A glittering icon of fascist femininity : Trebisonda 'Ondina' Villa

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Deutscher übersetzter Titel:Eine glitzernde Ikone der faschistischen Weiblichkeit : Trebisonda 'Ondina' Valla
Autor:Gori, Gigliola
Erschienen in:The international journal of the history of sport
Veröffentlicht:18 (2001), 1, S. 173-195, Lit.
Format: Literatur (SPOLIT)
Publikationstyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
Medienart: Gedruckte Ressource Elektronische Ressource (online)
Sprache:Englisch
ISSN:0952-3367, 1743-9035
DOI:10.1080/714001498
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Erfassungsnummer:PU200203000800
Quelle:BISp

Abstract des Autors

This essay focuses on the second decade of the Italian Fascist regime through its emblematic symbol, Trebisonda 'Ondina' Valla gained first place in the 80 meter hurdles at the Berlin Olympics of 1936, and became the first world-class female athlete in Italian history, in spite of the generally backward condition of Italian women. In those years, a paternalistic and conservative society deeply discriminated against female participation in not only sport but also other cultural activities. The Catholic Church, medieval expertise, eugenics theories and the fascist regime were all opposed to female competitive sport. The Church demanded female morality, modesty and domesticity while, the medical profession recommend only basic physical exercise for female health and motherhood. While promoting the myth of the New Italy as a modern nation, Fascism wished it to be inhabited by a traditional womanhood. Paradoxically, however, Mussolini supported Valla because she epitomized a dynamic fascism and brought Italian Fascism international visibility. The serendipitous value of Valla was that she encouraged young women to attempt to force open the bars of their political cage, and at the same time forced the fascist ideology to reconsider and reconstruct fascist principles in the interest of international propaganda. Thus while Valla was a political instrument of fascist purpose, she was also an agent of female emancipation. She was a political icon that also became a gender icon. In both roles she became a symbol of congratulation but also of confrontation, contradiction and paradox. Verf.-Referat