Shifting Italian masculinities: insights from three male performances in Festival of Sanremo 2022

Nº 59 | INVIERNO 2023 ISSN: 1139-1979 | E-ISSN: 1988-5733 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 81-91 Shifting Italian masculinities: insights from three male performances in Festival of Sanremo 2022 Cambios de masculinidad italiana: tres actuaciones masculinas en el Festival de Sanremo 2022 para reflexionar Carlotta Antonelli La Sapienza University | Via G.Giusti, 2, 04100 Latina, Italy 0000-0001-7045-7311 · carlotta.antonelli@ uniroma1 .it Fechas: Recepción: 24/05/2022 · Aceptación: 15/07/2022 · Publicación: 15/01/2023 Abstract The Festival of Sanremo is arguably one of the biggest events on Italian television in terms of audience and prestige. It sits within complex socio-cultural dynamics and can be understood only through a lens that focuses on the ecology of Italian media and values songs as cultural objects (Tomatis, 2016). Indeed, acts happening on Sanremo’s stage can acquire a special significance in terms of their potential resonance (Faccietal., 2011) and the festival has often been used to spread political messages or raising awareness about social issues. In recent years, the festival has featured singers whose performances and character increasingly challenge and complicate traditional expressions of gender, with mixed, often polarized, receptions. The artistic choices of Amadeus (host of the 2019 through 2024 editions) and the authors reflect the trend of assimilation into the mainstream of queer or otherwise gender-defying signifiers in audiovisual pop productions (Ferrante, 2019). To zoom in on these processes, we draw our attention to performances of masculinities (Butler, 1990 & 2004; Connell, 2020; Feasey, 2008; Reeser, 2011) in the context of the 2022 edition of Sanremo. We will operate a visual analysis (Aubrey, Frisby, 2011; Russmann, Svensson, 2016; Tiidenberg, Baym, 2017) of the opening performances of three male artists, identifying three different ways of performing masculinity on the stage: Rkomi, Achille Lauro and Michele Bravi. Keywords: masculinity, gender performance, Sanremo, media studies, gender studies. Resumen El Festival de Sanremo es, sin duda, uno de los mayores acontecimientos de la televisión italiana en términos de audiencia y prestigio. Se sitúa dentro de dinámicas socioculturales complejas y solo puede entenderse a través de una lente que se centre en la ecología de los medios de comunicación italianos y valore las canciones como objetos culturales (Tomatis, 2016). Los actos que tienen lugar en el escenario de Sanremo pueden adquirir un significado especial en términos de resonancia potencial (Faccietal., 2011) y el festival se ha utilizado a menudo para difundir mensajes políticos o concienciar sobre cuestiones sociales. En los últimos años, el festival ha acogido a cantantes cuyas actuaciones y carácter desafían y complican cada vez más las expresiones tradicionales de género, con recepciones dispares y a menudo polarizadas. Las elecciones artísticas de Amadeus (que acoge las ediciones de 2019 a 2024) y de los autores reflejan la tendencia de asimilación a la corriente dominante de los significados queer o que desafían el género en las producciones audiovisuales pop (Ferrante, 2019). Para explorar estos procesos, ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 82 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 llamamos la atención sobre las representaciones de la masculinidad (Butler, 1990 y 2004; Connell, 2020; Feasey, 2008; Reeser, 2011) en el contexto de la edición de 2022 de Sanremo. Realizaremos un análisis visual (Aubrey, Frisby, 2011; Russmann, Svensson, 2016; Tiidenberg, Baym, 2017) de las actuaciones inaugurales de tres artistas masculinos, identificando tres formas diferentes de representar la masculinidad en escena: Rkomi, Achille Lauro y Michele Bravi. Palabras clave: masculinidad, performance de género, Sanremo, medios de comunicación, estudios de género. 1. Theoretical framework In order to better understand this proposal, it seems necessary to clarify some semantic issues inherent in the use of the term mascolinità, which would like to be the correspondent of the Anglo-Saxon term masculinity, but that, in fact, rather than being the exact translation, is likely to represent a false friend. In the context of international men's studies, the term masculinity, especially in its plural form (masculinities) is widely used to indicate the different ways of being and wanting to be male in social and symbolic terms within different historical and cultural contexts (Dell'Agnese, 2007); it is in this sense that the term masculinities used in our paper should be interpreted. However, the Italian context provides several reasons of interest and critical reflection to deal with this issue. The first is of socio-semiotic order, in fact in Italian everyday language, the term mascolinità, in its singular form, is generally used as a synonym of virility (being masculine equals being virile, or wanting to be, if the adjective is used in reference to a woman), in the context of an apparent semantic correspondence, according to which everything that is referred to the male is also masculine and therefore virile (Dell'Agnese, 2007). On this subject, not even the famous dictionary of Giacomo Devoto and Gian Carlo Oli proves to be of great help in clarifying the complexity of the issue, in fact the latter defines masculinity as «participation in the characters physiologically or traditionally proper to the male» (Devoto, Oli, 2021). In the context of the research, although not very extensive, the many confusions of