“A lot of stereotypes from many European countries come to mind, but I have total emptiness on Portugal and the Portugueses,” an American guy comments on Reddit (social news site). To this a Spaniard replies as someone who knows a lot: “the Portugueses are rather sad, pessimistic and melancholy. These traits are represented in the typical musical style of Portugal, Fado, and in the word ‘saudade’ which has no translation in any other language”. Well, at least in Italian it can be translated into “nostalgia”. On the other hand, you know, another classic is the “clash of opposites”, between Portugal and Spain. (Like Italy with France). So much that the Portugueses says the Spaniards are fun, energetic and proud, with a tendency to raise the voice. While the Spaniards believe that Portuguese are reserved, indecisive and nostalgic, in fact, with a tendency to fatalism. “Fado” comes from the Latin fatum and means “destiny”…
Femicide, men used to hate women
We can guess that (almost) all of us went through this at least once in our life. It might not strictly a violence, but maybe a boyfriend a little too “jealous” (not to say “possessive”), a husband who checks your email, the one who likes making scenes in the middle of the street, the ex who calls you a thousand times to find out where you are, the half unknown who has decided to skulk outside your house…
The stereotype, “a snap judgment against the imperfect perfection”
“Stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination are often conceived as correlated, even if they express different concepts: stereotypes are a cognitive component, it is how our brain normally handles information, often without real awareness; prejudice is the affective component of this “stereotype”; finally, discrimination is the behavioral part that follows the prejudicial reactions”…
Mahi Binebine, “the big jump” of suicide bombers
“Maybe Hell is the inability to change things. Instead faith made us see Heaven”. A kamikaze speaks and does so in the book by Mahi Binebine, a former student and professor of mathematics in Paris and today a painter and writer in New York. Born in Marrakech in 1959…
Genoa, stingy and generous
Closed, cold, grumpy, but also tenacious, prudent, gifted… every great city and Italian region has its own, and these are the first negative and positive stereotypes that you hear about the Genoese. “Some are Sampdorians”, someone jokes. But above all they are said to be stingy (the famous “little short arm”), and at the same time, they are said to be generous… but the negative stereotype is often more famous! And that’s all the proof we’d need of the fallibility of the stereotype itself, being able, over time, to affirm everything and the opposite of everything…
Princesses, (social) mirror on the wall
Beautiful and thin, graceful and harmonious, romantic and always in search of love, kind and helpful, affable and loving, obliging and attentive. The Italian (and English) provide an infinite number of synonyms to describe the gender role, always the same, of fairytale princesses: characters that are basically unreal in which, however, many girls still try to mirror themselves. But it is useless to blame the choices of the last century. From 2012 things have changed more in the entertainment rather than in the women’s head…
Coronavirus, a chance to walk on the other side
When the whole world was looking at Italy with worry, the virus was spreading everywhere else. This is because that worry wasn’t always “genuine”, but more often led by a stereotypical consideration of Italy, (one of) the“open flank” of Europe. With all the lack of controls and weak structures… (allusion by some news from England), being the country of disorganization and slowness “par excellence” (tacit from some French news). And this attitude came also from our debate. Is this disturbing? Yes, because it doesn’t tell the whole story…
Females who have no choice: the phenomenon of the wives and mothers girls
“Sanna, Indian, married at 31, after a master, with a younger man, didn’t have to provide a dowry, although the family is Muslim”. This is the stereotype and what Giulia Vallese (UNFPA) says about one of the few success stories about the little-discussed issue of child brides and mothers, described in the last report (2013) […]
Cinzia Leone, la democrazia vir(tu)ale ci disorienta
Cinzia Leone è una grande. È il piacere di vedere una donna “vera” su palchi che ne ospitano sempre meno. Una persona, cioè, che rifiuta l’orpello e va dritto al punto, da sempre abituata a guardarsi intorno, costruendo i suoi spettacoli in base a ciò che osserva, i cambiamenti che ci travolgono, “da bravi italiani”. […]
Le favole non sono state scritte per i bambini
“Partiamo da qui: le favole sono state scritte per gli adulti, non per i bambini. Erano infatti storie molto crude, anche ironiche, ma soprattutto moralistiche, che adulti raccontavano ad altri adulti per ammonirli”. “Basti pensare a Il Racconto dei racconti messo in scena da Matteo Garrone”. Il film che fu candidato agli Oscar si ispira […]