GENDER EQUALITY
For the eTwinning between Greece/Italy/Azerbaijan 2018-2019
Reality or Myth?
Evolution of women’s conditions Women in Media and Cultural Products Women in education Women represented through literature Successful women now and then Timeline of evolution of women’s rights
Experimental School of Aristotle University, Thessaloniki (Greece) Liceo T. Mamiani, Pesaro (Italy) Taffakur Lyceum, Sumgayt (Azerbaijan)
Gender Equality
Table of Contents 4 12 Women in Media and Cultural Products
Evolution of women’s conditions
Students research the representation of women in everyday media, advertisements and music.
Students look into women’s position in Ancient Greece and interview two modern women to evaluate their living conditions.
16 26 Women’s representation Women represented in education through literature Students present great female literary figures from their countries.
Surveys and statistical analysis of school grading data is used to determine students’ and teachers’ opinions on female representation in education.
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Reality MAGAZINE or Myth?
38 48 Successful women now Timeline of evolution of and then women’s rights Students interview successful women of the past and present.
Students use web tools to create interactive timelines that mark important changes in the history of women’s rights and representation.
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In Ancient Greece - illustration by Percy Anderson
Team 1 Greece
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Team MAGAZINE 1 Greece
WOMEN’S POSITION IN ANCIENT GREECE Exploring a woman’s life and duties in Ancient Greece.
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omen in ancient Greece were unable to vote, own land, or inherit property. Their place was in the home and their purpose in life was the rearing of children. However, Spartan women were treated differently than in other states, they had to do physical training like men, were permitted to own land, and could drink wine.
Education In ancient Greece children of citizens attended schools where the curriculum covered reading, writing, and mathematics. After these basics were mastered, studies turned to literature, poetry, and music. Athletics was also an essential element in a young person’s education. Girls were educated in a similar manner to boys but with a greater emphasis on dancing, gymnastics, and musical accomplishment which could be shown off in musical competitions and at religious festivals and ceremonies. The ultimate goal of a girl’s education was to prepare her for her role in rearing a family and not directly to stimulate intellectual development.
Marriage Young women were expected to marry as a virgin, and marriage was usually organized by their father, who chose the husband and accepted from him a dowry. If a woman had no father, then a guardian looked after her marriage prospects and property management, perhaps an uncle or another male relative. Married at the typical age of 13 or 14, love had little to do with the matching of husband and wife. All women were expected to marry and there was no provision in Greek society for single mature females.
Women’s duties In the family home, women were expected to rear children, supervise the slaves, if the husband could afford them, and manage the daily requirements of the household, such as weaving and cooking. In affluent homes, women had a completely separate area of the house where men were not permitted. In the homes of the poor, separate areas were not available. Poor women often worked outside the home, assisting their husbands at the market or at some other job. 5
Team 1 Greece
The contact with non-family males was discouraged and women largely occupied their time with indoor activities such as wool-work and weaving. They could go out and visit the homes of friends and were able to participate in public religious ceremonies and festivals. Women could not attend public assemblies, vote, or hold public office, even a woman’s name was not to be mentioned in public.
Spartan women Spartan women had more freedoms and responsibilities in public life. They were able to go out in public unescorted, participate in athletic contests, and inherit land. In the fourth century, over two-fifths of the land in Sparta was owned by women.
Women in Mythology Considering their limited strong cast of female For example, Athena, the out as a powerful figure
role in actual society there is a surprisingly characters in Greek religion and mythology. goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens stands blessed with intelligence, courage and honour.
Hypatia and Hydna Despite the difficulties, there were some women that made the deference and outstand from the others. For instance, Hypatia of Alexandria was a philosopher, astronomer and mathematician. She is the earliest known female mathematician, and was the last head of the Philosophical School of Alexandria, as well as the keeper of the famous library. She was a popular teacher and lecturer on philosophical topics, and is credited as the inventor of the astrolabe. Her belief in Neoplatonism caused her to be considered a pagan, which led to her being stoned to death after being accused of witchcraft.
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Jules Maurice Gaspard - "Hypatia"
Team MAGAZINE 1 Greece
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WSPU founders Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst
Team 1 Italy
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MAGAZINE Team 1 Italy
WOMEN THROUGH TIME Interviewing two women born in different time periods about their social relations and career.
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aria was born in 1940, we asked her questions and focused mainly on her relationship during her teen years.
Interviewer: Do you have any siblings? Maria: Yes, I have a brother older than me and a sister younger than me. I: Do you think your parents treated him better than you? Or better, did he have more privileges than you? M: I think he had more freedom, he could go out during the afternoon and the evening, while I had to stay at home taking care of my little sister and helping my mom with the chores. I remember that I always had to clean the house, lay the table, cook the meals, while my brother just used to play soccer and hang out with his friends. I: How old were you when you got married? M: I was 18. I met my husband when I was 16, I met him on a Sunday morning in the church, when the Mass was over he followed me until my home for finding out where I lived. The days after I saw him out of my home and he asked me to go out. 2 years later we decided to marry. I: Did your parents accept that? M: It took them long time to accept that their daughter was growing up, so that’s why at first I hid my relationship to them, we hanged out on the sly. After a year he decided to introduced himself to my parents. I felt so nervous about that but then he did well. I was so proud of him. I: How did you find yourself in the world of work? As for my school education, I left school very early to help my family because we had financial difficulties and my parents didn’t earn enough to support us. They decided to get my brother continue to study because they thought he had more possibilities to find a good job, because he’s a man.
