Theme Of Women In Italian Harlem

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Women had a complicated role in Italian Harlem society because they had power in some areas, but not all. The domus, the family’s home, is where the women were able to exercise their powers. However, when it came to public events and ceremonies, such as the festa, for the Madonna of 115th Street, women endured sufferings that men did not have to experience. The contrasting images of women in Italian Harlem caused a complex relationship between the devotion to the Madonna of 115th Street and the social institutions of Italian Harlem. In the public eye, women received harsh treatment and were expected to be obedient to their male counterparts. Behind closed doors the roles were reversed, with the women having the majority of the power. If outsiders …show more content…

Within the domus, or home, women exerted their control over the rest of the individuals in the house. Women were seen as “the centers of power and authority in the household” because they knew how to handle certain situations that was not suitable for the males (Orsi 132). For example, mother “were the disciplinarians of the family, either meting out punishment themselves or instructing their husbands or older sons to administer it” (Orsi 133). The fact that the women told the men how to punish their children is quite interesting because the women were administering their control over the whole family. In today’s society, men will be the head figures who discipline their children because they are the head of the household. Another interesting role that the women played in the family was that they were the ones who “greeted their children’s dates and determined whether or not they were acceptable to the domus” (Orsi 133). Again, the women held the authority for deciding if another person was able to join the family or not. This description proves just how influential and how dominant the women were in the household. Compared to earlier, women now held all the power within the house. The issue was that these rights and privileges did not exist when it was applied to community events that were held in Italian

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