Denying patriarchy does not make our society more equal

Where does violence against women come from? The answer to this question is certainly not unequivocal. The phenomenon, now structural in Italy and elsewhere, is complex and requires a structured analysis, but there is no doubt that in the list of causes, patriarchy is on the podium. Millions of international studies say so. Just one example: in the archive of the US National Library of Medicine, if one searches for the word patriarchy, the number of studies that examine this aspect is over one and a half million. Too many to summarise here. But if scientific studies on patriarchy exist, why is it still questioned that it exists?

A few weeks ago, Sky Tg24 journalist Mariangela Pira published a long post on Linkedin in which she recounted how she had been subjected to several inappropriate and sexist phrases by an important Italian manager at a conference. Why does a man feel entitled to make jokes about the stiletto heels a professional might have worn to be more attractive? Why, in spite of the work context, did he not raise the issue of being reprimanded for inappropriate behaviour? And if it happens to a journalist, who has a voice to report it, how often does it happen every day in every sphere to other women? Judging by the many messages received in private by Pira, it happens very often.

What is this behaviour if not the result of a culture in which men feel 'superior' and think they can treat women as daughters of a lesser God, with fewer rights and less dignity? A culture that sees it as legitimate to control one's mobile phone, clothes, friendships, outings and choices of girlfriend or partner. A culture in which more than 70 per cent of the care work in families is done by women. A culture that tolerates the wage difference between men and women for equal roles and skills. A culture that produces allusive advertisements even to sell insurance policies, taps or pizzas. And one could go on in an endless list.

If the word patriarchy is divisive because it has a left-wing feminist political connotation, let's call Italian culture male-centric, male-dominated, supremacist. As long as we agree that it penalises half the population of this country and is the humus that fuels violence against women, ranging from street harassment to economic violence, from domestic beatings to humiliation, from gang rape to feminicide. Because admitting that it exists is the first step towards building a society in which women no longer have to be afraid to live.