ASSITTATIVI #1
So how did it go? On Tuesday, October the 2nd we put a bunch of chairs — kindly borrowed from our friend and neighbor Gullo — in Piazza Sant’Anna. And then we sat. We talked, debated, laughed, got sidetracked and listened. Here are some of our voices telling about their ASSITTATIVI #1
Giulia:
Among the purposes of the ASSITTATIVI project, there is the intention of sharing thoughts, ideas, and points of view on feminism among people in Palermo.
I’ve always taken for granted the idea that every woman is a feminist and that every man around me is somehow aware of the concept of it and shared the vision over the main idea that “yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better” (just as described in “We should all be feminists” )
Apparently, that was the vision of the world I had from the super-closed-fairy bubble in which I choose to live. I suddenly realized that every time I actually talked about this topic with somebody else I was still carefully picking my audience from a selected group of people that are like-minded and open toward a constructive and polite exchange of ideas. But not everyone on this planet has this same attitude indeed.
My experience with the ASSITTATIVI project started in a very positive way, with curious tourists that were wondering what we were doing with those chairs in the square. The firsts were a Dutch girl around 25 years old with her father.
They first assumed it was one of the events organized by Manifesta 12, and when they discovered that it was actually a different project they were interested in knowing more about the idea behind it. I could tell that they were quite surprised in discovering that we wanted to raise a debate on the topic of feminism and the female appropriation of public spaces. It seems like they didn’t have the feeling that there is so much to talk about, but they were excited about the initiative and they wished us luck with the project.
Other two people approached us a few minutes later. A couple from Israel in their 60s looking at first for a place to sit, and later actively engaging with us on different topics: from feminism to public spaces, from mindfulness to the role of the internet in our society. They stayed with us for about one hour and they were very pleased with the idea of ASSITTATIVI as a way to share ideas and engage with random people in the city.
The last people that joined our group were two guys from Palermo in their 30s, quite drunk and interested in a place to sit where they could drink their beers. The situation got uncomfortable — at least for me — since the very beginning, due to the loud and aggressive tone of their voices and attitude. Especially one of them was not interested in having an exchange of opinion but more in attracting attention through jokes, odd questions, and unpolite comments. When we got the chance to explain why we were there, the first reaction was almost violent. Before actually understanding what we were doing, he started to yell, swear and insult the presents based on his personal belief of what was happening. But the more we were actually questioning his reasoning, the more he was allowing us to talk and (maybe)listening.
It was not a pleasant experience, it’s hard to deal with people that are only yelling and prevaricating on the others. It’s something that I personally tend to avoid as much as I can and I felt really uncomfortable and powerless. I started doubting the whole idea of the project and would have left if it wasn’t for the other people involved in the project. The “exchange” continued a bit more and his reasoning to be against the “feminist ideology” started to be less strong. At the end of our session, he almost didn’t want to leave the discussion.
That makes me realize that we actually achieved something (very small, almost invisible) today: we engaged with someone who never had a conversation or a debate on this topic and had no idea of how to engage with such a topic. I don’t think he changed his mind, I am not even sure he will remember anything connected with this exchange and, more important, I don’t think he got much out of it. But even if he will just remember this moment as “the day in which I yelled at the crazy circle of feminists that were sitting in Piazza Sant’Anna”, I would be satisfied. Because we were able to share our message with someone who would never be interested in having a fight over this topic, or that maybe never even thought that feminism is a topic to be discussed in a square with a beer in Palermo.
What I am sure of, is that this episode made the difference for me and how I perceive my role as a woman in society at large.
Mauro:
I personally really liked the idea to “hack” the public space of the square just for sitting down and talk. I also think is “weirdly” a quite new experience compared to our new normal way of living the city. It has a strong potential! About the topic, I think it was interesting but probably also quite complex to approach as first meeting and without a proper structure. I’m not thinking about a scheme, a program or a starting talk but more about a general “facilitator” / moderator, who is giving inputs little by little during the discussion and why not, also take some notes in order to make a report or some sort of final result (I know, probably is not in the spirit of a free talk in the street :)). Would be interesting also understanding how the project could become a format, probably with a wider range of topics to discuss, how it would be communicated in-loco or in other channels. I personally liked the idea to don’t show anything else than us, but probably this is something that could be still refined and designed. Those are my very general impressions. Thank you!
Alessia:
I liked the approach: sitting in a circle together with new people is always a great experience, no matter what we are talking about. It is a special moment because you feel we are all the same, we are listening to each other and we are definitely learning something new. In general I think that we should not say that we are special only because we are women. I guess this is not a matter of gender and if we want to fight for being “all the same” we should not say that we are special for this and that. We are humans but with some peculiarities and not all women are special, let’s be honest!
My impression on the format: the comparison with old people sitting in plastic chairs makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable. We are sitting in a square for a purpose that is definitely not the same. Isn’t it?
Moreover, I love the idea of creating an opportunity to listen to women telling about their experiences at work, with families, etc. and I also want to know how the other (specially men) see this, but we could do this in many different ways, trying to keep this “women-oriented format” but for instance inviting women guests to animate the discussion or something similar.
I am thinking about something more structured. The format can maybe also be used to talk with people about many other things or habits in Palermo, but I wonder also what is the effect of putting it as a “feminist event”. Does this maybe scary someone?
To summarize: I like the idea of sitting in a public space with people to discuss topics that are urgent in our society and for sure gender issues are, but since it is the first time maybe I didn’t expect to talk about my experience and my point of view as a woman while stitching on a plastic chair and I believe that if we want to talk about how to fight stereotypes and show we want more rights maybe I would have felt more comfortable if we had approached this discussion somehow differently.
Caterina:
Before taking part in the event, I shared the flyer of the meeting at the office and collected comments from my colleagues (ladies).
One comment was about the use of the word “tutti” (all) in the text. According to them, a more inclusive form is “tutte/tutti”. It seems that the Italian language is very discriminatory language :(.
Some questions came to my mind: why we should put “tutte” before “tutti” and not the opposite? For gallantry? Why not using “tutt*” to be even more inclusive? What about those people who identify as neither gender or both? Examples: transgenders, cisgender, genderfluid…
Is the Italian language sexist? Or is the battle for adopting a more gender-friendly language sterile and empty?
My reflection is that I do not feel treated equally if I’m called “architettA” instead of “architetto”, I feel treated equally if I can access the same job positions as my male colleagues, if I have same salary and if I’m not put in a disadvantaged position if I have children and so on…
But still, I guess the link between language and stereotypes is a topic.
More in general, I think stereotypes are dangerous for both women and men and we should all try to change, starting from our habits and words we use every day, to avoid the perpetuation of stereotypes. We should transmit especially to kids and young people that they have the same possibilities.
The young drunk man, who joined the group at the end of the meeting criticised the choice of the pink colour for the flyer (he was a graphic designer). I didn’t really pay attention to this aspect, but this is also something connected to stereotypes.
Feedback on the format:
I think it’s interesting to meet in a public square of Palermo to share experiences and discuss gender issues. I also like the location of Piazza Sant ’Anna. I always thought that there is something linked to women, two churches, one dedicated to the Madonna of the Mercedes and one to Sant’ Anna. Sant’ Anna protector of mothers and pregnant women.
I appreciate the idea of keeping the circle open, but there will always be “intrusions” of tourists who move the discussion out of the topic, or drunks, who are difficult to manage.
This initiative is an experiment started by PUSHers. PUSH is a design lab for social innovation. Using a human-centered approach we develop solutions to improve the quality of life in cities and to protect the environment.
