Top

       alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text alt text

Male Identity Crisis

Bookmark on - Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icio.us Add to: Reddit Add to: StumbleUpon Add to: Netscape Add to: Furl Add to: Technorati Add to: Spurl

June 20, 2008

With female economic independence has come a new dilemma. Men worldwide are undergoing a male identity crisis and none more so than the macho Italian man. Getting a haircut in Rome, I overhead an Italian waiting his turn and leafing through Corriere dello Sport say: “We are all men here, I can be frank. Our women have become independent-minded, they all go out to work, they don’t cook so much any more, we have to look after ourselves. We are second-class citizens.”

To cheer him up I gave the thumbs up to Fabio Capello, who took over the England football squad, a fine example of Italian manhood: elegant, sharply dressed, supremely confident, a born winner, who even liked modern art.

To the outside world, and not least to Brits, Capello looks like the new breed of Italian male. Not only has he been happily married man for 40 years, no dalliances on the side have been discovered so far, likes Bach and jazz, reads philosophy, goes to Mass, spends his holidays exploring archaeological ruins in Tibet or Colombia instead of chatting up women on the beach, collects Kandinskys and Chagalls, and cultivates Rome’s modern artists. Indeed, a far, far cry from the unscrupulous Lotharios of old.

But, it doesn’t look quite that way to Italian men. They still have a sneaking admiration for old-style Casanovas with a buccaneering style, a penchant for risqué jokes and an eye for the ladies. Their ideal of macho manhood is Marcello Mastroianni, the actor with matinée-idol looks who made an art of appearing debonair, louche and charming.

But, Mastroianni is dead and so is the dolce vita Federico Federi embodied so well in his films. Many Italian men feel sorry for themselves in 21st century Italy i.e. they feel browbeaten, overworked and underpaid. Even the famous Latin lover is exposed as a myth: as according to a survey six out of ten Italian women claim to be sexually dissatisfied with their husbands, partners or lovers. Chiara Simonelli, a sexologist at Rome University Hospital claims many women in their thirties and forties are opting for celibacy in despair.

Another survey suggests Italian men have lost the art of picking up women, including foreign tourists, at beach resorts or in bars and pavement cafés. Death of the gigolo ran one headline.

And yet, beneath all the gloom and self-pity, many Italian men still believe they were born to run the world and to be admired, simply because their mothers tell them so. While, more Italian women are making careers and scoring belated victories for feminism, they as mammas still dote on their male offspring, just as they always have.

So, it not surprising that Italy’s mamma’s boys still think they are God’s gift to women. As for feminism, every Italian newsstand is festooned with 2008 calendars depicting naked models and ‘showgirls’. It is invariably the women who ‘make sacrifices’ to ease the strains of daily life, and so while there may be a men’s identiy crisis the world over, the lot of the Italian man is not so bad, after all.

What's More today?

alt text Some Of The Best Travel Destinations In The Country

We always look at the brighter side of view. Why do there is so much underestimation of our own country?... 

alt text Size Up Your Breast

Hello ladies! You seem little worried. Is your small size bothering you? Every problem has its solution... 

alt text Look Slim And Sexy This Winter Yet Stay Warm

The weather has lot to take from you. This may even take your style and health. No matter what, you are... 

alt text Father You Too Need Tips To Look After Your Little Ones

Taking care of children is always termed with women. But lately there has been some changes that have... 

alt text Basic Information Of Eating Onions

There are many misconceptions about eating onions. Onions have multiple roles to play. You use them as... 

alt text Massage Supplies for Great Massages

Many people who ever had a massage will tell about how good it feels. There are certain things that contribute... 

alt text Marijuana–Healthy or Not

Is everyone gripping at you because you have a love of pot? They tell you that it is bad for you and... 

alt text Put Your Best Smile Forward

Scrubbing, bleaching, strips and swishing. We have done it all to get the whitest pearly whites that... 

alt text Feelings reveal love–Love has the testimony to tell what it is

Human beings are rationally lovers but they can not understand how they reveal it.  Actually, love has... 

alt text The Negotiation Process

Negotiation is a very simple art. It involves simple steps that should be followed. Refusal to follow... 

alt text Gout–the facts

The most painful of all types of arthritis is gout (also called gouty arthritis). It is caused by a build... 

alt text Stress The Everyday Illness

Everyone gets stressed once in a while. Whether you had a bad day at work or even a fight with your spouse... 

alt text Affordable student destination

As summer vacations are fast approaching, finals, term papers and 8 am classes will diminish in the air.... 

alt text Procedure of plucking your eyebrows

Before you start the procedure of plucking your eyebrows it is important to moisturize them to decrease... 

alt text Plan your travel

The most important factor to be considered when you plan your travel itinerary is comfort. Some of them... 

Bottom