Per la Patria e per il Duce. Storie di fedeltà femminili nell'Italia fascista

For the Nation and for the “Duce”. Stories of female loyalty
Starting from an accurate reconstruction of the unremitted campaign of “popularization” of the feminine figure carried out by the Fascist Party (PNF), the A. revisits the historiography of Fascist attempts to mobilize women for party and nation. This article, moreover, pays attention to some of the more profound reasons why quite large numbers of women joined the PNF after having been members of pre-First World War feminist movements. The well-known category of “consensus” to totalitarianism is seen in a gendered perspective, taking into consideration the theme of faithfulness in its different meanings. The last part concerns women’s opinions about the regime in relation to factors such as social class, political and family background, and generation.