Lesson Plan: A Man’s Skin

Synopsis

Bianca has reached marrying age and in her Renaissance Italy that means marrying as best suits her family. In this case, that means Giovanni, a young, pleasantly attractive heir of a merchant family. Yearning to know her fiancé before they are wed, Bianca learns that she can do just that. By donning her family’s secret – a “man’s skin” long-named Lorenzo – she can move freely about the world as a man, free of the limits placed upon women. Along the way she learns of Giovanni’s own secret, her own desires, and what she will do to live life how she wishes – even if that puts her at great odds with her brother, Father Angelo.

Major Characters

Bianca (Lorenzo), Giovanni, Angelo, Rubina, Agostina, Tomaso, Bianca’s Mother, Bianca’s Godmother

Themes

Love, Gender, Sexuality, Compassion, Understanding, Religion, Morality

Discussion Questions

1. Clothing is a major point of contention throughout the comic. Discuss how appearances weave through the narrative and motivate actions by characters like Bianca, Angelo, and Peccorina.
2. In comics, time is often conveyed through the arrangement of panels and management of the space between them (the gutter). In A Man’s Skin, however, we also see time manipulated in other ways. How else do we see time pass?
3. Set in Renaissance Italy, among families of wealth, color is everywhere – richly embroidered clothing, paintings, building, and even saturating entire panels. Explain how this background color saturation helps influence how scenes are interpreted by the reader.
4. “To hear him, everything is the fault of women, succubus and temptresses! Men are poor little things at the mercy of our perverse appetites which they need to be protected from by veiling us from head to foot. That’s not really what I experience every day. You’d think he was living in a parallel world.” In this speech against the preaching of her brother, Bianca is challenging notions of gender roles often enforced by (mis)interpretations of scripture. In what ways do these (mis)interpretations continue to impact society today?
5. Even as Giovanni navigates a world that hates him for his sexuality, he still clings to many of the roles assigned to his gender. What are some of those roles and why might he cling so strongly to some of them, while rejecting others?
6. The moment Angelo becomes mayor, he sets about destroying all artwork he decrees is indecent. How does one determine what counts as “appropriate” and who should be allowed to make those decisions?
7. “I would voluntarily rip the fruit of that putrid seed out of her,” says Angelo when finding out about Bianca’s pregnancy. How does this violent suggestion of abortion square with his claims of piety?
8. Both Bianca and Lorenzo are schooled on how to ensure a male child is conceived, and though one has the air of superstition, the other the air of science, in our modern age we know them both to be false. And yet many today still hold to misconceptions like this. What myths about conception, sex, and gender have you heard recently?
9. “One thing that people will not forgive is having their pleasures taken away,” says Bianca’s mother, and yet there seem to be limits to whose pleasures are taken into consideration. What do Bianca’s adventures as Lorenzo tell us about those limits?
10. Men and women in A Man’s Skin seemingly live in different versions of reality. The skin of Lorenzo allows Bianca to cross the barrier and experience both – but are there only two ways to live in the world? Bianca certainly seems to find a different road, but are there other characters making their own way?
11. Both in her own skin and in Lorenzo’s, Bianca is drawn and described as beautiful and desirable. How might her experiences have been different if she were considered less attractive in her time?
12. What does Bianca and Giovanni’s journey from betrothal to open marriage teach us about compassion, friendship, and romantic love?
13. A fable with such a strong moral perspective could easily fall into preachiness. How do Hubert and Zanzim navigate this risk? (Hint: think about humor.)

Project Ideas

• Practice your observation skills by recording a journal every day for a week or two, making note of the day’s interactions with expectations built on gender, sex, and sexuality. Feel free to write about these observations in prose, but also be certain to include illustrations or short comics as well, especially when it comes to notes about fashion and modesty. At the end of your observation period, reflect on what you’ve recorded. Did you learn anything new? Do any of your observations inspire you to make changes in your own life? Are there norms that you want to see changed? Consider how you might help make those changes.
  
  
• Engage with your local community by seeking out organizations advocating for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Learn about the challenges happening where you live and consider how you might contribute to solving them. You might even propose hosting a book club for A Man’s Skin!
  
  
• We got to see Bianca and Giovanni’s happy endings, but what came next for Rubina or Angelo or Peccorina? Flex your creativity by creating a comic about what comes next for one of the many characters in A Man’s Skin.
  
  
• Imagine that your family has inherited a suit – a “skin” – that allows you to transform into another sex while wearing it. What would your skin look like? What would your name be while donning it? Draw it and a wardrobe to go along with your temporary change!
  
  

Religion plays a crucial role throughout A Man’s Skin, advancing the plot as well as providing the inspiration for much of the art throughout the comic. Research what the role the church played during Renaissance Italy and its influence on the art of the time. How have these roles changed over time? How does religion influence the art of your time?