‘Donne in Onda’, Fruci recounts the female imagination in the 70 years of Rai in a book

Coming out for Rai Libri ‘Women on air. The story of the female imagination in the first 70 years of Rai’. Lorenza Fruci retraces in a fascinating book, 70 years after the first official Rai television broadcast, some fundamental moments in the representation of the female condition in public TV programmes. From the 1959 investigation ‘The woman who works’, to the 1976 investigation on the ‘female question’, to ‘Si dice donna’, a historical program on feminism, to ‘Amore Criminale’, which since 2007 has denounced violence against women, up on modern day TV. The investigation, the documentary, the journalistic report, the satire, the TV film, the short story for the web have been from time to time the languages ​​that have returned an evolving imagination, in which the figure of the woman has been outlined in relation to work, family, denied or acquired rights.

In the continuous process of female emancipation, Rai has acted as a mirror of society, encouraging, in some historical moments, collective awareness of the changes that were affecting the lives of Italian women, but also of Italians. Lorenza Fruci analyzes the history of Public Service programs following a singular perspective of research and analysis on the women’s issue, a phenomenon that cannot ignore the historical, political, social and cultural context of reference and the evolution of the laws that concerned it .

“Not just a story of 70 years of television, from which I started to write my book – explains Fruci, journalist and cultural manager, author of ’30×70 If I say woman’ broadcast on RaiPlay and Rai 2 to Adnkronos – but also a history of Rai programs presented within a singular perspective of research and analysis on the women’s issue, a phenomenon that cannot ignore the historical, political, social and cultural context, but also a legislative one history of women, of TV, of the country – he adds – history of the evolution of our society. In particular, in the second chapter of the book there is a paragraph dedicated to the evolution of the laws concerning women’s rights which then led to public television, as a public service, to represent the changes in the condition of women”.

The cut is deliberately historical alongside period testimonies, official documents, interviews and articles

“The attempt – explains Lorenza Fruci – was to select a series of programs of different genres, which through different languages, outlined a significant passage for the construction of the female imagination, especially within a programming often contradictory with respect to to the representation of the figure of women and their role in society. Every ‘tide’ of women’s emancipation – he continues – has been in my opinion an achievement of freedom for the entire human race. Among the ‘waves’ of women’s history, therefore, there is also that of all humanity.”

A deliberately historical slant for ‘Donne in Onda’ alongside period testimonies, official documents, interviews, articles (Radiocorriere TV) to give the reader all the information that can accompany him and guide him in interpreting the relationship between evolution (or involution?) of the condition of women on TV. “I have always believed in dissemination, as democratic access to knowledge – underlines the author -. And among the means of mass communication, TV is certainly the one that certainly has the greatest potential. In the continuous process of female emancipation, TV is was a reflection of society and favored in some historical moments, the collective awareness of the changes that were affecting the lives of Italian women, but also naturally of Italians”.

And for the next 70 years, Lorenza Fruci confesses that she feels “proactive. The battles of women have conveyed the message that we live in a patriarchal society. However, their commitment and their battles have made us aware of the problem. Television has made us is compensating, today, for an image lost over the years through some important programs, through archive material. In this way a piece of history and memory is recovered by ‘re-telling’ it. to Francesca Fialdini’s ‘Girls’, in short – he concludes – as a good teacher of ‘good news’ because it is in good examples and in their stories that the growth and improvement of individual citizens and that of the community is rooted”. he concludes.