Volevo essere un uomo

In this book, Lidia Ravera delivers a sharp, provocative memoir that explores the "longing for male privilege" she felt growing up in a patriarchal Italy.

Rather than a statement on gender identity, the book is a critique of social power. Ravera argues that wanting to be a man was the only logical response to a society that reserved freedom, authority, and ambition for males.

Ravera revisits her life—from 1950s Turin to the present—examining how being born female felt like an immediate "handicap" in a world built for sons. She details the exhaustion of having to fight for things men received by default: a voice in politics, career autonomy, and the right to age without being "invisible." The book concludes that while she coveted the status of men, she ultimately finds her strength and pride in the female experience, calling for a dismantling of the "modesty" expected of women.

Author: Lidia Ravera

She was born in Turin. A journalist and writer, she achieved fame in 1976 with her debut novel, Pigs with Wings, a bestseller with three million copies sold (now published by Bompiani, also in a graphic novel version). She has written thirty works of fiction. Her latest novels, Piangi pure, Gli scaduti, Il terzo tempo, L’amore che dura, Avanti, parla, and One Day All This Will Be Yours (2024) are in the Bompiani catalog, as are the autobiographical novella Tempo con bambina and the short story La somma di due. The essay Age Pride (Einaudi) was published in 2023. She has worked for film, theater, and television.