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Team 1 Italy
S
imona is the second interviewee. She was born in 1977 and has a younger sister. Her interview is centered around her career and how her maternity affected it.
I: Do you have a husband? If so, can you please tell me how your relationship started? S: Yes I do. When we first met he introduced himself while. We were dancing in a disco place and he offered me a drink. We’ve been married since 2007 and we have had 2 kids. I: What’s your job? S: I’m a lawyer, I studied law for 6 years. My parents pushed me to reach my goals and help me to pay some of my tuition fees. I: How did your maternity influence your work career? S: It’s very common thought that women can’t have kids if they want to climb up the career ladder, due to the rhythms that the society forces us to keep. That’s why being a mom is a very important value but it’s disturbing at the same time, because it’s really hard to meet the different needs.
Students’ Reflection
Of course women reached some goals and nobody wants to go back, we like more living in these conditions. With reference to the two interviews we can see that in the earlier generations females were chained to the loneliness of a life full of chores, while the the current woman is subject to far fewer restrictions. She has greater freedom to express herself, to choose her own future and to be fulfilled in the working environment thanks to the possibility of following the studies closest to her interests. Today studying is not a prerogative of men as the right to education is universally recognized. However, despite these great advances, the chances of women’s social success are more limited than those of men’s. For example, at work, women’s salaries are generally lower than those of men and even in jobs where there is female prevalence, men have a higher salary. We can see the same gap in the political sphere: despite the fact that women have been granted the right to vote and the possibility of being elected, almost all political figures are male.
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According to the managzine's 2019 list women only hold 6.6% of Fortune 500 CEO Roles (33 positions).
MAGAZINE Team 1 Italy
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Team 2 Italy
WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA AND MUSIC Examining the way women have been represented in advertising, music and newspaper articles. To access the videos on this page, scan the codes with a QR scanner. Women in advertising Women are increasingly the protagonists of commercial communication where, for better or for worse, they interpret a double role towards the recipients: as charmers, towards men, and as representations of an ideal of female beauty. In advertising we find not only the exploitation of the female body: women are also d graded, ridiculed or reduced to stereotypes about femininity. All this can also be seen in quote old advertisements of the 1950s. This instrumentalization is still increasing and the advertisments continue to present the ideal female model to follow, a type of absolute perfection that is impossible to achieve. Advertising sets a standard that can NEVER be reached, because women in advertising do not exist. As the video accessible via the code to the right shows us, one of the first viral videos on Youtube, the models arrive, have their hair and make up done and then their image is further manipulated by means of Photoshop. We must consider that it is not only adults who are consumers of advertising, but also children and young people who are definitely not able to bypass the messages that are offered. This is a very big problem for new generations. The following figures speak clearly: • This percentage rises to 78% at the age of 17 • 65% of American women and girls are victims of eating disorders • The number of women and girls suffering from depression has doubled in the last ten years • The percentage of people who have undergone cosmetic surgery has increased by 457% in ten years (from 1997 to 2007). Dove has also made a video about the influence advertising has on children. You can watch it by scanning the following code:
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"Show her it's a man's world" advertisement by Van Heusen
MAGAZINE Team 2 Italy
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Still of Skioffi's official music video for Yolandi
Team 2 Italy
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MAGAZINE Team 2 Italy
Violence in songs
“Polly” is a song by the American band Nirvana, written by Kurt Cobain and contained in the album “Nevermind”, which was published September 24, 1991. The lyrics, as significant as in all Nirvana songs, tell the story of a newly adolescent girl who is kidnapped, tortured and raped. The song would become a hymn against violence and rape, topics towards which Kurt Cobain has always shown great sensitivity.
POLLY
Polly wants a cracker Maybe she would like more food She asked me to untie her A chase would be nice for a few In the following album, “In Utero”, he will deal with the same topic in the song “Rape Me”. ‘Rape Me’ was composed by Cobain with an acoustic guitar in 1991. This time he tackles the issue from the opposite point of view: in ‘Polly’ it’s the rapist who speaks, while in Rape Me it’s the one who suffers violence. Cobain conceived it as a song in favour of life and against rape.
Rape me
Hate me Do it and do it again Waste me Rape me, my friend Now let’s take a closer look at Skioffi’s songs, an Italian contemporary rapper and producer. In one of his songs he writes:
Yolandi
There’s a porcelain doll I talk to if I think I can But the drug doesn’t want me and I don’t want her, just to satisfy me When the sun goes down, I relieve my desires on a little Yolandi I slam it against the wall, I remove the foundation with the force of my slaps If she wants it strong, I give it to her Perhaps even more than necessary The song tells about a femicide from the point of view of the murderer. The murderer is proud of what he did and the victim is blamed on having caused his reaction by her behaviour. The real problem is that this rapper is followed and listened to by tens of thousands of kids. We have seen how the phenomenon of sexism towards woman i present in different sectors: advertising, magazines, music, etc. Women have always been discriminated in some way and unfortunately it’s not getting better. School should make students aware about this issue by speaking about this topic and explaining how discrimination can happen. This would be a big step towards improving the situation.
