How'd Ya Find Out? Facebook.

Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and whatever else is out there now (maybe even this blog) is considered social media. Social media helps to connect people through the use and sharing of images, video, text, and other content. That was an understatement. Websites like Twitter and Facebook allow people to communicate whether they are in Poland or Kentucky. The spread of news and other information can be sent through these social media outlets, categorizing them as “new media” because of the use of newer technology to spread or share information. Other types of new media include BlackBerry's, DVD players, laptop computers, etc. New media is rapidly becoming a way of life all across the world, even in Italy, where the government might not be so ready to accept it.

According to a Time online article, the popular Italian show, Annozero, was taken off the air on Italy’s RAI network. The obvious reason: politics. The even more obvious reason: Berlusconi. If you remember from one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that he owns quite a few of Italy’s television networks, RAI not being one of the exceptions. The Prime Minister probably saw the show, which features political commentary, as a threat to his People of Freedom Party (right-wing). The show appears to be back on the air now, but during the time of Italy’s regional elections (which had a low turnout) the show was axed. This wasn’t the first time that Berlusconi gave the boot (like my pun?) to the show which is hosted by Michele Santoro; a former parliament member, journalist, and member of Italy’s “left-wing”. The show was taken off of the programming line up back in 2002, when Mr. Berlusconi blamed Santoro of using the network for “criminal” activity.

This time around, Santoro didn’t put up with Berlusconi’s antics. He filmed a show live through local television and streamed it online. To help pay for the production that wasn’t being funded by RAI, Santoro spread the word on Facebook and collected $3.33 per person who were willing to donate (which ended up being 50,000 people).  This speaks volumes for the progress Italy’s made in embracing social media. It’s considered a secondary news source in the country where its Prime Minister acts as a dictator of programming.

While Italy is gobbling up the new media phenomenon, using social websites as primary news sources, they are not alone. Many United States newspapers and news organizations are now either strictly web based (meaning they cut their print version) or they also have a web edition to go along with either televised or print news. This makes the spread of news much faster. When social media is added, news travels faster than the speed of light. Alright, well, maybe I’m exaggerating but it’s FAST. Not only can people check their Twitter feeds from their Palm Pilot’s, BlackBerry’s, and IPhone’s but they can choose to follow local, national, and international news organizations for live updates.

In a recent article that I co-wrote for the Lion’s Eye, I discovered that while Italy’s programming control is extreme, Communist China and other Asian countries have content blatantly left out programming and print. Part of the new and social media movement is a non-profit called Radio Free Asia. They enable citizens of those countries to access news and information they might not otherwise be getting. Part of China’s news and information block includes RFA searches and most recently on Google who stopped censoring searches in China last month only to be retaliated against with a firewall.

The potential of new media is only going to be expanding, but that doesn’t mean that “leaders” around the world are going to broaden their horizons along with it. Whether it be in Italy, the States, or anywhere else social change among the citizens is always going to be presented with a firewall of sorts from less than ideal government officials. Not all countries are as Democratic as the U.S., nor do they have a President with a Facebook or Twitter page. As long as these countries show an interest in using the technology and moving along in the right direction, there’s usually hope or at least a news resource waiting around the corner for them. Now only if changing a government system or impeaching a Prime Minister could be done through a Facebook fan page or a “text-in to vote”.

Grazie,


Nancy

Buona Pasqua

Easter, is a holiday that my nieces (and most children in America) have come to know and love for the Peeps, chocolate bunnies, and Peter Cottontail. Reader beware: some of the following content may have to do with religion. Behind all of the “superficial” aspects of the holiday (who doesn’t love digging to the bottom of their Easter basket looking for more jelly beans?), Easter is actually a Christian holiday.

Traditionally, it is a day that Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead because He died to give them new life. Easter is a “Holy Day” so Christians attend church or mass to give thanks. This is after a period of 40 days, otherwise known as Lent, where most Christians/Catholics abstain from something as it is their belief that Jesus died and rose to save them from sin and give them eternal life in heaven. Catholics also abstain from eating meat on Fridays during the Lenten season as an additional sacrifice. Which in comparison to their belief of Jesus carrying a cross up a hill (being tortured along the way), being hung to it with nails, and being ridiculed (crown of thorns) up until He finally dies hanging up there half-naked isn’t such a hard thing to do.

