Feste Delle Donne
March 8 marks International Women's Day. Here in Italy they celebrate with full force. The streets were crowded with women carrying small bouquets of mimosa (a beautiful and simple yellow flower). The flower is so fragrant the entire city smelled differently. It was lovely. Kelsie's professor Michele organized a pot-luck dinner for the class along with a showing of the movie Mean Girls. It was a great time - Michele had bought bucket loads of the mimosa to decorate the studio with. It was beautiful.
What I can't decide is whether the Italians worship women, or treat them like objects. Maybe its both. The reason for my troubles? The fact that in the last week I've been harassed on a daily occasion. Yesterday alone I had a guy walk by me and make a kissy face at me, a group of guys block the sidewalk and repeat "Ciao Bella. Hello, where are you going?", and a guy on a vespa stare me down while whistleing. And yet on Women's Day this country that otherwise treats women like puppets goes out of its way to make them feel special. It is yet another example of Italy's confusing society.
What I can't decide is whether the Italians worship women, or treat them like objects. Maybe its both. The reason for my troubles? The fact that in the last week I've been harassed on a daily occasion. Yesterday alone I had a guy walk by me and make a kissy face at me, a group of guys block the sidewalk and repeat "Ciao Bella. Hello, where are you going?", and a guy on a vespa stare me down while whistleing. And yet on Women's Day this country that otherwise treats women like puppets goes out of its way to make them feel special. It is yet another example of Italy's confusing society.