Abstract

In the nineteenth century Southern Italy attracted British men who loved individuals of the same sex; in their eyes the Mediterranean promised a more ‘natural’ sexuality, one untrammelled by Northern European civilisation. Little different from people inhabiting the East, Italians were, it was supposed, sensual, exotic, closer to nature, spontaneous, and able to act upon their homoerotic desires. This contribution explores the British stereotypes that associated the south of Italy with male same-sex desires, how Italian commentators internalised these biases, and the phenomenon of British homosexual sex tourism. This work also explores southern Italian local traditions such as the 'femminiello' or institutionalised transient homoerotic experiences during adolescence, which were meshed with the phenomenon of homosexual tourism.