Economic Life in Italy
As a young woman, you know that life is not all fun and games and there comes a time in every young woman’s life where she needs to step up to the plate and enter into the “real world” of finding a job. We know that finding a job in your twenties in the United States may seem like a difficult and long process, but I am afraid to say that finding work abroad in Rome may prove to be even more challenging. This article is not meant to scare you, but to warn you of what to expect upon your arrival to Rome and to prepare you for the living environment that you will be experiencing. Many arguments can be made as to why exactly finding a job is difficult in Rome, but I am going to highlight two main explanations deducted from research and personal notes as to why we here at _______,com believe that young women may have difficulty finding work in Rome. Do not get too discouraged however! There are signs that the Italian economy is on the upswing and there is in fact, light at the end of the tunnel.
The role of women in 19th Century Rome
Analyzing the history of life for women in Nineteenth Century Rome seems irrelevant when assessing life for Roman women in modern times, but surprisingly there are many societal norms that have carried through to today which have dramatic effects on everyday life for women. One of these areas of life impacted most dramatically is the work environment. Women in the Nineteenth Century were “visualized in a traditionally private setting, the home” (Moretti, 2014, p. 4) and thus restricted to domesticated roles in the household. This historical concept of gender roles is still seen in today’s work environment in Rome. This domesticated role of women, which was a societal norm in the past, is still apparent today and explains why women are currently struggling to find jobs in Rome. In the nineteenth century Italy, women and men were viewed as having strict, separate roles when it came to “men’s work” and “women’s work”. Moretti (2014) explains how women, due to their maternal love had bias opinions and therefore were restricted from engaging in anything outside of the home. This meant that women were viewed as domesticated, nurturing humans whose main job was to tend to the house and family. Though this concept seems old, it has impacted the work environment for women today. A reason as to why these gender roles remain in today’s society can be explained by Silverman’s (1966) concept of ‘new ethnography’, which views “culture as a system of implicit rules, learned and shared by the members of a society and used by them in perceiving the objective world” (p.899). The “implicit rules”, which were learned long ago are still prevalent today in the way that men hold far more jobs than women do. It was established in the Nineteenth Century that women were restricted to domesticated roles in the household and that perception of women is still seen today and is accepted by many. “Individuals’ perceptions are, in many ways, and to some degree, influenced by the culture or group with which they identify.” (Vincent-Marrelli, 1997, p. 81) Vincent-Marrelli does a good job at explaining why this perception of women is influenced by Roman culture since these gender roles were established years ago throughout Roman and Italian culture. As a woman entering a brand new culture, these differing gender roles will seem extremely foreign to you coming from the United States where women and men share more equality in their daily lives.
Blame the economy!
Another reason women may have a hard time finding work in Rome may be because of the economic state of Italy. Locke (1995) explains Italy as the “sick man of Europe, because it suffers from just about every conceivable problem…” (p. ix) Since Italy is known as a country going through hard economic times, it is understandable that finding work as either a man or a woman is difficult. More specifically, there is “strong protection for those in permanent employment, and very little protection for those in temporary employment. These rules severely restrict opportunities for labour-market entrants.” (Anxo et al., 2007, p.3) This means that women and children, the main “labour-market entrants” are the ones most affected by this dilemma. Since jobs are occupied by men, and have been since the Nineteenth Century, it makes sense as to why women are having issues entering the workforce with there being little protection of temporary employment. So as a woman just arriving to Rome, temporary work may be a struggle to find at first, even more so than in the United States. It is important to be aware of this and to not get too discouraged from this cultural difference.
What to expect
After you arrive in Rome, take the necessary two to three days to settle in and explore the beautiful streets of your new home. As you do, you may notice most of the street vendors and restaurant staff heckling you to buy their products and enter their cafes are not only quite aggressive, but are mostly all men. This is something that we here at _____ have been interested in researching and observing and have made this one of our main focuses for the past two months.
"There are six restaurants that line the piazza near the Pantheon. Men stand outside of each restaurant, dressed in similar waiter attire, and advertise their menus to tourists walking by. We see no women waiting tables and no women standing outside of the restaurants luring people in. The men speak loudly and directly towards tourists walking by, often raising their menus in the air and making claims about how their food and prices are better than the competing restaurant next to them. Two blonde American girls walk past the tall waiter with black hair and he says the all too familiar, ‘Ciao bella, special pricing for you pretty girls’ and holds out his hand to them. The girls look uncomfortable as he steps close to them, only about two feet away from their faces" (January 13, 2015).
