The changing status of

women in Mussolini’s Italy

“War is to men what maternity is to women”
Mussolini’s ideology
Mussolini wanted women to be • He hated the idea of women being
Fascists first and women second, and employed, believing that they were
he devised a new idealized model of less capable than men.
femininity: the donna
fascista (Fascist woman).
Mussolini endorsed traditional
values of women, and believed a
woman should be able to raise a
large family and be fiercely loyal to
her husband- much like his own wife.
(fun fact- Mussolini is known to have
multiple mistresses of his own)
Battle for births
To increase the birth rate, in 1925, he introduced the “Battle for
Births”.
• Divorce, abortion, contraception and sterilization was criminalized.
• The railway sacked all its female employees.
• Annual ceremonies were held to honour the most prolific mothers
(i.e who managed to birth 12 or more children)
• Women could reserve only 10% of the labour force, although certain
professions, such as teaching, were heavily populated by women.
 Appeasement
Why?
• Although Mussolini wasn’t a religious person,
Expanding the he understood that the support of the Roman
Italian empire Catholic Church held great importance.
Through the battle for births, he endorsed
• Mussolini
envisioned a vast, traditional catholic views on gender, and
fascist Italian hence garnered the church’s support.
empire. For fighting
wars, he needed
more boys, and to
raise these boys, he
needed more girls,
who’d be raised to
be fascist mothers.
Financial conditions of women
• As the fascist regime got stronger, the number of jobs for women
diminished. It was also believed that a working woman is more likely
to become sterile.
• Simultaneously, however, the government had to apply wage cuts in
accordance with the economic recession.
• Women were hence forced to work to support their husbands
salaries and their families.
• Understanding the conditions, the regime allowed women to do
certain jobs, however these were made costlier, and bigoted
attitudes in the workplace were strengthened.
• Many women openly
protested these
movements.
• Being left with no source of
income, many women were
forced into prostitution to
support themselves.
• Due to this non-conformity
with the regime,
participation of women in
the labour force remained
much higher than desired,
one of the reasons leading
to the failure of the Battle
for Births.
Female organizations
• Fascist Italy did introduce some • Examples include:
movements which may have seemed • 1) Piccole Italiane (for girls aged eight
liberating to women at that time. to twelve)
• Up to that time, girls were not allowed • 2) Giovani Italiane (for girls aged
to spend time with other girls of their thirteen to eighteen)
age or to participate in many social
activities. • 3) Giovani Fasciste (aged nineteen and
• Fascist Italy established organizations twenty)
which sought to do just that. They • 4) Massaie Rurali (the Rural
created all-girls organizations specific Housewives)
to the age, social class of women, in an
attempt to bring together similar
women.
Fasci Femminili (1921)
• The fasci femminili was perhaps the most important womens
organization in fascist Italy. It swore loyalty to Mussolini. These
comprised of all groups of women who strongly supported the Fascist
ideology. The Fasci Femminili recruited many women and
demonstrated their support for fascism in a bid to encourage it
amongst other womenas well as execute welfare work.
• Fasci Feminilli showed support of the march on Rome by organising
first-aid stations for marchers in the capital, leaving their own families
temporarily.
• Mussolini summoned the Fasci, ordering them to educate women on
childbearing and maternity, once he had obtained power.
Women’s rights to vote
• Before consolidating power, Mussolini
showed slight sympathy towards feminist
ideologies.
• He granted women the right to vote in 1925
(…in local elections)
• However, to become popular with the
church, his ideologies became more
anti-feminist after becoming Il Duce.
• Finally, in 1945, Italy granted women’s
suffrage in 1945