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Team 2 Greece
WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION ON TV Representation of women in various television formats, like commercials, reality shows etc.
Commercials
In advertisements women appear as a product of exploitation. In this case women look younger with natural beauty and no excess in appearance. Many times the woman is a object that her body is used for the requirements of advertising. The woman in advertising gets many roles like the housewife, the husband who buys products and desperately looking for the best for her in her housework.
Movies & Series
Women can play many roles in the various series depending on the role ,for instance housewife, prostitute, worker, devoted partner, mother, evil mother-in-law, sexy girl There are many times when her sensitivity is distinguished in these roles. In recent years, a dynamic woman appears in the series that she is able to stand on her feet and can do everything without the man’s contribution.
Reality Shows
In entertainment shows, women are impressive, with intense makeup, hair salon, thin and blonde. Height is no longer an issue, as some women choose comfortable and low shoes. But they always show a well-groomed model of a woman and many times the viewers are affected by them.
News
In the field of information the woman appears beautiful, smart and dynamic. Now, women occupy the position of the central presenter, they have a say in what is happening in the news, of course they hold the coordinator’s dominant position where the rest will have to obey. The reporter of the news bulletin must have a decent appearance and usually wear a jacket, thereby gaining its validity to the television audience.
Gossip shows
In the morning entertainment shows, the presenters transform themselves as anxious kittens, making many unnecessary questions for audiences. A TV show targeting women sitting at home and closer to their own.
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Eleni Menegaki, a famous greek morning TV show presenter
Team MAGAZINE 2 Greece
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Team 3 Greece
WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN EDUCATION Presentation of survey results on students’ and teachers’ opinions on female representation at school and analysis of past school data.
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e made a survey in order to document our teachers’ and schoolmates’ on women’s representation in education and, specifically, whether a student’s gender affects their perfomance, study time or extracurricular activities.
The survey asked the participants to state how much they agreed with specific statements on a “Strongly Disagree” - “Strongly Agree” scale. Results
Students
Students seemed to believe that their performance was not affected by their gender. They do not believe in stereotypes like boys and girls being better at sciences and humanity studies, respectively. However, even though the majority did not believe boys had more extracurricular activities than girls, a third of participants believed that girls study more than boys.
Teachers Teachers, in general, seemed to not discriminate between boys and girls. Most of them do not believe that a student’s performance is affected by their gender. In addition, they do not conform to stereotypes such as boys and girls being better at sciences and humanity studies respectively and girls studying more than boys and having not as many extracurricular updates.
Comparison
Students’ and Teachers’ opinions didn’t differ much. When compared, the most notable difference was that teachers agreed to the statements more often than students (34,7% of the time vs. 16,9% of the time).
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Results
Team MAGAZINE 3 Greece
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Girls' grades are visibly higher than boys in all three graphs.
Team 3 Greece
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Team MAGAZINE 3 Greece
Analysis of past Data
With our maths professor’s help, we acquired and analyzed past students’ grade from our school, in order to compare boys’ and girls’ perfomance. We asked our Math Teacher to give us some statistical data to compare boys’ and girls’ performances of past years in our school. We arrived at these conclusions: • Girls had higher average and median grades than boys • More girls had “Excellent” grades in both fields (Humanity studies and Sciences) To confirm these results we made the corresponding statistical test, the T-Test for boys’ and girls’ school average grades at science and humanity studies. We also made a T-Test for boys’ and girls’ grades at Panhellenic Exams. You can see the results in the graphs above.
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Team 3 Italy
WOMEN’S POSITION AT SCHOOL, COLLEGE & WORK Presentation of anonymous answers from female students from varying grades and student reflections. In order to investigate about women’s representation and perception in educational contexts, we have chosen to create a questionnaire on the subject of women’s position at school, college and at work. The questions concern the following topics: • Bias when choosing what type of high school to attend • Equitable distribution of work among group mates in school projects • Favorite subjects • Preference for male or female teachers The answers were collected anonymously and the questionnaire was handed out to female students from different grades and high schools in order to get a picture of girls’ opinions in today’s schools. In the following table you can see some information about the people who answered: 42% of students attend the fourth year 18% of students attend the first and the second year 14% of students attend the fifth year 8% of students attend the third year
60,5% of students attend the Human sciences High school 28,9% of students attend the Classical High school 5,3% of students attend the Scientific High school 2,6% of students attend the Linguistic and artistic High school
How many girls are there in your class? • • • •
50% of students said that their class is composed by only girls 36,8% of students said that girls are little more than boys 10,5% of students said that girls are more than boys 2,6% of students said that girls are half of the boys
• • • •
42,1% Yes 36,8% Maybe 10,5% No 10,5% I don’t
From your point of view, do gender prejudices influence young people when they have to choose their high school?
