Massimo Fini
Di[zion]ario erotico: Manuale contro la donna a favore della femmina

Massimo Fini is what one might consider an intelligent provocateur. A long-time philosopher and journalist, he has often stood out for his countercurrent positions on political and social issues, which have often sparked controversy about his persona. He is rarely seen as a guest on any television talk show. He began writing for Avanti! in 1970, later contributing to various publications in subsequent decades. For several years, he has been collaborating with Fatto Quotidiano, for which he also maintains a blog.

This essay, although published in 2000, remains in many respects immensely relevant. The format is that of a dictionary that at times transforms into a personal diary of the journalist's life experiences. The style, as we are accustomed to by the author, is direct and without frills. Honest, over-the-top, definitely provocative, but never vulgar.

By analyzing the title or reading the manual casually, it might seem that the sole subject of his analyses is only one. In truth, despite there being strong criticism of modern feminism, I would add, especially in its more extreme fringes, not even the average man comes out completely acquitted.

Reading towards the end of the Erotic Dictionary, two main considerations can be drawn.

The first is that the colorful language might partly coincide with the thoughts of a group of friends at a bar on a Friday night while sipping their second whiskey. Fini's narration is smooth, at times even jovial from a male reader's point of view. The average female reader might find herself in crisis and find disturbing elements or take inspiration to examine her Being under a microscope. More likely, sentiments of the first type will prevail.

The second is that behind the provocation, there is always an argument. The author's male perspective on the female and the vision of male-female relationships. The stone is thrown, but it goes further, trying to put it on a philosophical and historical level. Among the various letters and many are cited Kant (who is honored with a paragraph of his own), Albert Camus's The Stranger is recalled, and the sacred is touched with the characters of Cain and Abel, not forgetting actresses like Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot.

Dichotomies such as order/chaos, life/death, rationality/emotion are key concepts that often recur in the work. The common man, rather than a danger to public order, is described as a curious, romantic, but also naive child. He is the one who often ends up getting into trouble, succumbing to the allure of the female. He embodies reason and direct thought, opposing female emotion and transversality.

The woman is the creative chaos when she brings children into the world, representing the vital sap of earthly order. Her role in society appears to be quite different from the weak sex label that many continue to tailor-fit her like a bespoke suit. Perhaps the neologism "Fica power" can be attributed to Fini. An increasingly strong sexual power that many young women today use for social climbing, primarily to the detriment of other women trying to prevail with competence. It is a power that the excessive use of social media has further amplified, creating even more a chasm between the two sexes to the advantage of one. Platforms like OnlyFans are a shining example of this, where "entrepreneurial" girls monetize well by selling hot video and photographic products. An offer that cannot be justified merely by voyeurism for the neighbor but exploits a deep sense of emotional loneliness experienced by a part of the male population. The message that easy money is all that matters, at the expense of professional competence and in defiance of ethics, is conveyed.

Also very current is the section dedicated to sexual harassment, where with little, the impossible is risked, even if it often consists only of rude compliments over the top that someone would like to submit to criminal scrutiny. Here the descendant of Adam should be smarter and remember to have evolved along with a Society model that is no longer that of our grandparents.

Fini's negative view of value-free Western society and capitalism is evident in other writings as well, yet here the criticism becomes more sectoral. The target is taken with a zoom from afar.

He is expendable, has lesser value, one might say he loses the sense of existence after having passed on his genes. This might be the most shocking and pessimistic conclusion the writer arrives at. It seems like a harsh epilogue. Judging by the mass media, male health and issues seem to be second-class compared to female ones. Male issues cannot be discussed without those attempting to give them due prominence being attacked. It’s incredible how gender issues can be associated with a given conservative political orientation.

Figures on work deaths, suicides, homelessness, hikikomori, and loneliness predominantly affecting men do not lie, despite the mainstream narrative seeming more interested in an unknown woman seeking publicity for a pat on the butt rather than a family-man worker who falls from a dock dying or elderly homeless set on fire or dying in the cold during the winter in the cities. War and inflation also pass into the background in the face of the pink capitalism gospel.

Women certainly have more legislative (see, for example, divorce case law) and social tools on their side to protect themselves. While women are always right and will be believed even if lying, her male counterpart will struggle to escape the aura of the sinner, also suffering greater social pressure.

Fini's work, realistically describing a certain archetype of 21st-century woman, is ruthless in dismantling the Luciferian man/angelic woman theorem and indexing a certain hypocritical narrative. Who knows if there will one day be a general awareness of the condition of the modern man and the male rights movements will grow in number. The reflection, once the reading is archived and the book closed, would be well justified.