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