BBC Two produces an "UnPacked" series about Italy, including 3 videos on Sicily. They are hosted by an art historian, Andrew Graham-Dixon, and an Italian chef (cook he calls himself), Giorgio Locatelli. You can find them on YouTube and they are well worth watching.
- Episode 1 -- Palermo -- begins at the fishing town of Sciacca on the southern coast which Giorgio visits each time he goes to Italy for the seafood. But most of the episode is in Palermo where they view some very elaborate stucco art, attend one of the famous Sicilian puppet shows, and visit the Vucciria market. They also discuss the Mafia.
- Episode 2 -- The Spanish Occupations -- covers Noto and the Val di Noto in southeastern Sicily, gelato, Good Friday celebration in Enna, Easter Sunday in Modica and the oldest Sicilian chocolate factory (Bonajuto) in Modica.
- Episode 3 -- Modern Sicily -- also covers ancient Sicily with a visit to Mt. Etna and one of her vineyards, Pachino and its tomatoes, red shrimp at Mazaro del Vallo, and a take on a tuna burger at a modern gastronomic restaurant. They also visit the Archaeological Museum of Aidone where a statue of Demeter had been returned to Sicily from the Getty Museum in LA.
One thing I was struck by in this series was the dearth of women in the interviews. I don't know if it is because the hosts are male or whether there is still a separation of sexes in Sicily. Few women vendors in the markets. No women fishermen or fish buyers. Andrew and Giogio do mention that at the Easter Sunday dinner in Modica, the men made the ricotta (shepherds) while the women baked the bread (a household task). Maybe a holdover from the Arabs.
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/19758/societal-changes-needed-for-gender-equality-in-italy
ReplyDeleteFemale employment rates remain low especially in southern Italy and for women with lower levels of education. Only 1 in 2 of women over the age of 20 has a job.
There are two kinds of obstacles to progress toward gender equality in Italy. First, the government is still reluctant to abandon the so-called Mediterranean model of the welfare state, based on monetary transfers from the state to individual households. This system works because family—through the unpaid work of women—has traditionally been the main provider of social protection and care services in Italy. Full participation of women in social and economic life would require massive investments in social infrastructures, including schools and services for the care of children, disabled and elderly people, as feminist activists have long demanded. Second, the enforcement of many women’s rights laws lacks political support and funds. For example, abortion is legal but the share of medical staff allowed to refuse to perform abortions on the grounds of conscientious objection is, in some regions, close to 100 percent.
And that is in all of Italy. Sicily is even worse.
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