Natalia Aspesi

File:Aspesi_Natalia-2016.05.13.SalTo16-4063.jpg

Aspesi was born in Milan on 24 June 1929.{{Cite web |last=Soncini |first=Di Guia |date=2019-05-23 |title=Diventare La (Natalia) Aspesi. Vademecum per ragazze sveglie |trans-title=Becoming (Natalia) Aspesi. Handbook for smart girls |url=https://www.elle.com/it/magazine/storie-di-donne/a27002883/natalia-aspesi-intervista-guia-soncini/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Elle |language=it}} Aspesi's father was a textile salesman, and her mother was a schoolteacher and an avowed anti-fascist. She and her older sister were raised by their mother after their father died when Aspesi was four-years-old.

Aspesi attempted to work several jobs before pursuing journalism, including a schoolteacher, a waitress in Geneva, and an au pair in England. As a journalist, Aspesi has written for several newspapers, including La Notte, Il Giorno, and La Repubblica. She developed a reputation for sneaking into exclusive places for her work, including a train carriage with The Beatles and the hospital room of Gino Paoli.

Aspesi identifies as a feminist.{{cite web |last=Torrisi |first=Claudia |date=2017-10-20 |title=Harvey Weinstein: Italian media coverage of the scandal has been predictably outrageous |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/italian-media-harvey-weinstein-asia-argento/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=openDemocracy }} She has criticized online feminism and American feminism, which she describes as victim feminism, criticizing catcalling and body positivity as trivial issues relative to past focuses of feminism.{{Cite web |date=2021-05-24 |title="Femministe vittimistiche. E Biancaneve si diverta". Le "stoccate" di Natalia Aspesi |trans-title="Victim feminists. Snow White? Be the w......e". The "stocks". Natalia Aspesi |url=https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/ddl-zan-fedez-grillo-e-jebreal-stoccate-natalia-aspesi-1948868.html |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=ilGiornale.it |language=it}} She has criticized the #MeToo movement and the publicizing of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases, arguing that they did not advance the cause of feminism.{{cite web |last=Pagani |first=Malcom |date=2017-10-11 |title=Weinstein, Natalia Aspesi: 'Se mi chiedi un massaggio in ufficio e io te lo concedo, poi non mi posso stupire su come va a finire' |trans-title=Weinstein, Natalia Aspesi: "If you ask me for a massage in the office and I'll give it to you, then I can't be surprised at how it ends" |url=https://www.vanityfair.it/news/approfondimenti/2017/10/11/weinstein-commento-natalia-aspesi |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Vanity Fair Italia |language=it-IT}} She is an outspoken opponent of critic of the Five Star Movement and Matteo Salvini.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-17 |title=Natalia Aspesi: 'Sono una vecchia strega che fantastica ogni genere di crudeltà contro Salvini e Di Maio' |trans-title=Natalia Aspesi: "I am an old witch who fantasizes about all kinds of cruelty against Salvini and Di Maio" |url=https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/06/17/natalia-aspesi-sono-una-vecchia-strega-che-fantastica-ogni-genere-di-crudelta-contro-salvini-e-di-maio/5260457/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Il Fatto Quotidiano |language=it-IT}}

Aspesi criticized J. R. R. Tolkien's works and considered it "a bit naziskin".{{cite web|first=Massimiliano|last=Di Giorgio|url=https://massimilianodigiorgio.com/2012/08/16/tolkien-i-fasci-e-qualche-equivoco-scritto-nel-2001/|title=Tolkien, i fasci e qualche equivoco|language=it|orig-date=2001|date=16 August 2012|type=blog|quote=... famosa saga fantasy, un po' naziskin, scritta dal filologo inglese J.R. {{sic|Talkien}} che, data la sua passione per la mitologia celtica, entrerà certamente nelle scuole formigonbossiane della Lombardia come testo base di storia patria.}}N. Aspesi, "L'invasione degli hobbit", «La Repubblica», may 11 2001 In addition, he defined the Tolkien's works as three "fairy romances" which are "eccentric and slightly demented".{{cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2012/12/13/viaggio-all-indietro-nel-magico-mondo-della.html|first=Natalia|last=Aspesi|title=Viaggio all' indietro nel magico mondo della Terra di Mezzo|language=it|date= December 13, 2012|website=La Repubblica}} Aspesi did not take seriously the expectation that women should marry young; she eventually partnered with Antonio Sirtori, and the two remained together for 38 years until Sirtori's death in 2012. Aspesi suffered a stroke in 2023, causing her to intermittently lose consciousness for ten days.{{Cite web |date=2023-03-04 |title=Natalia Aspesi, 93 anni, colpita da ictus: 'Scusate se per una volta scrivo di me' |trans-title=Natalia Aspesi, 93, affected by a stroke: "Sorry if I write about myself for once" |url=https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/23_marzo_04/natalia-aspesi-93-anni-colpita-da-ictus-scusate-se-per-una-volta-scrivo-di-me-be728d6e-2a0d-4e35-8e2b-8c6a2eaaaxlk.shtml |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Corriere della Sera |language=it-IT}}

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Category:1929 births

Category:20th-century Italian journalists

Category:20th-century Italian women journalists

Category:21st-century Italian journalists

Category:21st-century Italian women journalists

Category:Italian feminists

Category:Living people

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