Paper short abstract:

The paper aims to examine the negotiation processes of masculinity put into play by some African men living in Italy. The research looks at their efforts to shape and negotiate a model of masculinity that is usually stigmatized in both their countries and contemporary Italy.

Paper long abstract:

The research focuses on narratives, practices and desires expressed by some African men living in Italy and who experience same-sex behaviors. The main theoretical purpose is to examine their lives looking at the intersections of migration experiences, non-straight masculinities and cultural/religious diversity.

The paper is based on a multi-sited research carried out in Italy through the use of in-depht interviews, ethnographic observations and nethnography. The aim is to understand how these men shape, challenge and transform their embodied model of masculinity after the migration experience.

Considering the social and cultural stigmatization of queer identities in both Africa and Italy, their daily efforts are focused on the creation of a positive image of themselves as people expressing a dissident sexuality or simply performing an alternative form of masculinity. During this process, they usually tackle internalized homophobia, symbolic violence and power imbalance at different stages and in relation to several social actors. The research looks at how their social networks are redefined across space and/or time and explores the creative ways that they put into play to escape different kinds of intolerance and marginalization in present-day Italy.

In conclusion, an intersectional perspective to their voices combined with an anthropological sensibility could offer significant insights to men's studies, in particular to understand the contestation of gender norms, the transformation of contemporary subjectivities and the ability to enact imagined forms of masculinity.