Broadening the Gendered Polis

Abstract In the late 1970s to the early 1980s, the Italian transsexual movement began gaining visibility in the public sphere, also making use of the feminist political lexicon. This contamination emerged in the life stories of some trans pioneers, who consider feminism a fundamental element of their political and individual trajectory of subjectivation. In contrast, historiographical reconstructions of Italian feminist movements as well as feminists' accounts never mention the transsexual movement. During battles for the right to change one's gender, transsexuals were supported by only a few feminist members of Left parties. The article analyzes the reasons that prevented Italian feminist and transsexual movements from establishing an open alliance against the patriarchal system deeply rooted in the Italian society of the time.