Let’s talk about women in politics | Fabiana Martini

Fabiana Martini is a journalist. From 2000 to 2010, she edited the weekly magazine Vita Nuova, becoming the first secular woman to take charge of a religious periodical in Italy. From 2011 to 2016, she was deputy mayor of Trieste.

In addition to writing, she is involved in training on the issues of migration, equal opportunities and hate speech, and communication on the issues of childhood, mental health and violence against women. She is spokesperson for the association ‘Articolo 21’ in Friuli Venezia Giulia and secretary of the jury for the Marco Luchetta International Journalism Award.

In 2022, she wrote the book “Il governo delle donne. Viaggio tra le amministratrici locali italiane” [The Government of Women: A Journey Among Italian Local Administrators] (Vita Activa Nuova Edition).

What is one of your earliest memories related to feminism?
I think my first memory of feminism dates back to a story told by my middle school teacher.

You wrote a book about women in political roles in Italy. What did you discover? Is there anything they have in common?
I discovered that politics is very sexist, that there are still very few women in politics and that they pay a very high price simply for being women and regardless of the political party they belong to: for example they are, much more than men, a target online and offline and their engagement has serious consequences on their private lives. Speaking of what women in politics have in common, they are very practical, goal-oriented, aware of the need to prove they are worthy, less inclined to be influenced by consensus.

You are often forced to stop, to take a detour for some emergency, to endure judgemental looks or lectures from those who tell you that you should be at home, or insults from those who have something to say about your clothing. every now and then a bus passes by, but it doesn’t stop because it doesn’t see you: it is designed for men, like everything else, and in fact men get on and go, while you understandably wonder why you bothered, and you think that there must be a reason why there are so few of you, why 76 years after women were first given the vote, only 15% of Italian municipalities are led by women, why no city with a population of over 200,000 has a woman in charge, why in the 26 provincial capitals that went to the polls in June 2022, only 15 of the 60 candidates for mayor were women.

What is the biggest challenge facing feminism today?
Eliminate violence against women made possible by patriarchal society: being alive is the prerequisite for equality.

To the point that perhaps the most frustrating thing about these first two years has been being mistaken for the secretary when the economic categories round table is convened. Not for personal reasons, but because it shows how far we still have to go on the road to equal opportunities. [Flavia Marzano]

And what will be the biggest challenge tomorrow?
Ensure that being born a woman is not a disadvantage.

Antwerp is convinced that we need to work on the one hand with girls, who, like their mothers and grandmothers, have little self-confidence: even though we know that work-life balance remains a problem, we need to tell them, “You are valuable, you can do it”; and on the other hand with boys, to overcome the rigid division of roles. ‘My generation is now burnt out: the idea remains that women must follow men (I myself did so) and that they must stand alongside them, never in front of them. I have high hopes for today’s young women. [Elisabetta Anversa]

Three names of women who, in your opinion, have made feminist history
Carla Lonzi, Susan Sontag, bell hooks

Is there anything you would like to say that we haven’t asked you about?
Rather than focusing on denouncing only the lack of women in politics and the difficulties they face, we should highlight their skills and achievements, shifting the narrative from one focused on physical appearance and exceptionality.

This is part of WP1 | T.1.2. PRODUCTION OF ORIGINAL MULTIMEDIA CONTENTS: RESEARCH, STUDIES, ARCHIVAL MATERIALS, TESTIMONIES OF WITNESSES