From the “I’ll show you” of conservation to the “I’ll show you” of emancipation. The example of mothers as an educational act

Abstract

The upbringing of girls has known, over time, up until the twentieth century, an immutable history, made up of gestures rather than words, in imitation of the behaviour of the adult women who provided for their upbringing: mothers, grandmothers, relatives, neighbours. The female role, in fact, has always been played within the home, through the “I’ll show you”, with the aim of conforming the fate of girls to the exclusive role of wife and mother. The feminist struggles, the progressive conquest of women to education and therefore to work have gradually modified the model to be imitated; however, mothers have always maintained their educational role. The contribution will try, through the narratives of some young university women, to delve into the forms, languages and behaviours through which mothers (and more generally adult women) contribute today to building female identity, recovering the red thread that binds women of various generations and the educational significance that characterizes their relationships.