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MAGAZINE Team 3 Italy
What’s your favorite subject? • • • • •
26,3% Psychology, Pedagogy 21,1% Italian and History 18,4% English 13,2% Art 7,9% Maths and Physics
What do you think is the favorite subject of your classmates?
When you do group project works, is the works distributed in equal parts? • •
• •
55,3% of the students said “Yes”, in fact their teachers are careful about organizing group works properly 21,1% of students said “Not always”, probably because teachers let the students free to choose how organize works, but at the same time this freedom can cause a bad work distribution among the students 13,2% of students said “No”, but they haven’t given reason for their answer. 10,5% of students said “almost always”, probably because some time the work was well distributed and same time not.
Have you ever felt discriminated or excluded by your classmates or by school projects for your gender? • •
•
89,5% said “No” because all the classmates and projects respect both sexes 7,9% of students said that few times they feel discriminated maybe because of the exuberant behavior of some classmates or because some projects were thought more for boys than girls 2,6% said Yes for similar reasons
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Team 3 Italy
Do you prefer male or female teachers? • • •
84,2% said it’s indifferent 7,9% said they prefer female teachers 7,9% said they prefer male teacher
• • •
78,8% said Yes 18,2% said Not in all faculties 3% said No
• • •
45,5% I don’t know 33,3% Yes 21,2% No
• • •
63,6% No 27,3% I don’t know 9,3% Yes
• • • • • • • • •
27,3% Others 15,2% Education and training sciences 12,1% Psychology 9,1% Law 9,1% Health care professions 6,1% Medicine and surgery 6,1% Farmacy 6,1% Sociology 3% Economy
Do girls and boys have same opportunity to get access to university?
Do think that gender stereotypes influence the faculty choice?
Once woman has finished the university; do you think she has the same opportunity at work?
Which kind of university faculty will you probably choose?
Conclusion and reflections
In conclusion, we agree with most of the answers reported, precisely because we also think that, a great deal of stereotypes still endure when deciding both what high school and what college to enroll in. We think that this is mainly due to the fact that certain jobs are considered to be fit only for women while others only for me. As a result, almost all people think that all male students attend those high schools, whose syllabuses primarily focus either on scientific and technical subjects, or on classics. On the other hand, it is commonly thought that female students that choose to study humanities are destined to become teachers. Artistic and agricultural schools are not even considered real high schools and most people believe that their students are just lazy. However, we have collected evidences that seems to reject these ideas: numerous girls that like fashion, drawing and mathematics choose to attend technical schools. Nowadays students have much more chances to change their mind. Therefore, once they have selected a certain school, students are not forced to conclude that course of study. On account of past habits, there are still significant gender inequalities at work women are often paid less and women leading positions are still quite rare.
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MAGAZINE Team 3 Italy
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Team 4 Azerbaijan
GREATEST FEMALE WRITERS IN HISTORY OF LITERATURE
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Looking into the life and works of some of the greatest female writes of all time.
hese surprising women could prove the talent and mind that they can be not worse than men in writing in which to women long time was not places. With emergence of these brilliant talents surpassing male contemporaries, the opinion on "inability" of women in many spheres reeled. The first successful writers became one of those who gave an impetus to desire to come out of the shadow of men, to break stereotypes and outdated restrictions of narrow-minded conservatives. Rudiments of a subject of gender equality, feminism, freedom of choice and personal development regardless of a floor or other invariable circumstances — all this became for the first time large-scale to be discussed.
Jane Austen (1775 — 1817) Jane Austen is called “first lady” of the English literature. She was born in family of the priest George Austin, the person educated and clever which trained the children and encouraged intellectual entertainments in the house: amateur theatricals, joint reading novels, musical concerts and so forth. Already Jane began to write ironic parodies to fashionable then literary works in early age. Jane incredibly witty derided narrow-mindedness and authors of that time and also outdated views on society.
Agatha Christie (1890 — 1976) Agatha Christie – one of the most famous authors of a detective genre, her book treat the most often published for all history of mankind (after the Bible and Shakespeare). According to Agatha Christie, Ms. Marple she wrote off an image from own grandmother who “was a mild person, but always expected the worst from all also everything, and with frightening regularity its expectations were met”.And the writer said that difficult artful designs of detective plots were born and studied for her in the head when she spent evenings behind knitting, in the company of friends or family. Christie published more than 60 detective novels, 6 psychological novels and 19 collections of stories. 16 of its plays were put in London.
Margaret Mitchell (1900 — 1949) Margaret Mitchell is the author of only one novel, but novel really cult. The speech, of course, about the book “Gone with the Wind”. And till any moment she did not even think of career of the writer. Mitchell worked as the reporter of the local newspaper in Atlanta and left this position only because got a leg injury. Then it began work on the novel which was continued 10 years. The book about the fatal American beauty Scarlett living at the time of war of the North and the South about her love, sins, cheerfulness.