What does this have to do with being Italian? My answer for you is everything. Italy and Italians are usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. This is just from my personal experience and knowledge; however; if you wanted to know how many Italians in the U.S. and Italy that are Catholic I would look at official Census or statistical data (mine might not be so up to date). The Pope and the Vatican haven’t really moved from Italy since the Church was founded, so that may also play a big part in its influence. Easter or Pasqua in Italy is traditionally the next major holiday after Christmas. If you wanted to look at it as comparable to an American holiday, even though Americans celebrate Easter, you could say it’s similar to Thanksgiving because the believing Italians feast and give thanks for what Jesus did for them.

Without explaining the whole Easter, Roman Catholic tradition, it is a big deal. Even Easter Monday, or Pasquetta, is celebrated in Italy where people take picnics to just enjoy the Spring weather and continue to give thanks. This is something, obviously, not observed in the States while parochial schools do get the day off. “Little Easter” as it’s called, may also reflect the relaxed, European, lifestyle that Italy has going hand in hand with their afternoon naps.

All of this bias is coming to you from a self professed, Roman Catholic, Italian. Despite my being a lazy Catholic (I blame college), Easter is still just as important to me and I’d hate to see the real meaning getting lost in translation. I’d like to think that even people who don’t follow Catholicism or who aren’t Christian can appreciate the way people like me commemorate points of our religious “history”.  Maybe it can be seen as the same as Muslim prayer being allowed in public schools or even just people from other nations recognizing what the significance of the American flag is and Independence Day. That being said, commercialism of holidays and holy days should probably be taken with a grain of salt as well. It’s all in good fun and like good nutrition we should probably find a healthy balance so that our teeth and traditions don’t rot.

Grazie,

Nancy

Mama's Boy: It Could Happen To You

You might be laughing out loud right now, or you are nodding your head in agreement. It happens to the best of them. While this is a stereotype for a very family oriented male, who in fact loves his mother, there are a few rare instances of when this is all too true. There is a word the Italian community uses for this type of individual, the mammone.

While scouring the Internet or rather Time’s website, I stumbled upon an article that caught me a little bit off guard. The article, addressed a mother in Italy who was accused of being too overbearing. I’ll have to admit, I had a little chuckle when I read this. This is not only because I was doubting that the article was serious but also because I know what it’s like being an Italian-American daughter.

At any rate, the article pressed on and I continued to check things off of my list. The article written by Jeff Israely talks about mothers who do their sons laundry, men who aren’t self-sufficient, and a survey published in Psychology Today that 37% of men in Italy between the ages of 30 to 34 years old still lived at home with their mothers. Before reading either of these articles, I would’ve believed this statistic.

The real twist in the Time article was when I read that this Italian mother and her parents were facing abuse charges. They were being accused of coddling the boy so much his development was stunted. His caregivers, or takers in this case, reportedly prevented him from doing normal activities like running or going to church. The lawyer representing the abused boy said that his motor skills were comparable to those of a 3 year old.

Professional psychologists quoted in the article stated that this type of overprotective behavior can harm children, clearly to the extreme with the Italian boy’s case. In an age of instant media access from the Internet, radio, television, and yes even print—parents and mama’s in particular can take their anxieties too far. I know this circumstance all too well with parents who watch 48 hours and Dateline on a regular basis. I also know this being the youngest daughter of 100% Italian parents, for us it’s worse than the males in my opinion.

The article continues on dissecting the behavior in terms of Italy’s history. Socioeconomics played a huge role in the reason why the Italians (in this case specifically boys) lived with their parents so long. A once extremely poor country with a weak economy, living at home was a wise financial decision. The Catholic church, too, plays an immense role in this. A country where the center of the religion resides and a once devoutly Catholic country had very traditional familial roles for rules until the 1960s. Speaking from personal experience, being both Catholic and Italian, these still are major factors in my life.  Italians are an extremely family oriented cultured who take their faith just as seriously. 

 

While the likelihood of someone becoming a mama’s boy is increased if you are of European decent, it could very well happen to American men. This is not necessarily a bad thing. While one side of the coin says modern women won’t like you because of your dependency on your mother or the archaic views that the mama’s boy holds about wives household duties, the other is very optimistic. Mama’s boys or men, who treat their mothers with respect, are notoriously better communicators with their wives/girlfriends. 

 

Stifling children by preventing them from being independent, girls or boys, is not good developmentally or psychologically. Showing them how to be caring, upstanding citizens, who know how to survive on their own is a very good thing. Perhaps our real concern in today’s society is how much we allow the media to control how we raise our kids. If we just teach them based on what we were taught versus what the media feeds us we’ll be okay. Personally, I’ll  date a mama’s boy any day.

