RU | EN
Submenu

Fais-Leutskaia O. On the Issue of the Gender Situation in Modern Sicily

Oxana Fais-Leutskaia
N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the RAS
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-2757-2434
E-mail: oxana-fais@yandex.ru

 

  Download  |  Go to Issue #3. 2025

 

ABSTRACT. One of the important characteristics of any society is its historically established gender role “profile”, traditional gender principles of its management and daily existence, conditioned by traditions, specifics of culture and history of society, which are much less likely than its other social characteristics to come into the focus of researchers’ attention. In this article, using the example of a region such as Sicily, a territory of special cultural conservatism and a pole of archaic patriarchy, where the elevated status of men, their dominance in society and the social marginalization of women, rooted in antiquity, remaining unchanged until the 1980s, still occupy stable positions. The author examines in the paradigm of anthropology the historically established and protected gender distribution of roles and responsibilities in local society, which has been poorly covered in science, and also touches upon the problem of women’s attitudes to these established mental and behavioral stereotypes. The use of “live” material and ethnographic empirics makes it possible to more vividly trace the modern fate of traditional gender stereotypes in Sicily, including the process of their transformation into the foundations of local “selfhood”, cultural stability and continuity, factor in resisting destructive innovative trends, protected by the entire community, including women. Due to the limited number of sources and publications on this issue, this study is based on the results of the author’s long-term field research in the region.

 

KEYWORDS: Sicily, androcracy, maschilismo, gender stereotypes, trade sphere, women’s attitude

 

FOR CITATION: Fais-Leutskaia O. On the Issue of the Gender Situation in Modern Sicily. Kunstkamera. 2025. 3 (29): 24–38. (In Russian). DOI: 10.31250/2618-8619-2025-3(29)-24-38

 

* The publication is prepared within the framework of the research plan of O. D. Fais-Leutskaia at the N. N. Miklukho- Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2025-3(29)-24-38
UDC 392+396

 