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Agatha Christie
Team MAGAZINE 4 Azerbaijan
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Mehseti Ganjavi's bust in Ganja
Team 4 Azerbaijan
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Team MAGAZINE 4 Azerbaijan
MEHSETI GANJAVI Exploring the life and works of Mehseti Ganjavi, a great Azerbaijani female writer. The great Azerbaijani poetess, Mahsati Ganjavi, who lived at the end of the 11th and early XII century, was a prominent representative of Azerbaijan and Muslim Renaissance and a new city poetry. She is the first Azerbaijani poetess, the first female chess player, the first prominent female musician, and most likely our first female composer. According to the legends, she lived in the Jarabat neighborhood of Ganja, spent her time in dining, music and dance. Her poems are praised by the sense of wine and love. Among the poetеss’s works, the series of poems dedicated to young artisans, tailors, spinners, daughters and others living in the Garabakh neighborhood of Ganja is more popular. She wrote many rubais and one of them is : Yudun xətaləri, sən ey lütfkar, Qulluq sırğan bütün qulaqlarda var. Günahın yükünü götür, ey Allah, Dar gündə kimsəni sən eyləmə xar! Şam başından yanar, göz yaşı tökər Gəldiyi qapıdan o çıxıb gedər. Başınla öyünmə, şamə diqqət et! Məhv olur başından ayağa qədər. Mehseti Ganjavi is known not only in Azerbaijan but also in other countries. One of the main goals of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which is widely known in the world, is organizing events in several cities within the framework of the project “Nizami Ganjavi and Mahsati Ganjavi: literary bridge connecting XXI century with XII century” in France. The next event of the Foundation was the opening of the statue of famous world-renowned mugham maker Mahsati Ganjavi in Cognac, France. There are many monuments built in honor to Mehseti Ganjavi and also there are many streets named after her, because she is one of the greatest Azerbaijani women writers. And also she is one of the women who proved Gender Equality.
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Team 4 Greece
WOMEN IN GREEK LITERARY WORKS Analyses of women’s representation and role in various ancient and modern greek literary works.
Analysis of theatre play ‘’Antigone’’ Sophocles’ play Antigone presents us with three different types of women: Antigone, the strong-willed protagonist; Ismene, the weak sister of Antigone; and Eurydice, wife of Creon. Each of these characters’ personalities, lifestyles, and choices directly affects the character’s mortality. The women characters in Antigone show great contrast, the most prominent being life and death. By analyzing the female characters, it can be seen that those who die, Antigone and Eurydice, share certain aspects that the survivor, Ismene does not; they are opposites of each other in nearly every way.The women in this play share a commonality in their love for their family, but Antigone is the only one who is not afraid to prove it. Family is, not only the leading cause of death of women within this play, but the basis for this entire play. Ismene believes Creon is right and shouldn’t be defied, saying “… we are ruled, by those who are stronger…,” (Greene, 72 pp 183). By being obedient to the King of Thebes, Ismene preserves her life, but at what cost, if everyone she loves dies in the process?Being a woman in and of itself plays a big part in the morality of these female characters. For the women of Athens, marriage is a right of passage for girls to become women. Eurydice is the only married women within the play, leaving us to believe Antigone and Ismene are still girls. However, in death, Antigone says herself that her “…husband is to be the Lord of Death,” (Greene, 877 pp 213). “Death before marriage signifies a marriage with the underworld,” (Shopkorn). Following this line of thinking, the only woman who survives was in fact a girl, and being married was a curse, of sorts, for Eurydice and Antigone.
Analysis of the novel “The Murderess” Alexandros Papadiamantis is one of the greatest Greek writers of his time. His work is mostly composed of short-stories and a few novels, among those The Murderess. The Murderess is set in a rural island in Greece, the ones you imagine when you think about that country: sparkling turquoise sea, white houses, chapels, sheep and steep paths in the mountains. The main protagonist is Khadoula, also named Francoyannou or Yannou. She’s around 60. When the novel begins, she’s staying up at nights at her daughter’s house to watch her newborn grand-daughter.
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"Antigone" by Frederic Leighton
Team MAGAZINE 4 Greece
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Still image of the movie "The Murderess", in 1974
Team 4 Greece
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Team MAGAZINE 4 Greece
The deliverance has been difficult, both mother and baby are weak. During her sleepless nights, she starts thinking about her life: And then, thinking whole existence, she
hard and calling back in her mind her discovered she has only lived in servitude.
As a young girl, she had been her parents’ maid. Once married, she had become her husband’s slave and however, due to her own character and the weakness of his, she had also been his tutor. When her children were born, she had become their maid. And now that they had children too, she was enslaved to her grand-children. Looking back on her life, she doubts her life was worth the effort. She comes to a simple conclusion: being a woman is a curse, having daughters is a malediction. She looks at her grand-daughter and thinks that if she died now, her parents would be freed from raising her and sacrificing for her dowry. If she died now, she wouldn’t have to go through that life of servitude, she’d be an angel in the Kingdom of God. If Francoyannou helped fate and smothered the baby, it would look like she choked to death. One thought leading to the other, Francoyannou becomes sure it is the best solution. She kills the baby. She feels empowered by her action. For the first time maybe, she leads her life instead of reacting and adjusting to events and other people. It’s exhilarating. Will this baby be her only victim? Alexandros Papadiamantis wrote a fantastic novel on the condition of the women of that time. They aren’t really considered as citizens and yet do all the job, running households, working very hard and helping each other. They are never thanked or respected for it.
