“The idea of writing this book came from the fact that at a certain point in my professional life, I became ‘masculinised’ in my behaviour, probably to be more credible, stronger in the world of work, and I realized that it was a mistake, a big mistake. The value of a woman, the feminine characteristics, we must exalt them and never hide them”. ‘This is how the journalist Marzia Roncacci – presenter of the information program ‘Tg2 Italia Europa’, every morning on Rai2 – explains her book ‘Penis Envy’ (Frascati & Serradifalco publishers) – starting from Sigmund Freud’s theory (the defective perception that the little girl has of her own body, deprived of the male genitalia) to ask herself – telling her own experience – if this concept still makes sense today.
The volume – from today, Monday 16 December in bookstores – is a sort of manifesto, which aims to address the new generations but not only, in which the journalist’s personal experience is intertwined with the historical and political events of ’68. From the discovery of the new social life, to the need for private and work emancipation, love, sex, marriage, all this is narrated from the direct perspective of a woman who was able to recognize her own value by extinguishing any gender discrimination.
“I never thought of writing a book, but when it was proposed to me – reports Roncacci – led to reflect on this opportunity, I said, after a few months, ‘ok, it can be done, as long as it is a text with a precise purpose for the reader’. And so I did. My life is only a tool for developing important historical, political and customs issues”.