This book investigates the contradiction between Fascist ideology, which promoted domesticity for women, and the reality of female labor participation in industrial Italy during the interwar period. Dr. Perry R. Willson utilizes the specific case study of the Magneti Marelli factory near Milan to analyze how the regime's rhetoric clashed with the economic necessity of a modern, Americanized industrial firm. By examining management strategies and the lived experiences of female employees, the author argues that gender relations were central to the functioning of the fascist state's industrial apparatus.

Historians and scholars of Italian labor history recognize this work as a significant contribution to understanding the intersection of gender and industrial policy in the twentieth century. Readers frequently note the clarity with which the author balances institutional management history with the social realities of the female workforce.