Analysis of the novel “The Great Chimera” In the Great Chimera, Marina, the main character, a Frenchwoman passionate about classical Greek culture, moves to Greece after having fallen in love and married a Greek ship-owner, carrying her deep psychological traumas with her. Greece, with its austere implicity, leads one to confront oneself; this sensual, fatally alluring place, will drag Marina into a passionate vortex with no way out, leading her to selfdestruction. Karagatsis creates a bourgeois drama with deep ideological quests about Greek identity and the relation between Ancient and Modern Greece and the West. Within the canvas of a love-story in the form of an Ibsenian triangle, the perceptions of life, tragedy, realism, romantic reverie and, sometimes, paradox are intertwined. In this production, in which theatre interplays with cinema, human relationships in all their difficulty, passions and acts become snapshots of reality and fragments of a dream. The most interesting part of the book is the main female figure. She is confused and stuck between love and death. It is also really impressive that the mother of two of the main male characters even though she seems tough she’ll have to become part of the story as it comes to a high and really exciting point.
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Team 4 Italy
FEMALE FIGURES IN ITALIAN LITERARY TRADITION Analyses of women’s representation and role in traditional italian literary works. There are lots of examples of female figures in the works of Italian writers. They especially deal with the endless theme of love for a woman in any time and any place, but with different nuances. Unfortunately, however, there are not many female writers who are studied at school (in Italy) or who have become particularly famous. We will write about Beatrice, Angelica, Lucia, and Gertrude: four muses of Italian literature that make us understand how women are viewed according to the historical period in which they lived.
Salvatore Postiglione, Dante e Beatrice Beatrice Portinari, called Bice, was an Italian woman who has been commonly identified as the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri’s “Vita Nuova” (she also appears as a guide in the last book of the Divine Comedy “Paradise”). Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265. He is the most important poet of the late middle ages. He wrote the Divine Comedy, divided in three parts: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. This is considered the greatest literary work in Italian language. Beatrice is an example of the so-called angelic woman: a vision of woman developed by authors of the “Dolce Stil Nuovo”, a poetic movement that flourished in the 14th century in Italy. The poets’ feeling towards angelic women is described as a spiritualized and platonic love. Women are exalted as angelic figures on earth. With their purity and beauty they lead to the ennoblement of human soul. The name Beatrice comes from the Latin “Beatrix” meaning "who gives bliss".
Simone Peterzano, Medoro e Angelica Ludovico Ariosto was born in Reggio Emilia in 1474. Angelica is the most important female figure in Ariosto’s most important work “Orlando Furioso”. The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo’s “Orlando Innamorato”, describes the adventures of the French knight Orlando. Angelica is the princess of Cathay, an expert in medicine and magic arts. 34
"Dante e Beatrice" by Salvatore Postiglione,
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“Lucia Mondella” by Eliseo Sala
Team 4 Italy
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MAGAZINE Team 4 Italy
Unlike the capricious,
angelic cruel,
woman, she seductive,
is and
represented as self-confident.
Angelica’s beauty kindles the desire in all the men she meets. She is disputed by many knights in the poem, but refuses all them, including Orlando. She will eventually marry a humble knave, Medoro.
Eliseo Sala, Lucia Mondella Lucia Mondella is the female protagonist of “The Betrothed” whose original title is “Promessi Sposi”. The novel is a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento, both for its patriotic message and because it was a fundamental milestone in the development of the modern, unified Italian language. Alessandro Manzoni, who was born in Milan in 1785, is the author of the novel. Lucia is a pious and kind young woman. In the novel she appears as a model of Christian femininity: her name, in fact, means the one who illuminates. During the story, despite the problems and difficulties she faces, Lucia never loses her faith and takes refuge in prayer. She is a static character who maintains a clear coherence in all her actions. Her fundamental trait is modesty, which corresponds to the value of humility. In chapter IX, Lucia arrives at the convent of Monza, the place where her purity is in contrast with Gertrude’s dry and disenchanted soul.
Giuseppe Molteni, La Signora di Monza Gertrude’s portrait is one of the longest and most detailed one of the whole novel. In her previous life, she had a difficult relationship with her family. She initially rejected religious life and her father’s strength and cruelty. Afterwards he forced her to live as a nun. It is a romanticized character, but based on Virginia de Leyva's real life. By means of her back story we learn that her religious vows didn't stop her from having a relationship with an aristocrat, who pushed her to become his accomplice in the murder of a nun: this is her tormenting secret. Manzoni portraits Gertrude as a weak tool of evil, she is unable to resist threats and temptations, but basically is not cruel.
