“ Feminism is about giving other women the freedom to choose, not a stick to beat other women with. It's about freedom, about emancipation, about equality .” (Emma Watson)
The women's movement is based on feminism , the belief that women are equal to men in social , political , and economic rights . It possesses all the characteristics of a social movement and, since its inception, has, with most recent exceptions, been forced to operate outside of institutions. According to Reger , the women's movement originated in the 1840s in the United States; meetings discussed the restrictions women faced within the family unit, women's rights regarding education and property, and universal suffrage . Numerous associations were formed, and feminists introduced the Ninth Amendment, giving women the right to vote, as early as 1848; however, this right did not become law until August 26, 1920.
The second wave of feminism
The right to vote for women was an important step, but it wasn't enough to bridge the gap between the roles of men and women in society, and the postwar struggle for women's rights continued. These were the years of the second wave of feminism; in the United States, women's studies programs emerged on university campuses. During this period, the struggles led to the passage of Title IX, which addressed gender discrimination in publicly funded education, and to the legalization of abortion in 1973.
The emergence of cyber-feminism
A third wave can be traced back to the 1990s where the most discussed topics were those of women belonging to the minorities. Second Judy Wajcman today there is an increase in cyber-feminism which could be traced back to this third wave, and the themes would seem to draw inspiration from previous waves, as equal rights remain an unresolved issue. Even today, the women's social movement is still evolving, albeit in different and globalized forms. Myra Ferree e Aili Tripp They argue that in recent years many local and transnational feminist networks have developed, aided in their formation by technology and networks. However, globalization has accentuated the fractures within the women's movement; in fact, women from the South of the world often oppose the initiatives of women from the North; this second freeman It is due to the need to prevent the imposition of Northern notions of superiority. The divergences in the women's social movement are not only between women from the South and the North of the world; the actress also Emma Watson, feminist and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for gender equality in the world, has been the subject of criticism due to some shots on Vanity Fair considered to be in conflict with feminist values. And this shows that the divisions are not only between women from the South and the North, but that conflicting opinions within the women's social movement have no clear geographical location.
The situation in Italy
In Italy, women's right to vote only came in 1945. The first elections in which women were called to vote were the local elections of March 10, 1946. The historic moment in which women were remembered as voters was the institutional referendum on a monarchy or a republic on June 2, 1946. The institution of universal suffrage did not bridge the gap between men and women's rights, and the new Family Law was introduced only in May 1975. Marriage for reparation was abolished only in 1981. According to sociologist Chiara Saraceno , today, when it comes to issues of equality between men and women, things do not seem to have changed, and she considers the lack of awareness among young women equally worrying. A general resignation on equality and acts of violence against women are commonplace; violence against women is considered serious, but not serious enough compared to other issues. " It would be nice if certain things didn't happen, but the real tragedies are elsewhere ," Chiara Saraceno said in an interview with L' Espresso . Since 2013, Italy, the 68th country in the world with the highest gender gap , has seen its Ministry of Equal Opportunities disappear , and issues regarding women's rights remain unresolved to this day.
Luisa Cuccu