terminology are also evidenced by the fact that Masculinities, the work of R. Connell in 1995 (Connell, 1995) that many consider foundational in this field of study, has been translated as the Italian singular term Mascolinità, thus losing all the richness of the plural form used in the original, while Manhood in the Making. Cultural Concepts of Masculinity by David D. Gilmore (1990) another fundamental, albeit controversial, study on the subject, has been placed on the Italian market under the title La genesi del maschile. Modelli culturali della virilità. For this reason, some authors, in order to avert the risk of conceptual essentialization, privilege the term «maschilità», which is used with reference to being male as a gender construction, in order to distinguish the many possible ways of being male from the one considered dominant, masculinity. The majority, however, in order not to deviate too much from the international literature, uses the ambiguous term of masculinity, giving it the current meaning in the Anglo-Saxon world, rather than the one traditionally used in Italy. Complicating the matter is the fact that in today's social life there is a whole range of gender variations. These have been carefully catalogued by Judith Lorber in The Invention of the Sexes (1995). The author calculated that modern Western societies distinguish five genders (including cross genders), three sexual orientations, five different ways of exhibiting one's gender, six types of relationships, and ten types of self-identification (Lorber, 1995). ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 83 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 In this context, an additional element to be analysed can be found in the crisis of models that question not the masculine, but the relationships between genders: examples are the changes in the world of work, the emergence of alternative family models to the patriarchal tradition, and the action of feminisms and movements for the rights of sexual minorities (Boni, 2004). Nonetheless, the category has found resonance in public discourse - evidence is the spread of expressions such as «Men are in crisis» (Ruspini, 2003) - and in media productions. As Ciccone states, «the ambiguous and generic category of 'crisis' is used to represent the confused picture of conflicts, new desires, and discomfort that emerge as established roles change, traditional places of masculine socialization are disrupted, and reference models are lacking» (Ciccone, 2020). An emblematic example of this trend is reported by the author and concerns «a site of the galaxy for 'men's rights'» that chose the name «anti-violence centers» and the heading «gender communication», «with the evident desire to overturn the contents of the initiatives promoted by women» (Ciccone, 2020). Taking into consideration the multiple elements of complexity exposed so far and the new composite realities that express different interpretations of gender identity and roles, also conveyed by the mass media, the Italian case of the performances of three «male» artists, Rkomi, Michele Bravi and Achille Lauro, on the stage of Sanremo 2022 is of relevant interest. The festival is probably one of the biggest events on Italian television in terms of audience and prestige. It is located within complex sociocultural dynamics and can only be understood through the ecological perspective that understands the media system as an environment inhabited by people, reinforcing the idea of a systemic approach to information configuring it as a problem of social relations and media consumption, recalling the overlap and exchange between direct and mediated experiences (Bennato, 2018). In this sense, it is possible to understand songs as cultural objects, or rather 'intermediary' objects, whose effects on the fruition of music cannot be ignored, from the perspective of the history of song that exists and circulates in different media and contexts (TV, radio, entertainment venues and the cultural industry in general). Songs, considered as cultural objects, constitute an important piece in the construction of Italianness and in genre-making (Tomatis, 2016). A non-negligible part of this complex process lies in understanding music as an industry in which marketing and merchandising constitute a relevant aspect, contributing, through the market, with the commercialisation of products and brands, to proposing genre models, orienting audiences. (Tomatis, 2016). Similarly, the acts that take place on the Sanremo stage can acquire a special meaning in terms of potential resonance (Faccietal., 2011), and the Italian Song Festival, in fact, has often been used to spread cultural, political, or awareness-raising messages about particular issues of social relevance. In Italy, in light of the recent political and social debate triggered by Alessandro Zan's bill against homophobia and for the protection of minorities in order to combat so-called hate crimes, the media have focused their attention on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, thus corroborating the thesis that the technical medium cannot be separated from the social and cultural context (Thompson, 1990). Even the Ariston stage has not escaped these dynamics; in fact, the evenings of the kermesse have featured singers whose performances increasingly challenge and complicate traditional gender expressions, with a mixed, often polarized reception. ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 84 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 The artistic choices of Amadeus (called to be host of the song festival in the editions from 2019 to 2024) and of the authors, reflect the trend of assimilation into the mainstream of queer signifiers that challenge gender in pop audiovisual productions (Ferrante, 2019). Hence the decision to analyze the performances that catalyzed attention in the 2022 edition by giving special consideration to the different ways in which the three «male» artists performed gender in the Sanremo kermesse. Therefore, at this point in the discussion, it is necessary to provide a definition of gender performativity (Butler, 1990) as the process by which gendered subjects «are constituted by normative notions within a heterosexual matrix» (Nentwich & Kelan, 2014, p. 123), thus shifting the focus from gender as a self-evident category to a social practice, a doing/undoing that considers gender identity as an ongoing activity. As noted by Nentwich and Kelan (2014), «doing» and «undoing» are highly context-specific, suggesting that research should focus on contextual identity practices rather than assuming that someone has a gender identity related to the social role, echoing Green's (2007) critique of queer theory as a theory of the self. In a context of new gender politics-originated by trans studies and the intersex movement's critiques of feminist and queer theory-«doing» one's gender sometimes involves «undoing» dominant notions of personhood (Butler, 2004). In order to better understand the performances of the selected competition singers, it is necessary to start with some theoretical assumptions well illustrated in Judith Butler's (1990) theory. In her work Gender Trouble (Butler, 1990) the author states in fact that gender is to be considered a social construction, a cultural law that prescribes to individuals how they should behave. They are therefore simple recipients and passive explanatory objects of a fixed and determined cultural law (gender rules). Emphasizing the performativity and artificiality of heteronormative gender identity imposed by society consequently refutes the idea that there is «natural» behaviour traditionally considered feminine or masculine. This heteronormativity must be seen as the result of cultural coercion repeated and executed over time, which consequently has also arbitrarily decided which behaviour are not «natural.» To conceive of traditional gender identity as something artificially constructed and maintained through articulated power structures is to challenge these same constructs to legitimize and defend the rights of all those marginalized individuals who do not reflect the categorizations imposed by society. Butler (1990) criticizes cultural constructions of gender and sexuality because they are based on punitive and coercive rules that force individuals to conform to hegemonic heterosexual standards, which must be respected in every field of the public and private sphere, thus undermining the self-determination of each individual. Finally, according to the author, gender is not simply an immutable biological condition of the body, but a construct born of a process in which certain reiterated norms create and materialize what is now understood as «sex». Gender has thus produced a normative sexuality (heterosexuality) that has been internalized as a natural aspect. In order to eliminate the presumed normality/naturalness of heterosexuality, one must destabilize those categories of identity, naturalized solely by man/woman binarism. In this sense, the literature on the subject (Connell, 1995) suggests that the practices in which bodies are involved, as objects and subjects, shape social structures and personal trajectories, which in turn create the conditions for new practices that will involve bodies. This constitutes a closed-loop cycle that ties together bodily processes and social structures. The number of these spirals is potentially immense; and it is in this way that bodies are introduced into and contribute to historical becoming. ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 85 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 Connell (1995) calls this process social embodiment which implies considering the body as a reflexive bodily practice, that is, as a social praxis in which the role of the body is that of subject and object at the same time. 2. Methodological framework In the light of the theoretical orientations set out above, with the methodological tool of visual analysis focused on elements such as movement, sequences of images and colours (Mattioli, 2007), we will analyse the performances of the singers examined over the five evenings of the Festival, with the aim of understanding similarities and differences in their ways of performing gender on stage, concentrating on the following categories: clothing, stage presence of the artists, verbal exchanges and body attitudes within the performances, song lyrics. The approach of visual analysis, generally used to analyse images, specific frames or works of art, seems substantially adequate to account for what took place on the television screens on the evenings under investigation; as an aside, it should be pointed out that a further methodological tool that could have been used, yielding similar results, would have been that of content analysis (Di Franco, 2017), which, however, due to the use of specific software, would have required an excessively long time to carry out this study. Lastly, we must specify that our methodological approach, precisely because of its qualitative nature, has several limitations in terms of the generalisability of the sample; in fact, it should be noted that it is by no means based on a representative sample and cannot be extended to other contexts, outside