Women and the Eighties in Italy through the social history of volleyball

Abstract

The Eighties represent a crucial time for women in Italy. They became more involved in the work and public sphere. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between women and the Italian society through the perspective of the history of sport. More specifically, it has the objective of analyzing the social evolution of the role of women within the development of volleyball. In the Eighties, in fact, women surpassed men in the practice of volleyball, giving a definitely feminine connotation to this sport. By studying the process that led to this result, we can realize how much a greater involvement of women in the workforce suggests a higher participation in sport activity. In the background of this context there was the opulent Italy of the Eighties that was an apparently rich country with a lot of contradictions: a great difference between the North and the South, the struggle between public and commercial TV, the clash between the old and new entrepreneurship. This research has been realized through the investigation of various types of sources, for example dossiers classified in the public and private archives of the Italian Volleyball Federation or records from Italian State Statistical Office. Chronicles of volleyball matches, cartoons and advertisements have been very helpful for this study. In addition, I have conducted some interviews with the principle federal managers and players of the time.