Merry Christmas to all...

UDI The Union of the Women in Italy

The Amphora during the Relay

Before the Italian Republic, was there UDI Unione donne italiane (Italian Women Union) now UDI Unione donne in Italia ( The Union of the Women in Italy ).

This is the most ancient Union of women in Italy ever, created on 1944, a year before the country would choose the Republic instead of the Monarchy, by the women of the Resistance during the World War II. After the referendum UDI was immediately involved in the development of the country for the real presence of women in the politic of Italy, the first political women were also engaged in UDI's activity, they were: Adele Bei, Teresa Mattei, Lina Merlin, Rita Montagnana, Teresa Noce.

UDI expanded its political fight for an equal wage, for the ban of the dismissal of the married women, for the recognition of the domestic work and even a salary for it.

During the years UDI is involved also in the political debate about the reformation of the Family Law which in the 70's will change balancing the role of both parents in the family.

Soon after (in 1980) UDI fights against sexual violence against women be close to the victims during the processes and patron for a new law that would conceive sexual violence against women a crime against the person and not against the morality as it was before the reform of that law which will be promulgated only in 1996!.

So in our time UDI, chooses to become a Union for all women also the immigrant ones and changes its name into The Union of the Women in Italy and rebuilds its conception, detaching itself from a political belief and becoming a real territorial movement and not even more an institution.

Nowadays UDI is involved in few campaigns including eg "Staffetta UDI" (Relay by Women against Violence) a real tour around Italy in which everyday women with an amphora met other everyday women who could write their thoughts and put them in the amphora.

And "50E50" a law by popular initiative to ensure a real partecipation for the italian women in the political scenery (Italy is at the 52° place in the world for political representation).

UDI represents thus an important landmark for all the italian citizens whatever is their sex, gender or political belief.

Yesterday, after a long illness, Ilda Bartolini missing.

Ilda was a great journalist and feminist. Her carrier began with Sergio Zavoli in the '68. In the early 70's she started working for RAI (the public television) first at the second channel as a journalist of judicial report and for this she was the witness for the society of the first processes for violence against women in Italy, she was always engaged with gender issues and for the first time in Italy she realized reports about abortion, divorce, feminism and the homosexual wedding, following the cultural changing of the country.

While working at the second channel of the public television, she invented the first news point for women ever, Diogene- on the women' s side" and after "Mafalda" the first news for women.

Then she began working for the third national channel and there she carried her experience realizing a new issues called "Punto Donna" "Woman focus” at which she was still working until yesterday although her illness.

She was the only reporter at the Conference of Women for Peace in India and China.

She was also the only Italian woman who won the international Matilde Serao Prize.

She wrote also a test on The Conference of Pechino for a book wrote by the anthropology university professor at "La Sapienza", University of Rome, and two books, the first about some of the most known Italian women politician and the power, in order to analyze the Italian society and the place that women held in politics and the second one, a report on the habit of the nowadays girls with sex compared to their mother's sexual behaviour, which became also a comedy.

A Light came down...

 Botticelli Portrait of Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci

Today, on 1476, dead Simonetta Vespucci, the most beatiful woman of The Renaissance, the one who inspired Botticelli for his great painting as La nascita di Venere (The Birth of Venus), La Primavera (The Spring) and all the greatest painters, writers and politicians of that period,  Lorenzo The Magnificent and her brother Giuliano e.g.

On this day Lorenzo il Magnifico, Lorenzo the Magnificent will wrote: " Oh brith star..." imaging her as the brithest star in the sky after her death.

But for a star getting down a new one born on 1759: Mary Wollstonecraft.

 Piero di Cosimo, Simonetta Vespucci 

Books:

 "The Birth of the Venus of Florence" by Giovanna Lazzi, Paola Ventrone

Simonetta Vespucci. La nascita della Venere fiorentina.
© Polistampa 2007,
 pp. 192, ill. col., br., libro + DVD, € 18,00; with a DVD about the fashion of that period.

"Simonetta. A Woman at the Medici Court" by Rachele Farina

Simonetta. Una donna alla Corte dei Medici.

Bollati Boringhieri, 2001, pp. 134, ill., € 9.30