Serena Dandini (photo by Gianmarco Chieregato).
mmy mother, although a graduate, was never able to work. A matter of honor for the husband, aka my dad, who did not want to give up the role of alpha male sole provider of food for the family. And she accepted her fate like many other housewives, in this case more melancholy than desperate.
My mother never had the heady feeling of earning her own money and later in life, when she was forced to cross unexpected storms, she found it difficult to fit into the world of work.
It is an old story of economic and consequently psychological dependence that has marred entire generations of women by relegating them to roles of submission in the family and in society.
“Ladies don’t talk about money” by Azzurra Rinaldi (Fabbri).
Ladies don’t talk about money (Fabbri) is the title of an unmissable essay by the economist Azzurra Rinaldi recently in the bookstore with the eloquent subtitle How much is gender inequality costing us? The answer is obviously a lot, not only in terms of social injustice but also of GDP and therefore of well-being for all.
The author through meticulous documentation and a broad historical excursus tells us how money is a powerful magnifying glass to understand gender differences and inequalities even in our apparently emancipated western world.
A feminist economy is needed more than ever right now and thinking “feminist” is the only perspective that can increase the “well-being of women and men together”. Although female employment is always lower than male employment, rIt is rarely remembered that 75 per cent of unpaid care work worldwide is carried out by women.
«If it were possible to monetize all the unpaid work that women do in the world, how much would this value be?». According to research by Oxfam, in 2019 unpaid care work would have produced wealth equivalent to 11 trillion dollars. A mammoth figure that should be considered whenever we talk about economic reforms and Pnrr.
And given that women are – willy-nilly – so experts in the “care” sector, their talent and professionalism should certainly be used to overcome this moment of global crisis.
If the ladies don’t talk about money then it’s better to sing along with Loredana Bertè “I’m not a lady” and I also add the wish of the not very elegant Shakira who declares convinced in her revenge song: “Women don’t cry anymore, women invoice”.
All articles by Serena Dandini.
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