La storia delle donne

La storia delle donne or the "history of women" in any country is a remarkable thing. This is especially so when they rise up (to reference my previous post) and overcome their societal preconceptions. Since March is Women's History Month, I figured that I would keep the ball rolling.

Now women flying airplanes in World War II in Italy is a highly doubtful occurrence, how many actually fly planes in Italy today would be something that I would be interested in doing more research on. I came across this article by the Associated Press entitled, Female WWII aviators honored with gold medal, and was compelled to read more. First of all, I had never heard of women during that era do such a thing. This immediately made me proud of these women for having such strength and for our country for not doubting them. It made me sad, however, to read that some of these women were of course in their late eighties and early ninetys, therefore not being able to share the Congressional Gold Medal with their comrades. This story also upset me because the women were the last to get an honor, as biased as that sounds and is. The Women Airforce Service Pilots or WASPS as they are called, are something for our country to be proud of in spite of the disregard for females that the U.S. has shown in times past.

Completely un-relative to this story, but having everything to do with a country coming together in spite of it's differences is Italy's freshly formed "Purple People". As silly as their  name sounds, they are every bit as serious as the small band of female leaders that gathered together to boycott the G8 summit because of Berlusconi's presence. Il Popolo Viola as they are called have banded together against Berlusconi's government, rumored through Facebook, to put an end to a government that "is not doing its job". The purple color, they say, is only because no other political group uses that color. I think it is very smart of them, it will attract attention to their cause, if people didn't know about them already.
 

I can't think of two better occurrences, in my two favorite countries, that could've made this Women's History Month any better. As long they remain anti-violent, I hope they succeed in finding a better leader. As for the WASPs....YOU GO GIRLS!

Grazie,

Nancy

Feminist Theory, Italian Style

When I’m not in class or studying for my classes, I like to educate myself about the world around me. National news can get boring sometimes. International news is even more within our reach than ever before because of the Internet, therefore making our world a lot smaller. Recently much of the other parts of the globe have been featured on my local news stations because of all of the horrible tragedies occurring in Haiti and in Chile. Believe me they are worth every ounce of media coverage and we should offer them as much aid as we can.

Instead of all of the terrible things going on in the world, I prefer to find things that Americans can relate to—it’s the American Studies minor in me. So, once I get to my point you’ll know that this blog was just bubbling to be written since I read the actual news article. In fact it wasn’t a hard news article at all; it was a New York Times Op/Ed. It was August, so I must’ve been on campus for one reason or another and picked up my free copy because of Penn State’s newspaper readership program. At any rate, I eventually flipped to the Op/Ed section and it immediately grabbed my attention because of two things that it mentioned: Italy and Women Rising Up. The actual article is titled Italian Women Rise Up by Chiara Volpato. Chiara, I learned, is one of the major female leaders for that part of the world and also is a social psychology professor at the University of Milan-Bicocca.

In my opinion, she hits the nail right on the head. Her editorial discusses not only Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi-- who’s known for making sarcastic remarks and comments about women that only a chauvinistic, patriarchal society could love—but also the “glass ceiling” that is ever present in Italy today. Prime Minister Berlusconi has held his position three times in Italy’s history, but his influence on the Italian people through the mass media has been present since the 1980s. He founded his first media venture after college in Milan.  It grew from there to entire networks and cable channels. Berlusconi’s television line up reflects on his personality, showcasing beautiful, Italian women who want to become “showgirls”.  When I say showcasing, this is all that they do. Very rarely do the women get to say anything as they are being judged on their looks. Berlusconi has placed a few of these showgirls into public office, including Mara Carfagna, Italy’s Equal Opportunity’s Minister.

While Carfagna is doing a lot of good, making Berlusconi look good, his mouth continually gets him into trouble.  Berlusconi is quoted in a BBC article as saying, “the left has no taste, even when it comes to women.” This is coming from a man in his seventies trying to talk smack against his rival political party. The BBC also reports that he has had to apologize publicly, as per his wife, for “flirting” with other women. This is who they have lead their country? Well, America did vote for Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky scandal and all.