the Italian Song Festival chosen precisely because, as mentioned at the beginning of our paper, it is a mirror of complex socio-cultural dynamics that originated within it (see for example Renato Zero's costumes of the 1980s, which came to the public of the big screen precisely thanks to the Sanremo festival). We are aware that the size of the study would have required a larger sample, but the elements that emerged through the use of this approach, although not generalisable, made it possible to highlight the significant media impact that the performances considered had on the Italian cultural context. We would like to spend a final word to further motivate the choice of analysing only the performances of these three artists and not extending them to other stages outside the Sanremo stage: Achille Lauro's success was crowned on the same stage in 2019 with the song «Rolls Royce», Rkomi, despite being known as an artist since 2017, made himself known to the general public precisely thanks to this edition of Sanremo, and Michele Bravi, despite being born as an artist from another singing kermesse «X Factor», has been treading the Sanremo stage, performing his genre, since 2017. For all these reasons, it was not considered relevant to analyse further performances than those of Sanremo 2022. For the sake of completeness of the data, it should be noted that none of the artists covered in our paper performed on the second night of the same kermesse. 2.1. First night Rkomi: on stage he has an aggressive style with black leather gloves and leather jacket, he interprets a text that seems to be written for the man who «must never ask», in fact it evokes images belonging to the alpha male, significant for the Italian context and reinforced by the song itself, which reads: «I feel cold blood in my veins, at a hundred and eighty thousand revolutions on a coupe. Two molotov ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 86 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 cocktails on fire in the current, I hold your hips, love you are, the last corner, unsurpassable». In the lyrics of the song, in addition to the extreme virility, we can read the role of the woman as an object to possess, or a challenge to win. Achille Lauro: he enters the stage in a scenic way, without a shirt, with tattoos in evidence, wanting to challenge the conventions of Sanremo. He plays with genders, for example he has a masculine but platinum blond haircut and at the same time his attitude is not masculine unlike Rkomi's, in fact when the conductor, with a joke, points out his powerful physique in full view, Lauro smiles and lowers his head. He begins his performance with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, he sings «Domenica», in whose lyrics he says » it's like Sunday » and this has the same value as «Me ne frego» which the artist performed on the same stage in 2020, representing the desire to show himself for what he is, without fear of being judged. During the refrain, the Harlem Gospel Choir that accompanies him turns over cards with his face on them, almost as if to symbolize self-worship. On stage, the artist alternates provocative gestures and verses; the conclusion in which Lauro, pouring water on himself, «baptizes» himself is emblematic, as if saying «I am my God». Michele Bravi: proposes an outfit that highlights the feminine side present in every person, with a black jacket decorated with black and white roses, covering a bodice of black sequins, a silver pendant on the ear and silver rings on the hands. He carries the song entitled «The Winter of Flowers», a text that speaks of love in which we read «but in the hypothesis and doubt, to have unlearned everything», interpreted leaving space for her emotions and delicacy. A performance that can be read in perfect contrast to that of Rkomi. 2.2. Third night Rkomi: the look for the third night is a white short-sleeved shirt, with tattoos and muscles in full view, black leather gloves. His second performance has the same register as the first, rock and cheeky, as in the lyrics of his song in which we read: «hovering over a barbed wire, I love danger, and me who stubbornly stand on it». Unlike the first night, reflecting his character, the artist incites the audience to participate and the orchestra to continue even after the song is over. Achille Lauro: for the third night, he wears a shiny black jacket, with no shirt underneath, just the buttoned suspenders of his pants, black make-up, gold earrings and rings, and he is barefoot: typical attire for LGBTQ+ themed disco nights, as an example, see the evenings of the «Mucca Assassina», a well-known roman nightclub that has always hosted this kinf of themed events to raise public awareness. The choir that accompanies him this time has in his hand a fan that moves in time, the same movements taken by the artist several times throughout the performance. Lauro is always provocative, the most striking gesture is the final one in which he unbuttons his pants, in the midst of the two Gospel singers. Michele Bravi: presented by Amadeus next to Drusilla Foer, he is elegantly dressed with golden and red flowers on leather gloves and golden accessories, he sings the same song of the first night in an emotional way, as always, with tears in his eyes, the following one is another excerpt: you teach me how to learn happiness to show you that if they were sounds, they would be songs and if they were seasons, winter would come, the winter of flowers. ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 87 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 2.3. Fourth night Rkomi: performs, along with the rock band with the emblematic name Calibro 35 that refers to the displacement of a gun, in the Medley of three famous songs by Vasco Rossi «Cosa succede in città», «Deviazioni» and «Fegato spappolato», the lyrics of the latter refers to a person who uses heavy drugs, as if to reflect the image of the «hard» man with all the stereotypes of toxic masculinity that embodies. The singer is dressed as a cowboy and in the middle of the performance he takes off his jacket, remaining bare-chested. At the end of the performance, in order to emphasize the concept of ostentatious virility, he launches into an impromptu push-up challenge with the host Amadeus. Some elements of this performance take on particular relevance for analysis and critical commentary in our paper. Achille Lauro and Loredana Bertè: the duet is particularly expressive, they present themselves dressed in contrast, he in white, she in black. Lauro has chosen her, who has always been an icon of the gay world, as well as a friend of Renato Zero, whose artistic heir Achille is considered to be. In the performance, the artist kneels to Bertè, who puts her hand on his head almost as if to legitimize him, on the notes of «Sei bellissima». At the end of the performance Lauro gives a bunch of red roses to Bertè, among which two blue ones, the same color of the artist's hair to whom the tribute is addressed, together with a letter read by the conductor, the full text of which is given below: «What a strange man am I, unable to apologize, because I confuse forgiveness with shame. What a strange man am I, who calls you a clown because he thinks he has to fight what he cannot reach. What a strange Man am I, only able to say «you're beautiful» because he's still afraid to recognize your worth. Tonight, «for your eyes still», I apologize and leave». The meaning of the lyrics is aimed at apologizing ideally to the protagonist of the song, for the exaggeratedly masculine behaviour of the man described in the song, compared to which, on the other hand, Lauro is only able to exclaim «you’re beautiful». Michele Bravi: on stage he is elegantly dressed, with a green suit and underneath a light-colored t-shirt with golden decoration, always emphasizing the feminine side. The performance is particularly emphatic, the central concept is well exemplified by Battisti's words «come può uno scoglio arginare il mare» (how can a rock block the sea) of the famous song entitled «Io vorrei, non vorrei, ma se vuoi» (signed Battisti-Mogol), to which the artist also refers at the end of the performance, showing, on stage, his grandparents' wedding ring and pronouncing these words «tonight they have sung with me». 2.4. Fifth night Rkomi: even in the performance of the last night of the kermesse, he gives the same image of the previous times, starting from the completely black leather clothing to the stage presence, from which he incites the audience, and he comes down only to involve them more. The only noticeable difference at the end of the performance, compared to the previous nights, is that the artist shows his emotionality by thanking the audience and his fans for his success and admitting his own imperfections, declaring that he still has a lot to learn and that he puts his heart into what he does. Achille Lauro: in the last episode, he wears a tuxedo, a typically masculine suit, but with a pink color, typically associated with women, with a red rose in his breast pocket, and he is barefoot. Lauro, for this choreography, has a cocktail glass in his hand, from which, at the end, he drinks, raising ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 88 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 it in the air almost as if he wanted to toast the health of those present and of the public. During the performance he addresses the Gospel choir exclaiming «Love you girls» and goes towards the popular presenter of «Domenica In» involving her in a pirouette. Michele Bravi: also for this last night, he walks on stage wearing clothes designed by the well-known designer Roberto Cavalli with an eccentric style: a light-colored tight t-shirt with, as in the past, golden floral decorations, very chic. The artist, as in the previous times, performs a delicate and refined performance and at the end he gives flowers to the well-known presenter Mara Venier, who has always been welcoming towards gender differences. 3. Critical analysis and conclusions Summarizing the performances examined, it is possible to say that different representations of gender performativity emerged on the stage of the Ariston: Rkomi as an example of seemingly traditional masculinity, in contrast to his demeanor and shy attitude once the last night's performance was over; Achille Lauro, whose performance can be read as a gender and cultural challenge launched to a society, such as the Italian one, in many ways secularized in Catholicism; Michele Bravi, as an example of recognition of the femininity present in every person by virtue of the creativity and fluidity of artistic expression. Lauro's performances, even if not always well received, by way of example have the function of bringing that audience closer to what is the quintessential national-popular festival (Budoni, 2021), translating those modes of expression into a discourse «acceptable» to the mainstream, and winking at the LGBTQ+ community. Following this line of thought, as previously mentioned, it could be assumed that Lauro picks up the legacy of Renato Zero making himself with his performances an expression of a society that changes in a socially acceptable way or at least understandable by the general