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?

 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 843361.