Abstract

Chapter Six revolves on arguments made in the Paulovich case, which were designed to appeal to the judges' sense of social justice and embedded gendered beliefs. It describes Fascist expectations of the ideal woman as a "national body," and explores the state's contradictory attempts to define and regulate new biological and social roles for women within the scope of traditional assumptions of women's place in society and in the legal order. The chapter shows how Paulovich's lawyer manipulated her position as an Italian woman, wife or widow, mother, and patriot to try to win the justices' sympathies and to try to influence the proceedings and disposition of the surname restoration case. The chapter illustrates that interwoven legal and social assumptions gave rise to uncertainties and contradictions that blurred the lines between women's quiescence and opposition, giving women space to navigate within the Fascist system and affecting the administration of Fascist justice in the Paulovich case.

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