2023-12-22 18:18:36
On the web and social media, 1 in 4 women has received, at least once, heavy physical appreciation – a percentage that reaches 45.9% between 18 and 24 years old – but also explicit sexual proposals. 18.6% have been victims of body shaming, mocked or criticized for their body. This was revealed by the survey ‘Pleasure and pleasure. The relationship of women with their bodies’ conducted by Eurispes (Institute of political, economic and social studies), in collaboration with the Filocolo association, on a thousand Italian women, which highlights how female beauty has become a social value that It permeates every age and reality of life. In the workplace, over 40% have suffered insinuations about a career achieved easily thanks to their body or have received sexual praise from a superior or colleague. But 62.9% say they have to work harder at work than a male colleague to be appreciated. Just under half of the women interviewed consider themselves feminists and have no interest in keeping informed about what is happening in the world regarding women’s rights.
Not having a steady partner is a reason for judgment for over half of women. The majority – the report states – were told that her physical appearance or clothing attracts too much attention, while 6 out of 10 chose an outfit specifically to avoid running into danger. Over 60% were subjected to unwanted comments, such as catcalling. Yet 63% say they feel flattered by such compliments, even if they are inappropriate, and a similar percentage say they have not been able to respond in kind to unwelcome comments from men. Furthermore, 47.1% of the interviewees found themselves in unpleasant situations, sexual or otherwise, to please a partner, while 53.7% felt physically inadequate following a rejection or the end of a relationship.
Physical appearance also influences the success in attracting a potential partner for 65% of the interviewees. Once again, weight affects ‘a lot’ or ‘quite a bit’ in almost 80% of the sample between 18 and 34 years old, a sign that – the note observes – women are subjected to greater performative anxiety regarding their own aesthetic characteristics. External appearance influenced the success of one’s love life for 63.8% of the respondents: 4 out of 10 are dissatisfied with their sexual life. The dissatisfaction rate is highest among the over 65s (54.6%) followed at a distance by the very young between 18 and 24 years old. 50.1% of the women interviewed believe that it is a woman’s duty to keep herself beautiful and fit for her partner and 45.2% ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ agree that satisfying her partner is the greatest gratification. A minority share (38%) agrees with the statement that a woman’s natural predisposition during sexual intercourse is to indulge her partner.
Motherhood desired by 8 out of 10
Although the desire for motherhood involves approximately 80% of Italian women, it is not negligible that 1 in 4 does not share this desire. On having children – we read in the Eurispes report – only about one in 5 declares that no one has ever asked her when she would have a child as if it were a certain fact (21.8%). Regarding the desire to have some, the majority of the sample responded that they already had some (54.3%), 26% would have liked to have some, while 19.7% do not have this desire or did not have it. Not wanting children is linked to the lack of maternal instinct (27.8%), not wanting to limit one’s freedom (19.9%) and to dedicating oneself to work (14.2%). For just under one woman in 10 the lack of desire for motherhood derives from health reasons (9.5%), it is linked to issues concerning the life of a couple and 7% attribute the choice to economic reasons.
On ‘patriarchy’ – understood as a social system in which men primarily hold power, predominating in terms of political power, moral authority, social privilege and control – the sample is divided in half. It is above all young women aged 25 to 34 who most frequently indicate the presence of a society in which patriarchy exists (56.8%). On voluntary termination of pregnancy, 56% believe that it is an issue that concerns only and exclusively the woman and her body. The percentage rises to over 60% between 18 and 34 years old.
Finally, faced with a series of clichés, the women expressed their opinion: almost half agreed that it was difficult to live in exclusively female environments; 39.5% say they are convinced that the first to be sexist would be the women themselves; a small share (22.7%) agrees with the idea that she truly becomes a woman only through motherhood; 35.5% agree with the statement that women are enemies of each other because they compete for the male gaze. Surprisingly, a good 44.9% support the idea that there is a connection between the menstrual cycle and being often moody and fickle. For 34.1% a single woman would be more likely to be ‘sour’ and unhappy and for 35.2% when there is news of accusations of harassment and abuse against a man in power it is often an attempt to gain visibility and money. Very few women support the opinion that mothers will raise future violent men (28%). Finally, does solidarity between women exist? Overall, although not with a large majority, women are confident in the existence of authentic female solidarity (54.5%).
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