What is "femminiello"

Femminielli or femmenielli (singular femminiello, cf. Standard Italian femmina, "a female," -ello, masculine diminutive suffix) is a term used to refer to a population of homosexual males with markedly feminine gender expression in traditional Neapolitan culture. It may be hard to define this term within modern Western notions of "gay men" versus "trans women" since both these categories overlap to a degree in the case of femminielli (see: Third gender.) It has been noted that this term is not derogatory and does not carry stigma, instead femminielli are traditionally believed to bring luck. Ironically Achille della Ragione suggests that recent surveys have shown that Neapolitans have a generally negative view of what he calls "the politically correct model of homosexuality of a hypocritical do-gooder society" (implying the mainstream Western gay culture), yet he contrasts femminielli as enjoying a favorable attitude from the part of Neapolitan society.