Maschilità “detenute”. Fare e disfare le maschilità in carcere

Abstract

Gender is a cultural product that is constructed, negotiated, performed within specific arenas equipped with peculiar symbol systems. Masculinity will be the main topic discussed in this article. Trying to question the naturalizing association of masculinity and violent conduct/crime, we will focus on the construction of an ideal masculine identity which puts emphasis on doing masculinity doing deviant behavior/crime. Finally, we will observe a specific arena – what can be defined as the field of penitentiary – in which different representations of gender compete to acquire power, to alleviate the frustration and to reconstruct their own erotic-sexual dimension. Taking that masculinity is built primarily in opposition to femininity, what kind of masculinity dominates and becomes a winning model in such gender segregated space?