The Italian Feminist Movement in the 1970s - Research Paper Example

The Italian Feminist Movement in the 1970s Women throughout the world are considered to be a driving force in a country’s progress in terms of its standing in the international forum. They actively participate and lead in all sectors of the economy, namely the army, politics and the corporate world. The standing of the women in today’s world is owing to the constant struggle of feminist movements in the past. Instances of such anti-women oppression movements are highlighted in numerous accounts of history. Such an instance forms a part of the history of Italy. An Italian Feminist Movement took place during the 1970s and this movement led to women being considered not only equal to men but also provided them with their right of choice (Torre 2010). The Italian Feminist movement did not just begin in the 1970s but it transpired through a series of events which had started years ago. One of the pioneers of this movement is considered to be Anna Maria Mozzoni, the founder of the League for the Advancement of Women’s Rights in 1881. She urged the women of Italy to fight for their own rights and not rely on the system. During her time, women did not come out of their homes due to discrimination and advancements and modernization had not laid their effects on Italy (Sarti 2004). At that time women still were speechless and did not have their own voice, and had to rely on the patriarchal symbolic framework, an underlined aspect of Italian culture. This was the aspect which was fought by numerous activists later to come such as Anna Kuliscioff. She was a famous political activist who through her rebellion nature fought long and hard against the system. Becoming the first woman lecturer at Milan University, she argued against the male dominance in the Italian society. For Kuliscioff, Italian women needed to achieve freedom and equality by challenging the family system which led to an oppressive culture against women. She also fought against the Italian rules which did not allow the females to cast a vote. The entire movement against women oppression faced a setback with the rise of Fascism in Italy. The National Fascist Party was led by Benito Mussolini. Their ideology was led by the notion that considered women as mothers and wives. To fulfill the Fascist dream of creating a new Italy, it was a must that women perform their roles as child bearers. Females were sidelined in the political sector and they were not granted proper rights in their working organizations, as according to them the role of women was to concentrate on performing their duties as mothers. That is why in this era abortion and divorce were criminalized (Ancora et al2006). Union Donne Italiana (UDI) was formed in September 1944 by a coalition of women from the southern province which was at that time liberated by the Allies and from the women of anti-Fascist resistance movement. UDI struggled for the rights of women in the postwar period. After the war, women were enfranchised which was one of the most notable political gain for women. Women exercised their right to vote first time in 1946 elections. UDI started their weekly publication by the name of Noi Donne (We women). Although Noi Donne was influenced by Italian communist party, PCI,it did not lay emphasis on political issues and emphasized primarily on women’s work rights and their needs at home. In the 1970’s, a different and more aggressive group of feminists arose with a strong political orientation and set of beliefs. This was owing to the formation of New Left, the student revolts in 1968-69, the changing values of personal freedom and gaining equal status in society, and the motivation of self-fulfillment. The new issues to be addressed now were family rights, divorce, birth control, abortion and sexual violence. The new feminist group which was profoundly focused on women autonomy in all its social relations appealed only to the radical feminists and left the traditional feminists and their political allies with confusion and bewilderedness. Italian feminists however scored some notable victories to their credit in 1970’s despite of the fact that it split in small groups perusing different agendas (Sarti 2004). Amongst all of the important agendas of the women rights the issues of prime importance were the rights of divorce and abortion. The reason this issue gained a lot of importance politically was due to the hold of the church on the state. The relation between the Church and the state were strengthened when Mussolini signed the Concordat with Pope Pius X1 in 1929. With the inclusion of the Concordat in the constitution, Church further cemented their position which was already strengthened during the Fascist regime of Mussolini. The reason the feminists strived for a divorce law was due to this very fact of too much power of the Church and Vatican in the politics of Italy. The very stance of the Church against abortion and empowering women led to many laws which were enforced against these issues. The constitution stated the roles of a husband and wife. Even though the article stated everyone as equal, it still instructed to maintain hierarchy and patriarchal system within the family structure. The church even made it clear in the Civil Law of 1940 that women were inferior to men, as the wife had to obey and follow the instructions of her husband. It also stated that husband had more rights than the wife over the children and even in the acts of adultery of husband, the grounds of separation could not be established. The feminist challenge against the Church was initially based on the divorce issue. The political parties never challenged the Church due to the risk of losing votes. Finally in 1965, a bill was proposed by Loris Fortuna which was eventually approved in 1970. The family law in the Civil Code was also challenged which was later approved in 1975 (Kohn et al 1978). As already highlighted during the 1970s, the idea of sexual discrimination between men and women was raised by feminists. The consciousness-raising practice was started by the Feminist groups in this era. Their basic ideologies were that they were separatists, who were together owing to their sympathies with one another and this led to personal affection and friendships amongst them. Together they had an urge to abolish any signs of dependence, submission or indulgence (Torre2010). They wanted the complete liberation and revolution in terms of social relations and creating an equal society for women. They believed that women were not symbolic and did not have a voice and language of their own. This led to an era where feminist literature began to evolve. Numerous women autobiographies, short stories and poems were written creating awareness amongst women. Some off the popular books include A Perfect Marriage 1975 and Dacia’s Women in War 1975. This created awareness of the women’s own creativity, selfness, vision and resources. This was a medium through which women could have their voice heard and they could write on themes such as sexual differences and oppression within social institutions (Ancora et al 2006). Feminists even today in Italy are going through a struggle with the state, however due to the constant struggle of the women in past and the feminist movement of 1970s they have succeeded in giving women a voice and created a strong stand in the society. The 1990s saw a form of state feminism being evolved. This is when the state and other institutions started funding the feminist bodies making them more organized, with more resources. Due to this very fact, women could no longer oppose the state and the unity it achieved during the 1970s was lost(Albertazzi 2009).In spite of the differences that started to arise within the feminists’ movement during 2000s, one cannot deny the fact that women still had found a place within the Italian society. Previously subjected to subordination and discrimination, women now had gained freedom and could voice their problems and fight against their discrimination. In conclusion, it can be seen that the movement of feminism in Italy was a very important and active revolution where females worked and struggled towards achieving their rights. This movement has been a fight that was being pursued by the Italian feminists since the past two centuries. The Feminist Movement took different turns and eventually the struggle of the women succeeded. Every era gave the revolution a new shape and the women started realizing their importance and position and fought for their rights. They made their stand in all the sectors of Italy. The position of the women has totally changed in the Italian society and they have now been granted rights in the workplace as well as the political sectors. The image of the female sex as the weaker sex has also been changed and they have been granted rights to choose for their own decisions with regard to abortion and divorce. Thus, the struggles of the women have succeeded and they have been empowered and allowed to prove themselves. Works Cited Albertazzi, Daniele. Resisting the Tide: Cultures of Opposition Under Berlusconi (2001-06). New York: Continuum International Pub. Group, 2009. Print. Ancora, Lottiamo&Malagreca, Miguel.“Reviewing One Hundred and Fifty Years of Italian Feminism." Journal of International Women's Studies.Vol 7. 4 May 2006. Web.( Dec. 2011..  Kuhn, Annette, and AnnMarieWolpe. Feminism and Materialism: Women and Modes of Production. London: Routledge and K. Paul, 1978. Print. Sarti, Roland. Italy: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. New York: Facts On File, 2004. Print. Torre, Elena Dalla. French and Italian Feminist Exchanges in the 1970s: Queer Embraces in Queer Time.University of Michigan, 2010.Web. 9 Dec. 2011. . Read More