"Noi siamo stufe.."
The Italian women’s liberation movement

by: Constanze Ackermann

Content

I. Introduction 3

II. Historical context 4

II.1 From the “Italian miracle” to the “Apertura a sinistra” 4
II.2 The 1960s and the “Hot autumn” 6
II.3 Italy from 1970 to 1976 8

III. The women’s movement 9

III.1 “Casa e chiesa” 9
III.2 Regional diversity 11
III.3 Fighting for their rights 12

IV. Groups and movements 15

IV.1 Unione Donne Italiane 16
IV.2 Gruppo Demistificazione Autoritarismo (DEMAU) 17
IV.3 Movimento di liberazione della donna 17
IV.4 Lotta Femminista 18
IV.5 Auto-consciousness groups 18

V. Conclusion 19

VI. Bibliography 21

I. Introduction

“…di fare bambini
Lavare i piatti stirare pannolini
Avere un uomo che fa da padrone
E ci proibisce la contraccezione!
Noi siamo stufe della pubblicità
Che deforma la nostra realtà
Questa moderna schiavitù
Da oggi in poi non l’accettiamo più.”

These impressive verses are quoted from a popular protest song written by the Movimento Femminista Romano in 1973. It already gives us a certain impression of what women felt and thought during this time. The main question is why are they unsatisfied with their own lives which they see as a form of “modern slavery”? What makes Italian women’s lives so extremely unbearable that they have enough of their husbands and the public opinion about women’s lives in the Italian society like they chant in this protest song? The following paper will try to present the development of the Italian women’s liberation movement and how the historical context influenced women and their situation in the different regions of Italy.

Furthermore, the aim of my term-paper is twofold. On the one hand I will try to describe and analyze the historical setting and background of Italy in the 1960s and early 1970s. On the other hand my term-paper includes the analysis of the women’s living conditions in Italy during the first decades after the Second World War and shows how economical and social changes caused a new way of consciousness and thinking within the Italian society. The main topic of the second part is a short presentation of the Italian women’s movement itself. An analysis of the contemporary living conditions is the main objective. Besides the introduction of the Italian women’s movement, I will try to present different points of view and individual aims of the single groups and how they tried to change the Italian society. In addition to this, the last chapter will pay attention to the different kinds of protest movements, trying to present some of the most important groups and unions. Nevertheless, the paper can only present a limited number of groups and movements regarding the rich diversity of the whole movement.

II. Historical context

This first chapter will present the historical situation in Italy throughout the years from the late 1950s to 1976. We will have a closer look on how the political system and its parties influenced the Italian society and how society itself responded to political changes. By describing the consequences of this influence we will try to understand the historical context to analyze the Italian women’s movement.

II.1 From the “Italian miracle” to the “Apertura a sinistra”

The first decades after the Second World War in Italy are characterised by a large number of political changes that influenced the country for a long time. Not only was the political system changed by the referendum in 1946¹, but the country also had to deal with a lot of problems after the downfall of fascism. By drawing up the constitution for the new republic and preparing the elections of 1948, the post-war-union of the different political forces that had fought fascism successfully broke up and the party-political struggles, especially between the conservative Democrazia Cristiana and the Left parties, increased dramatically. Another reason for this development was the division of Europe by the Cold War. Withdrawing from the Italian Left Parties, especially the Partito Comunista Italiano, in domestic policies and seeking more cooperation with the other Western European countries, the Italian government² steadied its position towards Communism and Socialism. In the 1950s, Italy joined different international organizations, like the ECSC³ in 1952, the EEC⁴ in 1957 and the United Nations in 1955.

Thanks to international aid, like the European Recovery Program, and the membership in the different international unions, Italy managed to rebuild its industries very fast. Nevertheless, the country was still suffering from the great diversity between the industrial north and the backward south, the Mezzogiorno, and the shortage of energy and raw materials. To overcome this great problem, the government decided to form a special bank, the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, to increase the industrial development of the south.

In the time from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s Italy experienced an enormous economic boom, especially caused by the industrial shift from agriculture to more advanced technologies. Another important factor that had a big impact on the Italian industry was the extension of the Italian transportation and communication network. In 1954 the first television programme was transmitted by the Italian broadcasting company RAI and the growing Italian film industry was a result of these times. Furthermore, new technologies like refrigerators, washing-machines and vacuum cleaners became standard in almost every Italian household. All these changes had a great impact on the Italian society. Today these years of fast economic growth and industrialisation is known as the “Italian miracle” (cf. Hellman 1987: 20). “In this period, as the role of the state expanded steadily, Italy went from a condition of post-war economic ruin to take its place as the seventh most industrialized country in the world.” (ibid: 20). More and more people started working in the second and third industrial sector, among them especially women who left their homes to work in factories or to look for other jobs that were available. This resulted in the downfall of the traditional isolation of their families. Furthermore, a big immigration wave from the villages to the more urban areas, e.g. of Torino and Milano, started. People from the South left their homes looking for better jobs in the North of Italy.

[...]

1 The Repubblica Italiana was officially declared on the 18th June 1946. In the referendum on the 2nd June 1946 the majority of 54,3% of the voters decided to change the political system into a republic. The Italian king Umberto II. went into exile

2 From 1948 to 1981 all Prime Ministers were members of the Democrazia Cristiana, the conservative party. The DC was the strongest faction in the Italian Parliament for four decades.

3 European Coal and Steel Community

4 European Economic Community