GIs and ‘Segnorine’: An Entangled History of Post-War Sex Work (1943-1954)
Sex War-k is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research project which aims to carry out a systematic investigation of illegal sex work in a European country during the Allied occupation. Focusing on the relations between American soldiers (GIs) and Italian prostitutes (the so-called ‘segnorine’) in 1943-1954, the research action analyses these women’s experience as the icon of the cultural encounters and interconnections between US and Italian societies during the post-WWII transition.
These are the essential questions addressed by the project:
- The intersection of gender and racism as a key-factor in the foundational years of post-fascist democracy;
- The transatlantic circulation of ideas and models, with particular attention to the inter-crossing of colonial and segregationist stereotypes;
- Imaginary frontiers and national characters. How did Americans look at Italians, and Italian women? How did Italians look at their (black) liberators?
