The Woes of Italian Feminism

...The same was true three years later with the referendum on abortion Italian feminists know qui tew ell that no real help is forthcoming troni the Christian Democrats, and thai Communist aid would exact a stilt ideological price Consequently the movement's policy is to go it alone—to view male support with mistrust, it not outright hostility SILVIO F. SENIGALLIA reports regularly for THE NEW LEADER from Rome...

...NO POLITICAL SOLUTIONS The Woes of Italian Feminism BY SILVIO F. SENIGALLIA ROME AT ITS LATEST congress, Italy's Communist-dominated labor federation, CGIL, elected a woman to its small, highly influential executive body, marking the first time in the organization's history that the male monopoly on positions of power was broken The post fell to a young, energetic organizer active in the textile industry Refraining from any feminist tub-thumping in a post election interview, she made a statement that nonetheless says a good deal about the Italian version of women's liberation "The new position will make my life more strenuous Although professionally busier, I will still have to take care of my husband and children My husband has already served notice that I shall have to be home at 8 P.M...

...The ban on divorce and abortion, for example, was removed in the late '70s (Oddly enough, the new statutes on abortion are more permissive than those on divorce) Adultery is no longer a violation of the criminal code either, although until a few years ago the article covenng it was very severe with a wife's trangressions and very lenient toward a husband's Also quite recent is the abrogation of the generous extenuating circumstances allowed to the author of a detitto d'onore (cnme of honor) The old law virtually justified the murder of anyone who "dishonored" a man by seducing his wife or daughter or sister (Sympathy for such revenge has always been deeply felt in Italy's South, where judges and juries have been notorious in siding with outraged husbands, fathers and brothers It is only fair to note that elsewhere in Italy men have a less primitive conception of their honor) These modernizations were a long time coming because of several underlying factors that kept male attitudes inflexible The chronic unemployment that plagued unified Italy for many decades, for instance, discouraged women from competing in the work force Man was the breadwinner, and a woman trying to work outside certain occupations (such as grade school teaching, nursing and domestic service) was likely to be rejected on the grounds that she would be depriving a man with a family of a job Employers did not want to incur the disapproval attached to hiring women, a hesitancy that persists to this day In addition, widespread illiteracy in the past tended toconfine women to the kitchen and/or fields, education was lelt to be wasted on them (Upper-class women were to some degree an exception) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the few distinguished female writers, artists, doctors, and educators were isolated cases After World War II, though, there was a gradual dismantling of unfair barriers and atavistic taboos, especially regarding education and careers for women The post-Fascist Republican Constitution enacted in the late '40s granted female suffrage, and the comparative affluence of the '50s and '60s further quickened the influx of women workers into the country's economy As a matter of fact, Italian equal rights legislation is more progressive than America's corresponding Federal and state legislation Despite all this, however, women continue to have serious problems in overcoming prejudices and machismo De facto if no longer de jure, the average Italian man looks upon himself as head of the family and acts accordingly Thus one rarely encounters young fathers pushing baby carnages, and there is little sharing of household tasks by husbands and lovers On the whole, although it is encouraging to see women as ambassadors, members of Parliament, industrial managers and college professors, full equality between the sexes is far away PERHAPS THE MOST formidable road block facing Italian feminists is the nation's ratio of political forces Christian Democrats (DC) and Communists (PCI) control over 70 per cent of the national vote, and for different reasons neither party gives much comfort to women's causes Democrazia Cristiana, the modern version of a Catholic party, is heavily supported by the Vatican and the lower clergy In view of the traditional role for women envisaged by the Catholic Church (evident in its stand on contraception and its refusal to ordain female priests) it is no wonder that the DC does not go beyond lofty, empty pronouncements on the issue The Christian Democrats have the solid allegiance of the conservative lower middle class, which is not particularly concerned with conditions affecting women The Communists are definitely more sensitive to certain evils that penalize women at work and at home, yet overall the party takes a doctrinaire line on feminism Injustices are to be corrected through the party, rather than by supporting possibly disruptive independent actions The Communist line is that the inequities riling feminists do not concern women alone, and therefore they require a "joint policy" aimed at bringing about changes in the nation's social structure The joint policy seems to be dormant for the time being, but the PCI is trying to woo female voters by giving women more responsible posts within the apparat The PCI's doctrinaire approach to feminism goes hand in hand with its electoral caution, for it is afraid of alienating women unsympathetic to the liberationists Ever since the fall of Fascism in 1945, the PCI leadership has carefully avoided antagonizing the Catholic masses Hence their reluctance to commit themselves on the easing of divorce strictures The Communists supported the holding of a national referendum on divorce in 1975 only when forced to do so by the Socialists and the small lay parties...

...as usual " It must be mentioned that the CGIL leader and her demanding spouse hail from the modern metropolis of Milan, not some backward Sicilian village Even in Rome, where one could hardly find the quaint rural customs sharply satirized in the films that made Marcel-lo Mastroianni famous, I know two women in their early 40s whose career aspirations ultimately wrecked their marriages Although affectionate and devoted after a fashion, their husbands refused to countenance any domestic and social changes, probably fearing a loss of face resulting from their wives' earning a living To be sure, the citizens of the most conservative and underdeveloped Southern provinces no longer automatically assume that all women are silly, helpless, intellectually feeble, morally irresponsible and, given the slightest chance, promiscuous Fewer and fewer girls are thrust into the hands of husbands picked by their fathers Yet the struggle to eliminate the inequalities that mar the lot of Italian women remains slow and laborious Most of the obstacles that prevent the young Italian feminist movement from reaching what Betty Fnedan calls the "second stage" are not restricted to Italian society The main hindrance is the millenium-old inferiority forced upon women by the cultures of the Mediterranean basin Regardless of their social and financial status, a large majority of Italian men—like Southern men in general—continue to view women as basically "angels of the hearth" (Angelo del focolare is the Italian equivalent o f the German three Ks Kir-che, Kinder, Kuche—church, children, kitchen) Further, no matter how much an Italian man loves his wife, Mama is the paragon of female virtue And She never wanted a career for herself, nor did she dream of bucking the system or of demonstrating for women's rights As far as he is concerned, what was good enough for the angel of the hearth should suffice for her daughter-in-law and other female relatives Many Italian women also accept the status quo out of ignorance, indolence and fear, and are appalled by the probably inevitable aggressiveness and stridency of the new militant feminist groups This resistance does not mean that there haven't been belated and important improvements in the legislation regulating intra-family relations, the dirritto di famiglia...