Enough about him. Let’s get back to the glass ceiling that Italy has but is conceivably lower than America’s. American women have fought for their rights and have come a long way. This is not to say that Italian women don’t have the same rights, but they are immersed in an “old-school way of thinking” culture that has immeasurable double standards. The Catholic Church and the Vatican have a heavy presence in Italy, almost as much as the government. Simultaneously, there still lives the patriarchal culture where “men rule” so to speak. Women work, to cite Volpato’s article, but they also are expected to be the sole keepers of the home. Birthrate in Italy is down because of the fact that men get more leisure time than women do—all the more better for Berlusconi’s bank accounts. Italy even ranks 79 on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index.

So, whether or not Italy wants to come clean about it, their society is slowly secreting anti-feminism. Women like Chiara are out there who want Italian women to aspire to be more than how their Prime Minister spends his free time.  They have even rallied against these types of behaviors along with her by boycotting the G8 Summit. It is unfortunate that their voice isn’t quite as loud as American women when it comes to standing up for their rights. Many newspapers don’t let any talk of such things get published. There are a few exceptions, including la Repubblica, but it’s very few and far between.

Sure, you may be thinking this is just reminiscent of American society and the attitude of the media that sex sells. You are right, but this attitude also comes from the dark and ugly days of when America too let patriarchal views dominate their world. There is nothing wrong with males wanting to be the head of their households or good fathers even, but when it’s taken too far and women are degraded, we have a problem.

Grazie,

Nancy

THON ❖

So, since the past two weeks of my life have been consumed by THON, it was only fitting that I dedicate this blog post to the cause. What does this have to do with being Italian-American you may ask? Everything. Cancer is a disease that can affect anybody, in fact it is something that has affected my family personally. Watching all of the Four Diamonds kids who are being helped by THON brought tears to my eyes--there are way too many of them! Here's to one day finding a cure for cancer in all of it's forms and here's to Penn State's Panhellenic/IFC Dance Marathon (THON) for raising $7.8 million FTK❖!

Grazie,

Nancy ❖

 

Brandywine THON Dancer Martina Gill (right) and I (left) early Sunday morning.

 

Brandywine THON Dancer Sean O'Connor and Lion's Eye Editor-In-Chief Christina Felizzi (Sean is a Sport's Editor for the Lion's Eye; Sean, Christina, and I write for the Lion's Eye PSU Brandywine's student ran newspaper).

 

Penn State Brandywine's finest cheering on their dancers from the stands.

 
 

The 2010 THON Stage.

 
 

More of Penn State Brandywine's finest wearing their official "color war" THON t-shirts.

 
 

Brandywine students doing the THON Four Diamonds symbol.

 
 

Candid shot of Brandywine students in the stands.

 

THON Dancers Sean O'Connor and Martina Gill pose with SGA Treasurer Rahel Teklegiorgis.

 
 

  

THON Dancers pose with PS Brandywine SGA President Brittney Walker.

 

Dancer, Sean O'Connor, and the Lion.

Learning the THON Line Dance (video)

It's not easy being green

 Kermit knew what he was talking about when he sang his infamous song on the Muppet Show. So you may be wondering if I’m smoking any illegal substances or you may just be wondering what this has to do with Italians…well I’m getting to that point. What I mean is that “it’s not easy being the minority” in any country.

History is currently repeating itself (as it typically does) but just in another variance in Italy right now. Illegal African Immigrants are flocking to Italy for jobs picking fruit and other crops just so they can provide for their families. What is casting a murky shadow on this “job filling” is that some native Italians cannot find work, but even worse than that is most of the crops are owned by mafia or people affiliated with them.

This past January, riots broke out in my mother’s native region of Calabria over what else, racism. It only takes a few ignorant humans or one match to start the fire.  According to a Time online article, Africans were shot at with pellet guns thus launching outrage among the immigrant community. Most of these communities, by the way, are temporary. These are slums not unlike the tent cities being erected in Haiti currently because their homes were destroyed. The living conditions are very similar as well.

These people, or a majority of them, are honest and hard-working just trying to find work so they can provide for their families. Many of them are being suckered into providing the mafia in which they are dealing with a good sum of their wages or are required to pay a fee to them because they are giving them work.  The Pope, who has a major presence in Italy, even asked the citizens to go easy on illegal immigrants as they are humans too. Italy is quickly out-doing Britain on its amount of immigrants to the country but it still remains a good portion of native born Italians.

This is where the problem lies. With all the encouragement in the world from Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi (who I’m sure I will bash in another blog entry), anti-immigration isn’t a new thing being pushed among their society.  Many Italians have compared it to the Native Americans being forced off of their reservations here in America, but this clearly is an over-exaggeration.

