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''Femminielli'' or ''femmenielli'' (singular ''femminiello'', cf. Standard Italian ''femmina'', "a female," ''-ello'', masculine diminutive suffix) is a term used to refer to a population of homosexual males with markedly feminine gender expression in traditional Neapolitan culture.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The ''Femminiello'' in Neapolitan Culture )〕 It may be hard to define this term within modern Western notions of "gay men" versus "trans women" since both these categories overlap to a degree in the case of ''femminielli'' (''see: Third gender''.)〔 It has been noted that this term is not derogatory and does not carry stigma, instead ''femminielli'' are traditionally believed to bring luck.〔〔 Ironically Achille della Ragione suggests that recent surveys have shown that Neapolitans have a generally negative view of what he calls "the politically correct model of homosexuality of a hypocritical do-gooder society" (implying the mainstream Western gay culture), yet he contrasts ''femminielli'' as enjoying a favorable attitude from the part of Neapolitan society.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Achille della Ragione )〕 ==Gender analysis== It is reductive to insert the Neapolitan Femminiello within the macro-category of transgender or transsexual, usually adopted in Anglo-Saxon and North American contexts. The femminiello, instead, could be considered as a peculiar gender expression, despite a widespread sexual binarism. The cultural roots of this phenomena are embedded in confer to the femminiello a cultural and even socially legitimized status. For the historical and symbolic coordinates of Naples, the identity construct of the femminiello is not superimposable to more common European and euro-centric transgender clusters.〔Hochdorn, Alexander, Paolo F. Cottone and Dania Vallini (2011). Gender and discursive positioning: Doing transgender in highly normative contexts. ''69th Conference of the International Council of Psychologists''. 29 July - 2 August 2011, Washington DC (USA) http://www.icpweb.org〕 In late 2000s many sex scandals have rocked Italy involving high profile politicians (e.g., former President of Lazio, Piero Marrazzo) and transsexual sex workers often of Latin American descent, who are usually referred to as ''transessuali'' (shortened to ''trans'') in Italian media. In 2009 the term ''femminiello'' gained some notoriety in Italian media after a Naples native ''femminiello'' Camorra mobster Ketty Gabriele (legal name Ugo Gabriele) was arrested. Gabriele had engaged in prostitution prior to becoming a capo. Gabriele has been referred to both as a ''femminiello''〔 and ''transessuale'' or ''trans''〔http://city.corriere.it/2009/02/13/napoli/prima-cronaca/camorra-trans-vertice-clan-scissionisti-20324152476.shtml〕〔http://blog.panorama.it/italia/2009/02/12/arrestata-ketty-transessuale-e-boss-a-scampia/〕 in Italian media. However others maintain that ''i femminielli'' are decidedly male despite their female gender role, saying that "they are male; they know it and everyone else knows it."〔 Achille della Ragione has written of social aspects of ''femminielli''. "(''femminiello'' ) is usually the youngest male child, 'mother's little darling,' (..) he is useful, he does chores, runs errands and watches the kids."〔 A certain incompatibility between the notions of ''femminiello'' and (often foreign-born) transsexuals can be observed, e.g., a news headline reading ''Rivolta ai quartieri Spagnoli: i femminielli cacciano le trans'' ("Revolt in the Quartieri Spagnoli: ''femminielli'' drive out the transsexuals.")〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Femminiello」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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