Theory and Practice of Italian Autonomous Feminism in the 1970s

In this paper we make a historical and political overview of Italian difference feminism, and for that purpose, we will analyse its theoretical contributions and its practical experiences. Regarding theory, they defied equality inasmuch as this had been considered as equality among men, and Marxism-Leninism for seeing class and power from a masculine perspective; regarding practice, they formed the non-mixed groups, demonstrations leadered only by women and a series of actions that even unsettled the members of the autonomous movement. The time frame of this period (1968-1977) was a great revolutionary and creative wave that could not be understood without the appearance of difference feminism and the changes that it brought.