding the neo-conservative anti-gender rhetoric? Snapshots from the Italian public debate

Abstract

So far, the Italian literature on the genesis and development of anti-gender mobilisation has focussed on right-wing and Vatican strategies, discourses, and alliances. However, in recent years debates around “gender theory" have prompted political and cultural conflicts inside Italian feminist, lesbian and secular left-wing movements and parties. These political fractures – mirrored also in the debate on TERF and “gender-critical” feminism - have become visible in the Italian public debate on the Zan Bill (an anti-homophobia provision rejected by Italian Parliament in 2021). Although “gender critical” feminists do not belong to the anti-gender movement - in Italy largely monopolised by right-wing and Catholic activists - I argue that the unexpected convergences towards the fight against “gender ideology” are relevant for, at least, two reasons. On one side, the idea of “gender theory” has reinforced its role as a keyword orienting Italian public discourse on sexual rights. On the other hand, criticism of various (although inconsistent) definitions of “gender theory” has broadened their cultural circulation outside conservative or religious groups, in both cases associated with processes of ideological colonisation. These two shifts can be considered to enact a relevant normalisation of anti-gender narratives within Italian public and political discourse fostered by media vulgarisation and popular understandings of the meaning of “gender”.

Keywords:

• Italy
• Anti-gender rhetoric
• Zan Bill
• Surrogacy
• Feminisms

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 In this paper, I will use the expressions “gender theory”, “theory of gender” and “gender ideology” in an interchangeable way. It is relevant to note that, in the Italian context, the English term “gender” is widely used, instead of the Italian “genere”, as in “teoria del gender”, “teoria gender” or “ideologia gender”. The use of an exogenous term is part of a communicative strategy aiming at projecting a stigma on what are assumed to be threatening ideas coming from abroad and promoted by international lobbies. The expression “ideologia del gender”, in this sense, mirrors the political, cultural and religious positioning of those who consider gender studies, and trans*feminist and LGBTQ theories as a unique and coherent powerful ideological dispositive advocated for by powerful global élites.

2 While I am writing this – namely, between the first and the revised version of this paper – national elections have produced a government led by the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia. Therefore, relevant anti-gender campaigners, such as Eugenia Roccella (Fratelli d’Italia) – appointed “Minister of Family, Fertility (natalità), and Equal Opportunities” – are now occupying key political and institutional positions.

3 The Rainbow Europe Maps published every year by ILGA Europe (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) since 2009 have contributed towards synthetically representing the different geopolitical areas in terms of sexual citizenship. The most recent map can be consulted here: https://www.ilga-europe.org/report/rainbow-europe-2022/. Italy is placed among the least equipped countries in terms of anti-discrimination provisions and LGBTQ rights.

4 The Lega (League) Party, previously Lega Nord (Northern League), is an Italian nationalist right-wing party.

5 The text published on Avvenire is now visible on the blog “Gli scritti” (see Barcellona et al., 2012).

6 Diotima is an Italian “philosophical community” founded in 1983 and it is composed of academic and militant feminists of difference linked to the Libreria delle Donne (Women’s Library) of Milan. The group has been much inspired, among many, by the work of Luce Irigaray (see de Lauretis, 1990).

7 Recent events – including the development of a globalised anti-gender movement – are debunking the simplified picture around the idea of an Italian exceptionalism when it comes to sexual and gender cultures and politics.

8 Arcilesbica, founded in 1996, has been, for a long time, the “major organization of lesbian women in Italy” (Bandelli, 2021). After the fracture on surrogacy and gender identity, it has become increasingly marginalised within the Italian LGBTQ community.

9 It should be noted that surrogacy does not enjoy sweeping consent even within the LGB community. A recent survey involving people who are in same-sex civil unions has reported that 81.6% of respondents strongly agreed with the introduction of stepchild adoption (adoption of the partner’s child) in the case of civil unions and 81% also strongly agreed with the institution of marriage for same-sex couples (egalitarian marriage). Only 39.5% of interviewees strongly agreed with the idea of legalising surrogacy (Istat-Unar, 2022).

10 Alessandro Zan is member of the Democratic Party, as well as a well-known Italian LGBTQ activist.

11 The mainstream Italian media tends to present certain feminist stances as expressions of feminism tout court. This is especially the case when it comes to the conservative and Catholic press.

12 See Rubino (2020) and Mirenzi (2021).

13 RadFem Italia is a feminist group which defines itself as “Italian gender critical radical feminists, linked with international radical feminist groups. We only work with women, regardless of any religious and/or political orientation” (my translation). Url: https://feministpost.it/ . The press release is available on the RadFem Italia’s blog (2021).

14 This conflict, of course, cannot be confined to a problem of representations and theorization. It also regards relevant redistributive issues linked to hierarchies of public attention that different definitions of “gender” produce, orienting the action of the state and other public institutions.

15 Twitter, May 10, 2021 [consulted on 15 July 2022].

16 See the interview edited by Marcolivio (2021) on the blog of ProVita&Famiglia.

17 Avvenire is strongly linked to the Episcopal Conference of Italy (CEI), which represents the official organ of Italian Catholic bishops.

18 See, for example, the articles published by the Catholic newspaper Avvenire. Izzo (2021), “Ddl Zan. Ma con l'identità di genere si vuole annullare la donna [Zan Bill. But with gender identity they want to cancel the woman]; and Ognibene (2021), “Femministe contro la legge Zan: ‘No all'identità di genere’ [Feminists against the Zan law: ‘No to gender identity’].

19 See the editorial signed by Brandi (2021) (a member of the Italian anti-gender organisation ProVita & Famiglia) in Panorama.

20 The paradox of the single-issue convergence of political actors with opposite ideological perspectives was significantly unveiled in a webinar organised by the press agency DiRE involving two members of ProVita & Famiglia, the president of ArciLesbica (Cristina Gramolini) and the former president of the largest Italian LGBTQ organisation, Arcigay (Aurelio Mancuso). The discussion, clearly organised to give visibility to the broad opposition to the law proposal from anti-gender to gay lesbian/feminist activists, ended with harsh reciprocal accusations.

21 Despite these appropriations, feminism and (neo) Marxism are still depicted by anti-gender theorists and activists as the ideological roots of the “gender ideology” (Graff & Korolczuk, 2022).

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Notes on contributors

Paolo Gusmeroli

Paolo Gusmeroli, PhD., is Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova (Italy). His research interests focus mainly on the sociology of gender, sexuality and family practices.