Women and Fascism

About the Images

The following citations are for the images shown above, left to right, illustrating books and other works included in the exhibit “Italian Life Under Fascism” in the Department of Special Collections in 1998.

  1. Sezione Femminile del G.U.F. Vincere. Lavoriamo per i Nostri Soldati. Bologna: Anonima Arti Grafiche, 1942.
    • Detailed knitting instructions. With the approach of another winter of war, Italian women are urged to knit and sew for their men at the front.
  2. From an insert “Le Sanzioni,” in Domenica del Corriere. N.d. Call number: Fry 97-131

Additional Exhibit Items

The following items were part of the original exhibit in the Department of Special Collections but are not pictured above.

  • Opera Nazionale per la Protezione della Maternità e dell’Infanzia. Istruzioni sulle Attribuzioni e sul Funzionamento dei Comitati Comunali di Patronato. Padua: Tip. Cinti & C., 1934.
    • In Padua, as in other major cities, an organization for the protection and assistance of needy mothers and infants dispensed clothing and medical advice before, during, and after childbirth. It is interesting that these organizations appear largely independent of the regime: in this document, after a dozen years of Fascism, there is no obvious mention of the party and of its social doctrines.
  • Compiti delle “Sezioni Operaie e Lavoranti a Domicilio,” dei Fasci Femminili nel Campo della Previdenza Sociale. Rome, 1938.
    • A publication of the national Fascist institute for social welfare, outlining the rights and benefits of women chiefly employed as domestic help. It gives tables of suggested pension rates and other obligations of employers.
  • Fascio Femminile di Padova. Scuola di Economia Domestica per le Addette ai Servizi Famigliari. Padua: Stab. Grafico Molini, n.d. but ca. 1938.
    • Pamphlet prepared by the women Fascists of Padua to help train young girls who would eventually become servants in private homes. It starts with the training and early household experiences of a recent graduate from the local school of home economics, and concludes with recipes and weights and measures used in cooking.
  • Programma di Educazione Fisica. Quaderno I Femminile. Opera Balilla, ca. 1938.
    • Program of physical education for girls ages eight to eleven, including exercises imitating such physical tasks as the farmer hoeing and the sailor rowing.
  • P.N.F. Federazione dei Fasci Femminili PadovaGuida della Segretaria di Fascio. Padua: Stediv, 1942.
    • This book describes in considerable detail the administrative organization of the women’s wing of the Fascist party, to guide the provincial secretaries directing each section.