How has the representation of desire and the female body been used to convey the dominant ideals of the twentieth century, the racist Darwinian theories of Lombrosian anthropology, and psychiatric medical theories? Can the gaze directed at the female body be considered a mass communication project orchestrated by heteropatriarchal systems, implemented through the support of art, science, and, ultimately, the entertainment industry?
These are the questions explored in the talk “Desiderio e Corpo Femminile”, hosted at NABA’s Milan Campus (Via C. Darwin, 20) on February 21 at 10:30 AM.
The event will feature live streaming contributions from Rachele Borghi (Professor of Queer Geography, Université Sorbonne Paris) and Slavina (activist, educator, and independent researcher), while on-site participants at NABA’s Campus will include Elisa Muscatelli (independent curator) and Rosaria Murolo (PhD in History and Cultural Studies, Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli).
“Desiderio e Corpo Femminile”: the themes of the talk
This conversation, organised on the occasion of World Anthropology Day 2025, explores the various uses of the regulated representation of the female body—from the colonial photography of the twentieth century depicting Ethiopian women to the psychiatric medical imagery of Dr Jean-Martin Charcot, which framed women as "hysterical" patients. It then moves through surrealist symbolism, where the female body was employed as a vessel for a free, instinctual, and anti-bourgeois sexuality, before arriving at post-Franco Spain, where there emerged a pressing need for marginalised identities to reclaim desire.
“Desiderio e Corpo Femminile”: event details
Friday, February 21, from 10.30 AM
NABA Campus, Milan
Via Carlo Darwin, 20
Free entrance with reservation recommended at anthroday.2025@gmail.com