by  Kristina Tool

PWA hosted a special event on Wednesday, July 1st, which gave the audience a sneak preview of the annual WIN Conference to be held this year in Prague, Czech Republic on October 8-10. This was the second event for PWA held in the Grand Hotel et de Milan on Via Manzoni, and one of the events where we welcomed male guests.  

Kristin Engvig, former PWA president, and WIN (Women’s International Networking) Founder and CEO introduced the WIN Mobilizing Women Tour panel for Milan: Lorella Zanardo, who has worked in marketing for Unilever in Milan and Paris, as marketing director for Gruppo Mondadori and now heads her own consulting group, Sportgate, Sarah Brady,  Director of Product Communications and Consumer Design for Whirlpool and Nancy Fina, professional fashion photographer.

WIN’s mission is to inspire women worldwide and Kristin noted that WIN is fortunate to be able to do so through working and listening to local women’s networks around the world and share the information through meetings and conferences.  She presented facts and figures on how both women and the global economy benefit from placing more focus on women and the way women work.  While the panelists came from different countries and different professions, common themes in their presentations included, adapting to new ways of thinking, generosity, and the viewing of women only as physical objects.

Lorella Zanardo shared her work as writer and director of the documentary Il Corpo Delle Donne. The documentary has received worldwide media coverage due to its revealing examination of how Italian television views women’s bodies. The documentary has struck a chord with many who view it and Lorella credits the success of this project due to having a passion for it, time invested and the web.  As Lorella started to place a critical eye on Italian television, she was shocked by what she saw but it motivated her to dedicate a tremendous amount of time to creating her documentary . Despite family and professional obligations she was able to devote the hours needed to develop the documentary. Between word of mouth and the ease of sharing information on the internet Il Corpo Delle Donne has been able to reach an international audience. In addition, Lorella believes that giving generously comes back to you; part of the success of the documentary can be attributed to those who expressed their appreciation, through emails, and offers of ways to help get the message out to others.

Sarah Brady continued the evening’s presentation by describing her move to Italy from England 18 years ago to work with Olivetti and the progress of her career with different companies. Like many expats, she discovered that things were not always easy living as a foreigner, but as an outsider she could view many situations more objectively.  In facing new and unexpected challenges Sarah noted that she required depending on others and in turn has felt a strong desire to pass on this generosity. Helping other women professionally is one way in which Sarah has been able share the benefits of her experience. Her position at Whirlpool has enabled her to create female initiatives within the corporation.

As an American fashion photographer living and working in Italy, Nancy Fina, has a great deal of experience on how men view women. With assignments that had her working with the top models and agencies in the world, she shared stories about how men had certain ideas on the picture, often with strong objectification of the female and  her opposing point of view on how to do the shot. Noting that in Italy the men hold most of  the power she has worked to express her subjects from a female’s point of view.  Nancy finished up by encouraging the group to attend the WIN conference for it’s ability to inspire. “It’s not like going to a beauty farm for your body, its like going to a beauty farm for you soul.”

The audience had an opportunity at the end of the evening to make new connections with each other. Kristin provided some tips on objectives for the mini networking session in which the audience broke up into up into smaller groups. People were able to introduce themselves and get to know others better in the spirit of making new and beneficial connections.

by Hema Mali

The intervention of Lorella Zanardo at the PWA speaker meeting could not have come at a more timely moment at this particular crossroads of my life.  Just before leaving for the event, I had been discussing with the father, the merit of raising our son in Italy.   My concern regarded relationship with females, opportunities, a point of reference, enforcing values when we are constantly bombarded by an environment where breaking rules is the norm and the power of the media.

It was much to my chagrin that my son had started to watch Italian television in particular quiz shows abound with showgirls.  He was even familiar with the names and had his favourite velinas’.  He even thought that Victoria from Wheel of Fortune was pretty and I had to explain that she looked hideous because it was evident that her lips and breasts had been re-done.  How do you explain to a seven year old that she had been exploited?

Even worse to hear comments that the Italian Prime Minister was a “figo” by males from my generation simply because he was still doing it at the age of 72 and that there was nothing wrong with an old man doing it with someone old enough to be his grand-daughter.

I don’t want my child to grow up in this environment because what I see are more and more people brainwashed and I can only but explain it by what they see and read in the media.  If today’s new parent generation can switch their thinking to the acceptability of treating women as sex objects – a step back in time, what hope is there for the children of today.  I too fell victim, not having my point of reference in Italy, to the fact that the woman had to be immaculate and have a perfect presence at all times.  Being bombarded by these images, I too was nearly convinced that this is what was expected – by whom, society?  Who predicts what society wants?  Not only, but any success that a woman gains is justified, usually by men, that they must have conceded sexual favours to have had that success.  More so, after seeing the “Infedele” transmission, it confirmed the concept that Italian society is being brainwashed that exploitation of women is acceptable.  The most shocking of all is how successful Italian women in the media (not only) subject women to the same humiliation.  If this is a vicious circle, what hope is there of change?

Thus, I was happy to have heard Lorella’s presentation because it filled me with a little hope.  More so when I watched her documentary and her blog and the work she is doing going to schools to send the message not to be influenced by what they see on TV.  She externalises her anger in a calm and positive way and not by criticising Italian society but by using effective communicative methods to make people aware.

I was also moved by how she used her time, in a period of crisis, and over the Christmas period usually dedicated to family, constructively to produce such a masterpiece.  Using the same arms that try to destroy our dignity and to convert it to reveal just how ridiculous it is.

This leads me to the following question.  If the media today is a mirror of the Italian society, if the young generation of today, in particular women were to have the possibility of creating their own TV program, what kind of programs would it be?

All professional women welcome whether members or guests

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Wednesday, March 19 2008, 7-9.30 p.m.
Lorella Zanardo, Entrepreneur, founder and General Manager of Sportgate, presents
“In Search of Authenticity”

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Is balance between private and professional life possible? Is our everyday life the life we really want? How can we find courage/ability to build a more “sustainable life/career”?

Drawing from her career experience as a manager and as an entrepreneur, Lorella Zanardo will discuss the need to reestablish priorities in daily life. Together we will explore how to:

• identify and change behaviors that prevent us from attaining work/life balance
• evaluate the “typical” benchmarks for career success and their importance
• discover our inner power and learning what “success” means to each of us

She will talk about her new model of profession/life balance where real success can be reached only by knowing our deepest needs and by building a life which is the answer to the question “what is important TO ME?”

About Lorella
Lorella has held positions in the marketing field for many years, including European Brand Manager for Unilever in Milan and Paris and Marketing Director for Gruppo Mondadori. She has managed community projects in diversity management, and organised and chaired innovative courses on themes of change for organizations and individuals. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) as well as a degree in English and German literature. She has been theatre and cinema actress and a past presenter at the WIN conference. She lives with her 2 children, practices yoga and is currently writing a book on the developing role of women in society and organizations, while managing Sportgate, her company specialising in consultancy services and innovative training, proposed both through the sport practice and through the stories of great Olympic champions.

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Cocktails 7-8 p.m. / Presentation 8-9.30 p.m.
Jolly Hotel Macchiavelli, Via Lazzaretto 5 (MM Porta Venezia, Repubblica; tram Various)
Free for members, €20 for guests, payable by cash at the event