REFERENCES

  • Baca-Zinn M. Chicano Men and Masculinity. Journal of Ethnic Studies, 1982, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 29–44. (In English).
  • Barcellona P. La modernizzazione del Sud — Dalla Sicilia al Mediterraneo. Catania: CUECM, 2000, 178 р. (In Italian).
  • Barthes R. Pour une psycho-sociologie de l’alimentation contemporaine. Annales. Histoire. Sciences Sociales, 1961, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 977–986. (In French).
  • Basile G. Palermo felicissima…atto secondo. Palermo: Flaccovio, 2007, 221 p. (In Italian).
  • Bellassai S. L’invenzione della virilità. Politica e immaginario maschile nell’Italia contemporanea. Roma: Carocci, 2011, 184 p. (In Italian).
  • Billitteri D. Femina Panormitana, ovvero l’arte del matriarcato occulto. Palermo: Sigma, 2003, 223 p. (In Italian).
  • Carvalho Silva R., Vezzoli M., Menesello V., Meattini M., Sartori R., Minelli A. Everything changes but nothing changes: gender stereotypes in the Italian population. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 2024, vol. 27, pp. 537–545 (In English).
  • Coria G. Profumi di Sicilia. Il libro della cucina siciliana. Catania: Cavallotto, 2006, 672 p. (In Italian). Crainz G. Storia del miracolo italiano: culture, identità, trasformazioni fra anni cinquanta e sessanta. Roma: Donzelli, 2005, 273 р. (In Italian).
  • Cusimano G. Le vie del commercio in Sicilia. Le strade del commercio in Sicilia. Analisi e ricerche sul campo. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2019, pp. 9–14. (In Italian).
  • D’Orsi L. Rovine del passato, rovine del futuro: Nostalgia e immaginari tardo-industriali in Sicilia. L’Uomo Società Tradizione Sviluppo, 2024, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 73–100. (In Italian).
  • Derrida J. Resistenze. Sul concetto di analisi. Napoli: Orthotes, 2014, 116 p. (In Italian).
  • Di Cristina A., Lo Cascio G., Marchetta U. Il sistema dei valori della donna meridionale. Donna e società. Palermo: Circolo Semiologico Siciliano, 1987, pp. 466–479. (In Italian).
  • Dino A. Mutazioni. Etnografia del mondo di Cosa Nostra. Palermo: La Zisa, 2002, 322 p. (In Italian).
  • Duranti A. Prefazione. Parole chiave su linguaggio e cultura. Un lessico per le scienze umane. Sesto San Giovanni: Meltemi, 2018, pp. 9–22. (In Italian).
  • Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020, 264 р. (In English).
  • Ferrarotti F. La vocazione interreligiosa e interculturale del Mediterraneo. Dialoghi Mediterranei, 2020, nо. 42. Available at: http://www.istitutoeuroarabo.it/DM/la-vocazione-interreligiosa-e-interculturale-del- mediterraneo/#more-30562 (accessed: 11.02.2025).
  • Gabaccia D. Migranti di Sicilia. Quarant’anni di ricerca. Perugia: Umbra, 2018, 156 р. (In Italian).
  • Geertz K. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973, 470 p. (In English).
  • Giacomarra M. Il mercato: scambio di merci, scambio de messaggi. Mercati storici siciliani. Palermo: Regione Siciliana, 2007, pp. 75–80. (In Italian).
  • Giallombardo F.  La tavola, l’altare, la strada. Scenari del cibo in Sicilia. Palermo: Sellerio, 2003, 192 p. (In Italian).
  • Ginsburg P.  La società italiana, 1945–2000. Ritratto dell’Italia. Roma; Bari: Laterza, 2001, pp. 117–140. (In Italian).
  • Gros E., Preher G. Introduction. Babel. Litteratures plorielle, 2015, no. 31, pp. 9–16. (In English).
  • Hofstede G. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, 1984, 327 p. (Cross Cultural Research and Methodology). (In English).
  • Hondagneu-Sotelo P. Gendered Transitions: Mexican  Experiences  of  Immigration.  Berkeley:  University of California Press, 1994, 288 p. (In English).
  • Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance. Rowley: Newbury House, 1974, 311 p. (In English).
  • Lo Piparo F. Sicilia isola continentale. Psicoanalisi di una identità. Palermo: Sellerio, 2024, 336 p. (In Italian).
  • Mafai S., Lo Cascio G., Gugino C., Ottaviano Ch., Vittorelli B., Saladino G., Venuti M. Essere donna in Sicilia. Roma: Editori riuniti, 1976, 242 р. (In Italian).
  • Matranga V., Sottile R. La variazione dialettale nello spazio geografico. Lingue e culture in Sicilia. Palermo: CSFLS, 2013, vol. 1, pp. 215–275. (In Italian).
  • Micciché G. Una difficile avanzata. L’emancipazione della donna in Sicilia. Ragusa: CSFR, 2018, 116  p.  (In Italian).
  • Ostuni A., Sacco G., Sacco G., Zizza A. Italian Society and Gender Role Stereotypes. How Stereotypical Beliefs Concerning Males and Females are Still Present in Italian People at the Beginning of the Third Millennium. European Scientific Journal, 2022, vol. 18, no. 16, pp. 1–20. (In English).
  • Pantano C. R. Scenari di un primo femminismo in Sicilia. Ragusa: Operaincerta, 2025, 134 p. (In Italian).
  • Pitrè G. La famiglia, la casa, la vita del Popolo siciliano. Palermo: Il Vespro, 1978, 528 p. (In Italian).
  • Promitzer C., Hermanik K-J., Staudinger E. (Hidden) Minorities: Language and Ethnic Identity Between Central Europe and the Balkans. Münster: LIT Verlag, 2009, 280 p. (In English).
  • Robustelli C. Lingua ed identità di genere. Studi italiani di linguistica teorica ed applicate, 2000, no. 29, pp. 507–527. (In Italian).
  • Romano E. Alla ricerca delle radici. Messina: Armando Siciliano, 1999, 351 p. (In Italian).
  • Serra S. La violenza sessuale. Lotta agli stereotipi sulla vittima e scenario attuale. Roma: Aracne, 2021, 160 p. (In Italian).
  • Tannen D. You Just Don’t Understand. New York: Morrow, 1990, 330 р. (In English).