public. In fact, freedom from social conventions is the main message that the artist wants to convey with his presence on stage. This is also accompanied by Lauro's strong rejection of gender roles, heteronormativity and toxic masculinity that he has always been confronted with in his life. Another clear message is his desire to deconstruct those social constructs that want to divide human beings into two categories (man - woman) exclusively on a sexual basis, each with certain immutable and non-interchangeable characteristics. In this sense, Achille Lauro's performances can be seen as one of the possible ways of trying to overturn this binomial. The singer refuses to fall into what is considered «natural» for the cultural constructs of society, disobeying those rules that have always wanted to impose a heteronormative vision of the world. Achille Lauro in this edition of Sanremo, as in previous editions, plays with the traditional binarism man/woman through the strong contrast between his physicality, his voice, his facial expressions and his way of dressing, his movements, his attitudes, thus staging a performance that is not only artistically transgressive but also socially committed (Budoni, 2021). Michele Bravi wore markedly feminine clothing on the Ariston stage. This certainly calls into question the traditional conceptions around the two sexes. The choice of putting a lot of emphasis on clothing, besides being the most visible and obvious way to send a message of protest, has always been considered and used as a fundamental tool of gender division. In fact, clothing says a lot about a person, and it also says a lot about sexual stereotypes and categorizations. Through it, gender ShIftINg ItAlIAN mASculINItIES: INSIghtS fROm thREE mAlE pERfORmANcES IN fEStIVAl Of... carlotta Antonelli 89 ÁmBItOS. REVIStA INtERNAcIONAl DE cOmuNIcAcIÓN · Nº 59 · INVIERNO 2023 10.12795/Ambitos.2023.i59.06 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 81-91 differences and the resulting hierarchies are perpetuated in societies, individual freedom can be attacked, and it is also a powerful tool to make visible the power relationships that are established between individuals. Clothing in itself assumes great coercive power: through all the cultural heritage hidden in it, individuals are categorized, divided, stereotyped and labeled. Not conforming to its «rules» means enacting a strong transgression not only visual but also and mainly cultural and perhaps it is for this reason that Michele Bravi treading the stage of the kermesse has been the subject of heavy criticism. Rkomi's performance can be read in contrast to those just exposed, the artist in fact, in this edition of Sanremo, has tried to perform by reproducing the attributes of masculinity traditionally understood in the Italian context, this trend is also found in the artist's outfit: leather gloves, tattoos and muscles in plain sight that recall an imagery of virility in the Italian scenario that however in the last night of the festival are betrayed leaving space for emotions at the end of the performance. The performances that emerge from the visual and consequently exploratory analysis indicate a reappropriation and re-modulation of the attributes of traditional masculinity on stage, as well as the incorporation of traditionally feminine modes of expression towards gender fluidity. Television, through the Italian song festival, has reflected this by presenting characters and formats that play with gender roles as expressions of identity or as art, especially males playing as females or subverting gender roles through drag and theater. This is exemplified by the presence of Drusilla Foer (female alter-ego of actor Gianluca Gori) as co-host during the third night of the festival or the production of the Italian edition of the famous talent show RuPaul's Drag Race in 2021. Although extensive research is needed to explore whether these elements are related to an actual change in Italian culture towards inclusivity and gender and sexual equality, we observe that representations of masculinities in Italian TV might be undergoing a transformation - transformation, which has its most solid foundations in the media representations of this Festival - at least in terms of the plurality of ways in which men can represent gender. This agrees with what is expressed by queer theories that arise as a result of feminist and gender studies and fight for individual selfdetermination by strongly contesting the presumed naturalness of sexual and gender identities as a result of social constructs. The concluding thesis of our paper is that societies have the ability to minimize differences between the sexes, through their socialization practices (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974) also perpetuated by the mass media. This, for three orders of reasons: the first consideration to be made is that in the moment individuals belonging to a society and they are doing a job, they are doing gender at the same time, this basic notion is applicable to the category of entertainment workers who however unlike other categories have a profession and tasks less subject to the heteronormativity imposed by society thus preserving a greater degree of freedom; the second lies in the ability of artists to be precursors of the trends of social change that cross the historical epochs of the society in which they are immersed; the third lies in the notoriety that society itself gives to members of the star system, like Lauro, in light of this, can carry on a battle of civilization with the provocative lightness of «Me ne frego» (I don't give a damn).