Consciousness in the Body

The book reconstructs the history of the women’s health and medicine movement in the 1970s and 1980s, passing on to the present the thread of those thoughts and projects that changed the landscape of the body and medicine, and which today must contend with the questions posed by “assisted reproduction” technologies.
Divided into three parts, following the author’s initial reconstruction, the scope expands to the memories of six women (Franca Bimbi, Laura Cima, Vicki Franzinetti, Maddalena Gasparini, Anna Rollier, and Silvia Tozzi) who established health counseling centers in various cities. In the final part, the perspectives multiply: from the internal voices of the movement, expressed in leaflets and documents, to the articles through which the press recorded and reacted to the events.
“We worked to expand our consciousness, keeping body and mind together as rarely happened elsewhere… with an intense personal, political, and emotional involvement.”

Luciana Percovich, an English teacher and translator, was active in early Milanese feminism (Lotta femminista, Gruppo femminista per una Medicina delle donne, Libreria delle donne, Libera Università delle Donne). She directed the series Il vaso di Pandora for La Salamandra. She was a member of the Advisory Commission on Women’s Issues for the Province of Milan. Her essays have appeared in “Orsaminore”, “Reti”, “Lapis”, “Fluttuaria”, and “Madreperla”.

The volume was produced with the contribution of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.