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Maria Montessori
Team 5 Italy
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MAGAZINE Team 5 Italy
INTERVIEWING SUCCESSFUL WOMEN Students interview successful women of the past and present
Maria Montessori Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Italy, in 1870 and died in Noordwijk in 1952. Today she is remembered for having created the famous method that takes her name but also for her fight against gender disparity. Interviewer: How did your career start? Maria: I started working with disabled children and then I worked in an asylum where children with mental illnesses lived. They were not treated with the right method so I decided to develop one myself. The idea behind this revolutionary method is that the child is left free to explore his world. The child’s curiosity is the real engine of learning that will lead him to fully develop the full spectrum of his abilities and to conquer the world with the strength of his intelligence. I: What is the Montessori’s method? M: The freedom of the child is the base of my method. It is necessary to intervene intentionally on the structuring of the education environment that must be scientifically organized and prepared to welcome children. Therefore, the environment is the first element to play a fundamental role in the development and growth of children. The school is defined as a “children’s house” because it must be organized in such a way as to cause interest in children. They must have the possibility of directly obtaining the objects and materials they need, taking them from tables, cabinets or shelves that are within their reach and therefore do not force them to ask the educator for help. I: What do you think about the school system of your age? M: The schools are that exile in which the adult holds the child until he is able to live in the adult world without bothering. I: What do you think about the role of women in society? M: A woman’s role has always been diminished. Despite being looked with hostility by my acquaintances, during my life I participated in various congresses related to gender equality. In my opinion one of the most relevant problems in gender disparity is the difference in salary. Men’s pay is always much higher than women’s one, I think is not fair at all.
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Team 5 Italy
I: What did you do to fight gender differences? Gender inequality is a problem that has always struck me. I have been badly judged several times for having done things that in my age were not granted to a woman. I was one of the first women to graduate in medicine. I had a son at 28 and I decided not to marry, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance to continue working. So I was forced to place my son into foster care, but I saw him regularly and I reunited with him when he was a teenager. To prevent other women from being criticized for doing what they wanted, I participated in demonstrations, protests and conferences, becoming a spokeswoman for all those who suffer discrimination. I didn’t want to impose the supremacy of women as many thought. I just wanted to give women the opportunity not to feel submissive and to have the same rights as men.
Lucia Annibali Lucia Annibali was born in Urbino, Italy, in 1977. In 2013 she was victim of a terrible crime: two men were commissioned by her ex-boyfriend to throw acid on her. Lucia's face was severely damaged and she almost lost one eye. She underwent various operations to make her face as normal as possible. Despite all that happened to her, she had the strength to go on and decided to help other people to get out from difficult situations like the one she faced. Interviewer: How did your career start? Lucia: I graduated in law in Parma and became a lawyer. Then I was the protagonist of a horrifying episode that caused me so much suffering but also allowed me to get where I am today. I: What do you think about women's role in society? L: I think that the women's role is quite underrated, not only within society but also within the family. Fortunately, in the last decade the "Department for Equal Opportunities" has been established within the Italian government, of which I am a legal advisor since 2016. I have always paid close attention to cases of gender-based violence and, for this reason, I have been recognized as a representative of civil society as well as being a candidate in the Democratic party for the 2018 national elections. I: After what happened to you, did you do something to sensitize people to the battle against gender violence? L: In the last few years I have participated in many meetings and many conferences both in anti-violence centres and in schools to talk about this problem, which is very frequent yet not very relevant to many people. I often met girls looking for help who left me notes or gave me their phone numbers because they wanted to find a solution to their problem. I am happy to have been a stimulus for them and, in some cases, to have pushed them to denounce without being afraid of consequences. I: Do you continue to do something to help women victims of violence? L: I entered politics precisely to do it. Taking on this career means taking on the interests of other people. I don't want to be remembered for what happened to me. I want to be remembered for trying to make a difference, for having had the courage and the power to create myself a new life. I hope to be an inspiring model to other women and to encourage them and, in general, anybody, not to be afraid of making hear their voice and to react to injustice.
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Lucia Annibali receiving honorary citizenship in Parma.
MAGAZINE Team 5 Italy
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"Rosie the Riveter" poster, circa 1942
Team 5 Italy
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MAGAZINE Team 5 Italy
Emanuela Emanuela Scavolini was born in Pesaro in 1961. After graduating she started working in the family business and today she is the vicepresident of the Board of Directors and the human resources manager. Interviewer: How did your career start? What does your job consist of? Is it very demanding? Emanuela: The Scavolini Company was born as a small artisan woodworking shop in 1961 ,the same year I was born. It developed just in front of the apartment where I lived with my family. When I started working in this family business, I gradually acquired knowledge and competences. Today I am the vice-president of the board of directors and I am the human resources manager. My job is to take care of the staff of the Scavolini group: about 700 people. I deal with assumptions, contracts, career development and all the issues related to the world of work. It is a very demanding job, because in many cases it also involves the emotional sphere, but at the same time it is very stimulating and engaging. I: What do you think about the role of women in society? What do you think about gender inequality? E: In the past I was strongly opposed to the pink quotas. They seemed to me a "privilege", a disparity, a forced insertion. I thought it was fairer that women could occupy relevant roles because they are worthy. Over the years I have realized that there are still some prejudices that slow down the change. Therefore even a tool like the "pink quotas" can, in this historical phase, provide women with the opportunity to demonstrate their value and reach gender equality in a shorter time. I: Have you ever participated in feminist demonstrations? What do you think about it? E: While I am actively participating in social life, I have never participated in public events in general. I lived through the difficult years of 70s' terrorism with their daily massacres and the demonstrations or marches always make me feel fearful . I don't feel comfortable in the crowd. I think each of us can make a difference every day, participating actively in social life, but above all in our daily life, both in our private sphere as well as at work.
