Manual Of How To Become A Good Girl – from 1 to 30 with zero expectations

THIS IS MY MANUAL ON HOW TO BECOME A GOOD GIRL, OR AT LEAST HOW TO SURVIVE UNTIL 30 AS A WOMAN IN A PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY. WHILE OBSERVING MY FAMILY ARCHIVE I STOP TO OBSERVE ON HOW THE HAND GESTURES CONSTANTLY UNDERLINE THE DAILY RELEVANT SITUATIONS.

This is my manual on how to be a good girl, or at least how to survive your thirties with a female identity in a society dominated by mansplaining.

As I reflected on the changes and behavioural expectations we develop or modify in adulthood, I found myself leafing through my personal and family archives, looking at printed photos, hard drives and images of myself on WhatsApp.

I didn't always recognise myself.

This is how an obsessive search began, dictated by annoyance, during which I discovered that my body language, more precisely my gestures, had changed.

Not only had they become less spontaneous, but they had also become determining factors in my relationship with the everyday world. I started with childhood, a period of life in which we act more on instinct than on experience, and continued my research following the timeline of life.

In place of the more spontaneous and sometimes comical gestures, more conscious gestures appear over the years, guided by experiences and encounters. Their effect, their confidence and their direction change, influenced by the events that occur in life. This sometimes leads to a loss of spontaneity in personal expression, but also to the acquisition of a new awareness.

This project has been featured on Elle Italia August Print Issue, on L'Internazionale, shortlisted for Phest Open Call 2025, FE + SK Book Award, Perimetro Awards and exhibited at Le CAVe-Cantiere delle arti visive, in Rome Feb 2026