So, without me naming names, have you noticed any similarities here? Oh, say to America and its illegal Mexican immigrants.  For years, we have said that “they take away our jobs”, “they’re dangerous”, or “it’s just not legal”. So why don’t we make it legal? Is there anything really wrong with people from underdeveloped and possibly even corrupt countries going to another country for work? This work also being usually labor intensive and not popular among the country’s native citizens but is something that they don’t mind doing. This then produces a stigma, made up of racist remarks, branding people who are already struggling consequently making life even harder for them.

I’m not an expert on immigration laws or the like. I do know this: racism doesn’t make the situation any better. Thinking you’re better than somebody else because of where you’re from, what social class you belong to, or because of your culture is ignorance. I was raised to believe that we can all coexist as long as we keep open minds and hearts. Everybody should have an equal opportunity at everything in life because we are all people. What do you think?

Grazie,

Nancy

How I start my day, everyday

Not really. 

Some day I will order a cup like this, while sitting in a coffee shop, in Italy.

Never too young...

Thought this was funny in reference to my previous post. I found it while on Madame Lamb's blog ( I follow them, so check them out.)

The Elephant in the Room

                                Snookie from MTV's Jersey Shore (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Fist pump. Two words that MTV viewers young and old are getting to know too well. MTV’s Jersey Shore has launched controversy, buzz, and all kinds of salacious gossip. The season having recently just come to an end, has probably made a few people happy, and not just about that silly dance.

Along with the show documenting these 20-somethings, mostly Italian-Americans, summer fun, it also has caused uproar from the traditional folks. The older generations and some Italian-American groups don’t like how these “kids” are representing Italians. Throwing around what is considered a racial slur in the Italian community, the term “guido”, is used as every day dialect for the cast.

Admittedly, I have never watched the show myself but having viewed a few clips I can see the Jersey Shore cast means no harm. To them, being “guido” is a complement. They define it as an attractive looking, usually tan individual.

This is an all too familiar scene being played out. All races in America have an ugly immigrant past, where derogatory terms were thrown at them for being different than the status quo. African-Americans, Chinese- Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Latin-Americans, etc. have all had their fare share of disrespectful discrimination and racism.

According to a Time online article, the Italian-American group UNICO National, which works towards the betterment of Italian-American’s image and promotes the heritage, simply does not like term – however it may be used. Coincidentally, the Italian-American service organization is located in New Jersey, making this not only a matter of preserving and respecting heritage but also a homegrown thing as well. Italian-Americans from the state can now be branded with that stigma.

Whether or not the show exists, this stereotype would have existed. I am no expert, but as long as we allow race to play a major role in how we view people, people are going to make generalizations about certain individuals based on their backgrounds. Now, is this show very reminiscent of the previous Real World series on MTV really that bad? Imagine the potential controversy that would have arose, should the producers have chosen the slightly more tender wound of our country’s minority groups.

Does this mean it’s perfectly acceptable to pick on Italians? Are they picking on Italians? You tell me.

I want to see some comments.

Grazie,

Nancy

This is a splinter-free zone

Welcome to The Wooden Spoon! Your one stop shop for that perfect sauce stirring utensil – or is it gravy? All jokes aside, this is my first “professional” blog entry for my web writing class at Penn State University (so go easy on me). It is my hope to keep this going post-graduation in a few months (keep your fingers crossed) should you (the reader of this blog) let me.

I am Italian-American, so it is my belief that I am fully qualified to rant, rave, and have an educated discussion on all topics involving Italians. While I was not “made in Italy” per say, I’m a direct product of two extremely hard-working Italian immigrants. In my lifetime I have heard enough “mangia!”, “Did you eat something?”, and “Bring this with you, you might get hungry!” to have me fully qualified to write this blog. In fact, as you probably already have guessed, that’s where the name for this blog comes from. Stereotypically (and maybe even in real life) wooden spoons are weapons that Italian grandmothers use to inflict pain on innocent bystanders and grandchildren who refuse to eat their food. So taking that with a grain of salt, or a cannoli if you have a sweet tooth, you get the meaning behind the metaphor that is my blog title. It is my goal, to take a light-hearted yet critical look at how Italians are portrayed in life, popular culture, current events, movies, and etcetera. Not exactly hard hitting news but perhaps enough to spark a discussion or debate.

If you stayed long enough to read all of that, well then maybe there’s a chance you’ll come back for more!

Grazie,

Nancy