Perry Willson
Biographic Data
| ID | 641657 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Perry Willson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Perry |
| FAMILY NAME | Willson |
| SIGNATURE | WILLSON P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Dundee |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4288-2905 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
A ‘Shining Example of Fascist Womanhood’: Angiola Moretti 1925–1943
This article examines the political career of Angiola Moretti who was, from 1926 to 1930, the National Secretary of the Fasci Femminili – the women's section of the Italian Fascist Party. Despite her prominent role, this female hierarch has never, to date, been studied by historians. The article investigates how she came to be appointed to this high-ranking position and her subsequent role and career in the Fascist Party, including her eventual n…
White blouses in the blackshirt nation: Women and uniforms in Fascist italy
Uniforms were a core element of the visual spectacle of the Italian Fascist regime and a means for its supporters to publicly proclaim their political allegiance. Initially considered intrinsically masculine, part of the Fascist quest to bolster Italian virility, there was considerable hostility to the idea of women in uniform. By the mid-1930s, however, women were allowed and even encouraged to wear uniforms, albeit in different versions to thos…
La Mamma: Interrogating a National Stereotype
The idea of the “mamma italiana” is one of the most widespread and recognizable stereotypes in perceptions of Italian national character both within and beyond Italy. This figure makes frequent appearances in jokes and other forms of popular culture, but it has also been seen as shaping the lived experience of modern-day Italians of both sexes, as well as influencing perceptions of Italy in the wider world. This interdisciplinary collection exami…
Group Portrait: The Ispettrici Nazionali of the Italian Fascist Party, 1937–1943
The years of fascist rule in Italy saw an unprecedented mass political mobilization of women, a mobilization that has, to date, been little studied by historians. This article focuses on the role of the ispettrici nazionali – the highest rank that women ever reached in the fascist party hierarchy. It attempts to piece together a ‘group portrait’ of these hitherto unstudied female hierarchs, who were appointed from 1937 onwards to form a group lea…
Silvana Patriarca, Italian Vices: Nation and Character from the Risorgimento to the Republic
The Nation in Uniform? Fascist Italy, 1919-43
Journal Article The Nation in Uniform? Fascist Italy, 1919–43 Get access Perry Willson Perry Willson University of Dundee Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Past & Present, Volume 221, Issue 1, November 2013, Pages 239–272, https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtt023 Published: 30 September 2013
Women in Mussolini's Italy, 1922–1945
There is by now a fairly ample historiography on the role of women in fascist Italy. It is, however, still somewhat uneven. This article looks at some of these topics, such as the demographic campaign, the mobilization of women into the Fascist Party, and women's experience during the Second World War. The recent wave of interest in some of the more neglected topics is very positive, since a due attention to gender can shed much light on the fasc…
Italian Fascism and the Political Mobilisation of Working-Class Women 1937–43
The Sezione Operaie e Lavoranti a Domicilio dei Fasci Femminili (Section of the Fascist Women's Groups for Female Workers and Outworkers) is the only one of the three Italian Fascist Party organisations for adult women that has never been studied. Founded in 1937 and recruiting factory workers, outworkers and domestic servants, it achieved a membership of almost a million by the fall of the regime in 1943. A top-down organisation, run by the larg…
Women in Twentieth-Century Italy
"This is one of the first overviews of the experience of Italian women in the twentieth century. Willson captures the complexity of women's lives in a socially, geographically and politically diverse society, highlighting the ways in which women of different social classes and regions were affected by, and helped to shape, historical change"--Provided by publisher
Empire, Gender and the 'Home Front' in Fascist Italy
This article considers the ways in which Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and the subsequent League of Nations sanctions shaped the tasks assigned to women within the Fascist Party. During the period of sanctions and, indeed, after their ending, right up until the Second World War, empire and women's contribution to it became a core theme in Fascist propaganda. Female party members were mobilised for the imperial cause both as producers and a…
From Margin to Centre: Recent Trends in Modern Italian Women's and Gender History
This article reviews the considerable progress that has been made in modern Italian women's and gender history over the last decade. It puts forward the argument that such history, whose roots lie primarily in the feminist movement of the 1970s, was until recently consigned to the margins of the historical establishment but is now beginning to make a much greater impact. The article looks at the richness of the current wave of new publications an…
The Fairytale Witch: Laura Marani Argnani and the Fasci Femminili of Reggio Emilia, 1929–1940
Laura Marani Argnani was one of the most politically fanatical and dedicated of the leaders of the Fasci Femminili (the women's section of the Italian Fascist Party). She was FF provincial fiduciary in the northern province of Reggio Emilia from 1929 to 1940 and a PNF national inspectress from 1937. Marani Argnani is a particularly interesting figure, since the provincial federation she led was one of the most successful in Italy in terms of leve…
Gender, Family and Sexuality: The Private Sphere in Italy, 1860-1945
This lively collection of essays presents a range of innovative research on the history of the private sphere in Liberal and Fascist Italy, with a particular focus on sexuality, gender and race - all
Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali
Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali
Peasant women were the largest female occupational group in Italy between the wars. They led lives characterised by great poverty and heavy workloads, but Fascist propaganda extolled them as the mothers of the nation and the guardians of the rural worlds, the most praiseworthy of Italian women. This study is the first published history of the Massaie Rurali, the Fascist Party's section for peasant women, which, with three million members by 1943,…
Cooking the Patriotic Omelette: Women and the Italian Fascist Ruralization Campaign
Flowers for the Doctor: Pro-Natalism and Abortion in Fascist Milan
This article explores the reasons for the failure of the Fascist attempts to raise the Italian birth rate through an examination of the pro-natalist campaign in the great industrial and commercial city of Milan and its surrounding province. It then considers one of the specific ways in which the birth rate was kept down - illegal abortion - focusing in particular on the dramatic events surrounding the arrest of an illegal abortionist in the small…
History, Politics, and Society
History, Politics, and Society
In Memoriam Memoria
Empire, Gender and the 'Home Front' in Fascist Italy
This article considers the ways in which Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and the subsequent League of Nations sanctions shaped the tasks assigned to women within the Fascist Party. During the period of sanctions and, indeed, after their ending, right up until the Second World War, empire and women's contribution to it became a core theme in Fascist propaganda. Female party members were mobilised for the imperial cause both as producers and a…
Italian Fascism and the Political Mobilisation of Working-Class Women 1937–43
The Sezione Operaie e Lavoranti a Domicilio dei Fasci Femminili (Section of the Fascist Women's Groups for Female Workers and Outworkers) is the only one of the three Italian Fascist Party organisations for adult women that has never been studied. Founded in 1937 and recruiting factory workers, outworkers and domestic servants, it achieved a membership of almost a million by the fall of the regime in 1943. A top-down organisation, run by the larg…
The Fairytale Witch: Laura Marani Argnani and the Fasci Femminili of Reggio Emilia, 1929–1940
Laura Marani Argnani was one of the most politically fanatical and dedicated of the leaders of the Fasci Femminili (the women's section of the Italian Fascist Party). She was FF provincial fiduciary in the northern province of Reggio Emilia from 1929 to 1940 and a PNF national inspectress from 1937. Marani Argnani is a particularly interesting figure, since the provincial federation she led was one of the most successful in Italy in terms of leve…
In Memoriam Memoria
White blouses in the blackshirt nation: Women and uniforms in Fascist italy
Uniforms were a core element of the visual spectacle of the Italian Fascist regime and a means for its supporters to publicly proclaim their political allegiance. Initially considered intrinsically masculine, part of the Fascist quest to bolster Italian virility, there was considerable hostility to the idea of women in uniform. By the mid-1930s, however, women were allowed and even encouraged to wear uniforms, albeit in different versions to thos…
The Nation in Uniform? Fascist Italy, 1919-43
Journal Article The Nation in Uniform? Fascist Italy, 1919–43 Get access Perry Willson Perry Willson University of Dundee Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Past & Present, Volume 221, Issue 1, November 2013, Pages 239–272, https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtt023 Published: 30 September 2013
From Margin to Centre: Recent Trends in Modern Italian Women's and Gender History
This article reviews the considerable progress that has been made in modern Italian women's and gender history over the last decade. It puts forward the argument that such history, whose roots lie primarily in the feminist movement of the 1970s, was until recently consigned to the margins of the historical establishment but is now beginning to make a much greater impact. The article looks at the richness of the current wave of new publications an…
Flowers for the Doctor: Pro-Natalism and Abortion in Fascist Milan
This article explores the reasons for the failure of the Fascist attempts to raise the Italian birth rate through an examination of the pro-natalist campaign in the great industrial and commercial city of Milan and its surrounding province. It then considers one of the specific ways in which the birth rate was kept down - illegal abortion - focusing in particular on the dramatic events surrounding the arrest of an illegal abortionist in the small…
In Memoriam Memoria
History, Politics, and Society
History, Politics, and Society
Flowers for the Doctor: Pro-Natalism and Abortion in Fascist Milan
This article explores the reasons for the failure of the Fascist attempts to raise the Italian birth rate through an examination of the pro-natalist campaign in the great industrial and commercial city of Milan and its surrounding province. It then considers one of the specific ways in which the birth rate was kept down - illegal abortion - focusing in particular on the dramatic events surrounding the arrest of an illegal abortionist in the small…
Cooking the Patriotic Omelette: Women and the Italian Fascist Ruralization Campaign
Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali
Peasant women were the largest female occupational group in Italy between the wars. They led lives characterised by great poverty and heavy workloads, but Fascist propaganda extolled them as the mothers of the nation and the guardians of the rural worlds, the most praiseworthy of Italian women. This study is the first published history of the Massaie Rurali, the Fascist Party's section for peasant women, which, with three million members by 1943,…
Peasant Women and Politics in Fascist Italy: The Massaie Rurali