Conclusion We have heard the voice of three women who, despite belonging to two different periods, have something in common. The first two women have faced difficult times during their lives and are recognized for what they have done to help other people, one in the education and solidarity fields, and the other through her social and political role. They share the same thoughts about a lot of issues. They believe the role of the woman is underestimated, and try to solve this problem by speaking up and making reflect many people on this issue. These two important figures have tried to make a difference and must be seen as role models to follow for those who, like them, want to achieve a better future. Even though Emanuela Scavolini did not initially agree with the idea of the pink quotas that aimed to achieve gender equality, she eventually understood that they do not serve to obtain privileges for women but to recognize their value, which is often underestimated. These three women show us that it is possible to do important careers and to be recognized by people despite the still persisting gender prejudices. We too, like them, have very much at heart the issue of the struggle for women’s rights.. With the passing of time things are improving, even if very slowly. We hope that our generation will finally succeed in achieving equality between the sexes.
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Team 5 Greece
Margaret Thatcher Interviewer: Hello you. For starters,
madame! We are could you tell us
so fond to finally meet some things about yourself?
Margaret Thatcher: Hello. I am very glad to meet you too. Of course I could. Firstly, I was born on 13 October 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire. I attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and I graduated from Oxford University in 1947. I got married in 1951 and now I have 2 children, Caroline and Mark. Lastly, after a long difficult journey, I managed to climb up the hierarchy of the Parliament and be elected as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979. I:
You
mentioned
that
you
had
a
difficult
journey.
Why
is
that?
M: Well, it’s because I am a woman.You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. I: Do you believe that women are less powerful than men? Because, that is a common belief between the male members of the parliament. M: Of course not. Women have the ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it. If you want something said, ask a man, but if you want something done, ask a woman. Also, as a housewife and a mother, I believe that any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country. I: What do you believe success is? M: What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose. I: Well, it’s been wonderful to talk to you. Thank so much for your time! M: It’s been a pleasure.
Maria’s (one of our classmates) mother
Maria’s mother is the owner of a foreign language school. I: Do you believe that women’s place in the society has changed the last few years? Maria’s mother: For sure. Not many years have passed since women were staying at home raising their children and doing whatever they were told by men. However, now women have the same rights with men, they share the same workplace, they get the same salary, hell they even manage their money themselves. They can vote now, freely express their opinion, they can have a place in parliament, in political authority, in education. Things that now look natural, some years ago they weren’t that easily conceivable. I: Why do you believe that happened? M: Well, I personally believe that public education as well as the different socioeconomic and political status of today’s society play a key role to this change. However, nothing would have happened without women’s determination to acquire the same rights with men. In Europe, feminine movements like Frauenbewegung 1971-1979 roused demonstrations in order to vindicate women’s rights. By that time, women had not managed to acquire the right to be voted or even to work.
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Lucia Annibali receiving honorary citizenship in Parma.
Team MAGAZINE 5 Greece
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Team 5 Greece
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MAGAZINE Team 5 Italy
In reality, it wasn't until 1960 that women’s opinion started to matter. Men were the ones to keep the economic balance in their household, and it was their opinion that used to matter the most. Women had rights, but those rights were only written on papers. They didn't exist in their everyday life. I: Have you ever faced any kind of discrimination because of your gender? And if so could you tell us an example? M: In my workplace fortunately not. But in everyday life I have experienced discrimination many times. For example, a couple of years ago, a teacher in school could not admit that women have the same rights as men. Unfortunately lot of men can not accept that society has changed. I: Do you believe in fully achieving gender equality in the next years? M: The community is evolving rapidly and many things that was considered as taboo now are normal. That's why I believe that the future generations will be able to handle the fully gender equality. The next generations will be more open minded and will be able to eliminate all the prejudices.
Conclusion Those interviews depict the changes of women’s social power throughout 20th and 21th century. After the World War II, the social background of the society has changed. Women’s opinion started to actually matter. Women became members of the parliament and some succeeded to rate up to the most powerful people on earth such as Margaret thatcher. After interviewing our classmate’s mother, we concluded that women nowadays have managed to acquire equal rights with men in most countries.
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Team 6
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MAGAZINE Team 6
Women’s rights Greek students used web tools to create an interactive timeline that displays advancements in women’s right and representation.
Italian women’s rights Italian students made an interactive timeline presenting the evolution of women’s rights in italy.
Women’s rights in Azerbaijan Azerbaijani students created a timeline of Azerbaijani women’s emancipation.
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This collaborative book is the result of the eTwinning project ‘Gender Equality: Reality or Myth’ carried out by 3 partner schools during the year 2018/19. Twinspace