The ubiquitous role of the Italian woman in society is ever-changing and expanding beyond its origin in the domestic sphere. The identity of the Italian woman was once engrained in matrimony and motherhood, not necessarily by womens own choice, but because it was considered the natural and expected path of life for any woman. An Italian woman was identified by her faith in the Catholic Church, her marriage to an Italian, working man, and the culmination of her life purpose was seen in giving birth to the sons of Italy. Working all day in the house and raising the children were the joys of life for Italian women, who were expected to be content and grateful as housewives. However, once women realized that higher education and a career were not solely the benefits of being a man, they began to realize that marriage was not for all women and that motherhood was not a necessary rite of passage to establish their entrance into adulthood. Through my public observations, review of scholarly articles, attendance of a film panel, and informal discussions with a variety of women in NGOs and other relevant settings over the course of a four month study abroad program in Italy, I have attempted to understand the differences between gender roles and expectations in Italian culture versus American culture. Personal experience has allowed me to contrast my life as an American woman of Italian heritage, with my adaptations as a foreign woman in Italy. Although Italian women have realized the advantages of independence, they must make sacrifices to stabilize and discover themselves in a media-driven society that is still ruled by male hegemony.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04102011-235422 |
| Date | 05 May 2011 |
| Creators | Pallatino, Chelsea Leigh |
| Contributors | Dr. Frayda N. Cohen, Dr. Dennis O. Looney, Dr. Robert M. Hayden, Dr. Elizabeth L. Krause, Dr. David W. Montgomery |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04102011-235422/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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