Gender, Family and Sexuality: The Private Sphere in Italy, 1860-1945
This lively collection of essays presents a range of innovative research on the history of the private sphere in Liberal and Fascist Italy, with a particular focus on sexuality, gender and race - all
From Margin to Centre: Recent Trends in Modern Italian Women's and Gender History
This article reviews the considerable progress that has been made in modern Italian women's and gender history over the last decade. It puts forward the argument that such history, whose roots lie primarily in the feminist movement of the 1970s, was until recently consigned to the margins of the historical establishment but is now beginning to make a much greater impact. The article looks at the richness of the current wave of new publications an…
The Fairytale Witch: Laura Marani Argnani and the Fasci Femminili of Reggio Emilia, 1929–1940
Laura Marani Argnani was one of the most politically fanatical and dedicated of the leaders of the Fasci Femminili (the women's section of the Italian Fascist Party). She was FF provincial fiduciary in the northern province of Reggio Emilia from 1929 to 1940 and a PNF national inspectress from 1937. Marani Argnani is a particularly interesting figure, since the provincial federation she led was one of the most successful in Italy in terms of leve…
Empire, Gender and the 'Home Front' in Fascist Italy
This article considers the ways in which Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and the subsequent League of Nations sanctions shaped the tasks assigned to women within the Fascist Party. During the period of sanctions and, indeed, after their ending, right up until the Second World War, empire and women's contribution to it became a core theme in Fascist propaganda. Female party members were mobilised for the imperial cause both as producers and a…
Women in Twentieth-Century Italy
"This is one of the first overviews of the experience of Italian women in the twentieth century. Willson captures the complexity of women's lives in a socially, geographically and politically diverse society, highlighting the ways in which women of different social classes and regions were affected by, and helped to shape, historical change"--Provided by publisher
Women in Mussolini's Italy, 1922–1945
There is by now a fairly ample historiography on the role of women in fascist Italy. It is, however, still somewhat uneven. This article looks at some of these topics, such as the demographic campaign, the mobilization of women into the Fascist Party, and women's experience during the Second World War. The recent wave of interest in some of the more neglected topics is very positive, since a due attention to gender can shed much light on the fasc…
Italian Fascism and the Political Mobilisation of Working-Class Women 1937–43
The Sezione Operaie e Lavoranti a Domicilio dei Fasci Femminili (Section of the Fascist Women's Groups for Female Workers and Outworkers) is the only one of the three Italian Fascist Party organisations for adult women that has never been studied. Founded in 1937 and recruiting factory workers, outworkers and domestic servants, it achieved a membership of almost a million by the fall of the regime in 1943. A top-down organisation, run by the larg…
Silvana Patriarca, Italian Vices: Nation and Character from the Risorgimento to the Republic
The Nation in Uniform? Fascist Italy, 1919-43
Journal Article The Nation in Uniform? Fascist Italy, 1919–43 Get access Perry Willson Perry Willson University of Dundee Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Past & Present, Volume 221, Issue 1, November 2013, Pages 239–272, https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtt023 Published: 30 September 2013
Group Portrait: The Ispettrici Nazionali of the Italian Fascist Party, 1937–1943
The years of fascist rule in Italy saw an unprecedented mass political mobilization of women, a mobilization that has, to date, been little studied by historians. This article focuses on the role of the ispettrici nazionali – the highest rank that women ever reached in the fascist party hierarchy. It attempts to piece together a ‘group portrait’ of these hitherto unstudied female hierarchs, who were appointed from 1937 onwards to form a group lea…
La Mamma: Interrogating a National Stereotype
The idea of the “mamma italiana” is one of the most widespread and recognizable stereotypes in perceptions of Italian national character both within and beyond Italy. This figure makes frequent appearances in jokes and other forms of popular culture, but it has also been seen as shaping the lived experience of modern-day Italians of both sexes, as well as influencing perceptions of Italy in the wider world. This interdisciplinary collection exami…
A ‘Shining Example of Fascist Womanhood’: Angiola Moretti 1925–1943
This article examines the political career of Angiola Moretti who was, from 1926 to 1930, the National Secretary of the Fasci Femminili – the women's section of the Italian Fascist Party. Despite her prominent role, this female hierarch has never, to date, been studied by historians. The article investigates how she came to be appointed to this high-ranking position and her subsequent role and career in the Fascist Party, including her eventual n…
White blouses in the blackshirt nation: Women and uniforms in Fascist italy
Uniforms were a core element of the visual spectacle of the Italian Fascist regime and a means for its supporters to publicly proclaim their political allegiance. Initially considered intrinsically masculine, part of the Fascist quest to bolster Italian virility, there was considerable hostility to the idea of women in uniform. By the mid-1930s, however, women were allowed and even encouraged to wear uniforms, albeit in different versions to thos…
Italian Fascism and Post-war Society (16 works) · Political science (15 works) · History (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Politics (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · European history and politics (8 works) · Art (7 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · History (6 works)