NoiNo (“Not Us” in italian) is an initiative about men and aimed to men, and it includes a community with a strong communicative impact, where the reversal of roles and communication style allows a new approach to the issue of violence against women. Men are the ones to say “not us” and stand up against violence.
Interested in learning more, we reached by phone Elisa Coco, the coordinator of the project NoiNo.org, for the agency Comunicattive.
Interviewer – Elisa, tell us how the project was born. Who are the protagonists of this initiative?
Elisa Coco – The project started in 2011 with a notice of the Foundation Del Monte, that our agency has won in cooperation with the agency Studio Talpa. NoiNo.org is our common project: we, Comunicattive, are specialized in gender issues, we’ve been working on this matter for ten years. Studio Talpa specializes in alternative communication strategies, such as the warrior marketing. We got to know each other quickly and we work very well together.
I – I really appreciated your style. It focuses on dignity and not on an old fashioned moralism. What are the core values of NoiNo?
EC – We refused to use (the sense of) guilt as a strategy: first of all, because it is not effective. Then, wanting to reach out new people, who so far have been held in the second rows of this issue, the idea is to encourage a path of sensitivity with a style that makes them wanting to be involved. The approach is positive, and studies the social changes of men’s role; it emphasizes also the common man’s responsibilities.
I – But I have seen the testimonials … I own two copies of “Jack Frusciante” by Enrico Brizzi, can you at least get me an autograph? How did you get in touch with him? And Gassman, Bisio, Prandelli?
EC – At that time, the project was still in our heads. It was very difficult to contact people who were willing to talk about this subject, it was our first time, so we thought of some well-known names, starting from our territory. Mail and phone calls to the secretariats, then the first flyers around Bologna. We started with a handful of sportsmen and actors of the area, the first one was Diamanti, who was then captain of Bologna’s football team. From there we got to contact Prandelli, the former national coach. At that point we managed to reach national level: the City of Rome has embraced the initiative and this has brought us some of the testimonials that you can now see. Every day someone contacts us; the municipalities of Lazio have all joined now. The community is strong especially within sports clubs: football, rugby, boxing… Men have begun to appreciate the value of this community that has been created, and the importance of interaction.
I – Well, the NoiNo.org community is, above all, online; you can join without commitment, I did it and it is very simple. Can those who adhere to this web community give you a hand?
EC – The subscription does not lead to any practical commitment, but let’s say, a political commitment. You’re committed to join a particular approach to the issue of violence. You may have read the Decalogue we wrote together along with the members, many men who come from different worlds. This document came out from a dialogue with them. It is the first point of arrival of a discussion that started from the need to change the communication about violence.
There always has been a wrong imaginary regarding this issue. The man was always invisible, the victim was always represented in a dramatic style: mouth shut and a bruised eye.
Then we asked to stand up: from the famous testimonial, to the common man who takes the photo with a sign in his hand or with fellow soccer teammates. To the boxing instructor to the guy on the bus, we want to defeat the idea that what causes violence is a moment of madness, a mentally ill man or a moment of mental breakdown. We want to defeat the idea that violence needs to be justified.
This is the mistake that needs to be overcome: we must place the violent man in our everyday life, thus enhancing the value of each person, man, woman, and the society in which we find ourselves.
I – Another thing I really liked is the campaign focused on the lexicon of violence. How did you create this? What about the reactions?
EC – The campaign began well, we chose some words, we called it “the vocabulary of violence.” Analyzing the meaning of the words adds complexity to the issue, without making the reasoning tough.
So we were able to tell the daily violence, especially the non-physical one: “threatening”, “blackmailing”, “humiliating”. These are all forms of violence which can continue for years, perhaps without ever turn physically violent.
And from this lexical work on, we have started a more syntactic one, almost a game …
I – Meaning…?
EC – We started to rewrite data on violence inverting subject and complement. An example: when these are swapped in a phrase “In Italy, every three days a woman is killed by a partner or a former partner”; there is a deep change: the meaning is almost reversed and the sentence puts its centrality on the male figure. “Every three days, in Italy a man kills his wife or his ex.”
I – Brilliant. The two sentences seem to say different things.
EC – There is a responsibility on the man, he becomes the subject of the action. The public response has been positive.
I – I guess. I’m very curious, what will be your next event? Any new campaign?
EC – We are of course working on a new campaign, we would like to ask young illustrators and artists for help. We recently worked in schools, addressing the forms of control typical of bullying and cyberbullying: threats,
retaliation … The next campaign will be directed at both young people and adults, but now I can not anticipate too much, we’re still working on it.
I – In the meantime, the discussion in the community is vibrant.
EC – In these recent months, the blog of our website has been very active, thanks to the regular contributions of our members. There are bloggers, teachers, psychologists and philosophers participating in a discussion enriched by the testimonies of maltreating men or witnesses of violent acts; every aspect is explored in a new way.
I – Well, then we will follow closely the discussion and I will take a selfie to be published on NoiNo.org, at your own risk. Keep up the good work!
EC – Thank you!
