Arcidonna 
Campagne FROM SCHOOLS TO ENTERPRISES, PASSING THROUGH MEDIA: ARCIDONNA’S PROJECT AGAINST GENDER STEREOTYPES
Campagne FROM SCHOOLS TO ENTERPRISES, PASSING THROUGH MEDIA: ARCIDONNA’S PROJECT AGAINST GENDER STEREOTYPES
| FROM SCHOOLS TO ENTERPRISES, PASSING THROUGH MEDIA: ARCIDONNA’S PROJECT AGAINST GENDER STEREOTYPES |
 |
 |
|
Removing the cultural delay, typical of Italy, that keeps women away from the labour market and from political decision-making places. Breaking this “crystal ceiling”, beginning with schools to get to enterprises, passing through the sound box of the media. These are the goals on which Arcidonna’s project, "Equal Opportunities Lab: practises for overcoming stereotypes" was based. The project involved thousands of people among students of both sexes, female workers, and enterprises, in the name of the cultural battle against gender bias.
Designed by Arcidonna in 2004, the project grasped the opportunity offered by the European Union with the Equal Community initiative program. Started in November 2007 and concluded in December 2008, the project was active in seven Sicilian provinces (Palermo, Messina, Catania, Trapani, Enna, Caltanissetta and Agrigento) and availed itself of the support of three national partners (CGIL Sicilia, SELF and the University of Palermo) as well as of the Hungarian cross-national partner Inspiral. This projects wanted, first of all, to provide food for thought: why, for instance, is women’s presence in the Italian Parliament today standing still at 17 per cent, or why are seven million women in the working age in Italy left outside the labour market? The causes are many and heterogeneous, but there is a red thread linking them, a thin yet well-rooted thread in the society, namely gender stereotypes. Actually, from a very young age, a whole set of prejudices are triggered that impact training and vocational pathways: women, for instance, are directed towards teaching professions and social work, while men towards technical and scientific sectors. Thus, most women are excluded from the highest added-value sectors in terms of career and salary, such as IT, research and healthcare, just to mention the major ones. But segregation also occurs inside enterprises, where women can hardly break the “crystal ceiling” and have managerial roles or the best-paid ones. In order to change that, several levels need to be acted upon: schools, enterprises, media. COMMUNICATION A media level, to start with, because it is exactly in the media, these powerful glues of the many fragments of social life, that stereotypes circulate and settle in the society. Thence, the broad and articulated information and raising the awareness campaign designed by Feedback, a Sicily-based communication agency. An integrated communication campaign that, on the wake of the slogan: "Non pensare a sesso unico" (Do not think with a one-sex mind) wants to overturn figures of speech related to the most deeply rooted sexist prejudices in the Italian imagination. The campaign started in March , and was circulated throughout Sicily by means of advertisings and targeted marketing actions. In doing that, a central role was played by the website nonpensareasessounico.it, where those willing to join the campaign could download wallpapers, banners and other communication material to share with one’s contacts. The sponsors. But the communication activities, besides individual users, have also involved some Sicily-based enterprises, which have accepted to promote and circulate the message against stereotypes. Cicli Lombardo Spa has produced personalized bikes with the project's slogan, and the Premiati Oleifici Barbera have welcome the campaign with great enthusiasm, personalizing over 10,000 bottles of the precious “Prima Goccia” olive oil with the ''Non pensare a sesso unico'' label. The same thing was done by Sicilian winemaking company Di Prima with its "Pepita" wine and the Antica Focacceria San Francesco, a historical restaurant in Palermo, which has printed the slogan on its tablecloths. ENTERPRISES AND LABOUR The adhesion of these businesses is not accidental, but it is part of the broader action carried out by Arcidonna and Cgil within enterprises to break the “crystal ceiling”. Info desks were set up in over 15 state-owned and private businesses in Sicily to support she-workers. Then, three multi-functional desks were set up in Palermo, Castellammare del Golfo (TP), and Agrigento for labour accompaniment and enterprise creation, with additional services for non-EU women and for those women who are looking for a job in the field of homecare, and of personal and family care. Particular attention was also paid to the action aimed at testing alternative business management models focused on diversity management and aimed at the growth of women’s employment, which resulted in detailed study on two Italian companies: Trambus (transportation society in Roma) and Plastal (plastic material industry in Treviso) where these measures had been applied. SCHOOL AND TRAINING The third level on which the project was developed was training. To this purpose, a structured action aimed at high schools in Sicily, involving over 2 thousand students of both sexes, was conducted. The action availed itself of ad hoc tools, such as Photobook, the Glossary of Equalitarian Democracy and the CD rom produced by Self for teachers, containing new teaching practises in a gender equality perspective. A model to be conveyed to other realities. At the end of this initiative (sponsored by the Regional School Bureau and implemented in synergy with the Public Education Department of the Region) thirty students were selected to take part in the first Campus of Arcidonna, held in June in Castellammare del Golfo. The Campus, thanks to the cooperation with the Zep Snc communication company, ended with spots and videos inspired to the topics of the project and made by the students themselves. Among the actions of the School and Training Area, also a research action carried out with the Ethos Department of the University of Palermo was implemented. The primary goal of the research was to verify the existence of gender counseling services in the above mentioned universities. CROSS-NATIONAL AREA Cross-national activities ended up in June 2008 on the occasion of the Cross-national Conference held in Palermo with the Hungarian partners, the national partners, and the managers and counsellors of the areas involved in cooperation.
|