The Sicilian Way of Life - Sicily - page 595

A Woman's Place
'In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns', said Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti) in The
Godfather . 'A woman at the window is a woman to be shunned', proclaimed the writer
Giovanni Verga in the 19th century. And 'Women are too stupid to be involved in the com-
plex world of finance', decided a judge when faced with a female Mafia suspect in the
1990s. As in many places in the Mediterranean, a woman's position in Sicily has always
been a difficult one.
Agneddu e sucu e finiu u vattiu. When the lamb's all gone, the baptism is over. (When the food's all gone, the party's
over.)
A Sicilian mother and wife commands the utmost respect within the home, and is expec-
ted to act as the moral and emotional compass for her family. Although, or perhaps be-
cause, male sexuality holds an almost mythical status, women's modesty - which includes
being quiet and feminine, staying indoors and remaining a virgin until married - has had to
be ferociously guarded. To this day the worst insult that can be directed to a Sicilian man is
cornuto, meaning that his wife has been unfaithful.
But things are changing for Sicilian women. More and more unmarried women live with
their partners, especially in the cities, and enjoy the liberal lifestyle of many other Western
countries. Improvements in educational opportunities and changing attitudes mean that the
number of women with successful careers is growing, although a 2012 Global Gender Gap
Index published by the World Economic Forum still placed Italy near the bottom of the list
of European nations when it comes to closing the gap between the sexes in terms of politic-
al, professional and economic parity.
Sicily and Italy also have traditionally had some of the lowest percentages in Europe of
women in government. The situation is slowly improving: in 2013, seven ministers out of
21 ((up from four in 2009) and 295 of of 952 parliamentarians (up from 193) were female,
although a number of those women are alleged to have attained their positions because
former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi found them attractive. It's a situation that feminist
organisations such as Sicily's Arcidonna ( www.arcidonna.org ) are working to change.
Sparagna la farina mentre la coffa e' china; quannu lu furnu pari, servi a nenti lu sparagnari. Save flour while the bag is full; when you
can see the bottom, there's nothing left to save.