From observing scenarios like this, it has become apparent to us that in Rome, men mainly dominate the tourism business including restaurants, cafes, street vendors, and cab drivers. Not only do men dominate Italy’s main business industry, but also by analyzing men’s nonverbal communication, specifically in this scene with the restaurant workers, we notice that the separation of gender differences is very apparent. The way the waiter gestures towards the girls with his hand, the tone he uses when calling them “bella” and “pretty girls”, and the way he gets physically closer to the girls than he did with previous tourists who were men all reinforce the belief that women are treated differently in Italy compared to the women in the United States. This difference in culture may stem from historical norms of the maternal woman and also from the economic state of Italy. Either way, nonverbal communication can be used as hard evidence for making the claim that women in Roman culture are treated differently than men not only when trying to find work, but in everyday life. You will undoubtedly take notice to this as well, and it is important to not be alarmed or offended, but instead accept it as unique speech code in this different culture. According to Gerry Philipsen, “Speech codes theory posits a way to interpret or explain observed communicative conduct by reference to situated codes of meaning and value” (2005, p. 56). In this instance, the way Italian men gesture towards women and the way they say “ciao bella” or use other flattering terms are specific speech codes of how men treat women in Italy. These characteristics are distinct to this certain culture in Rome and it is important to recognize this.
Hope for the future
In today’s modern Rome, women have not reached full status of equality with men in the workplace nor in other aspects of everyday life. Whether this be because of preexisting gender roles dating back to the Nineteenth Century or the Italian economy, young, prospective women looking for jobs in Rome may have a more difficult time finding jobs than men. Yet, there is hope for a brighter future, as there is evidence of more women slowly breaking into the world of work.
After assessing these factors, it may seem like there is little hope for women who want to find work in Rome, but there is in fact a small light at the end of the tunnel. Since the economy is now in a better place than it was in the 1970’s and 1980’s, there is a slow increase in the number of women becoming entrepreneurs. According to Blim (2001), “Women… have pursued successful entrepreneurial activities in both commerce and industry.” (p. 260) The fact that women are starting their own businesses, despite the obstacles of old gender roles and the Italian economy sheds some light for prospective women hoping to engage in Italy’s workforce.
Here at _____.com we have tried to seek out these women entrepreneurs in order to see if our research about a hopeful future for women proved true in what we were personally experiencing. Here is just one of our observations taken near the Spanish Steps in the heart of a shopping district.
"We noticed a man shopping for a watch. He wandered around the store peering into the glass cases enclosing bright gold and silver watches. A tall, sleek looking woman, dressed in a navy pencil skirt and fitted navy coat approached the man, gesturing towards the case and asked him something in Italian. The man nodded and the woman opened the case with a key that was attached to a band of other keys. Besides the woman in the pencil skirt, there was one other worker in the watch shop and that staff was also a woman, dressed in similar business attire. As we exited the watch shop, we glanced up at the storefront window that had the name ‘Adalina’ elaborately carved into a large block of wood that hung above the doorway” (January 26, 2015).
This is an example of two women working professionally in Rome, a place that seems to be dominated by men. Not only were women the only workers at this time in this particular store, but also the store name ‘Adalina’ may be evidence that a woman could own the store. ‘Adalina’ is not the only possible evidence that we have run into of women entrepreneurship, but in fact there are quite a few other shops, mainly shops that sell women’s products like jewelry, fashion, shoes, and cosmetics that are mainly run by women. Though these stores are a little out of the way of the busy touristy places, they are still present and are proof that women do and can work in the city of Rome.
The purpose of this column is to not discourage you or scare you off from seeking careers in Rome. The purpose of this column is to bring to light the realities of what life is truly like in Rome and to prepare you for the differences of culture and lifestyle. As an American woman, it may be hard to picture a life where women may not seem to be treated as equal counterparts to men in the work environment, but in many places including Rome, it is the reality for many women. It is important to recognize that cultural difference like this can impact your professional life and that is why we here at ______.com advise you to familiarize yourself with other local women who do have jobs and seek advice about obtaining work. Being an American, you have a different set of skills to offer, one of those being proficiency of the English language, which could in fact be very useful in many aspects of Roman business. It is important to take into account the diverse culture of Rome when planning for future work. Hopefully our advice helps and we wish you luck in all of your business endeavors!
As a young woman, you know that life is not all fun and games and there comes a time in every young woman’s life where she needs to step up to the plate and enter into the “real world” of finding a job. We know that finding a job in your twenties in the United States may seem like a difficult and long process, but I am afraid to say that finding work abroad in Rome may prove to be even more challenging. This article is not meant to scare you, but to warn you of what to expect upon your arrival to Rome and to prepare you for the living environment that you will be experiencing. Many arguments can be made as to why exactly finding a job is difficult in Rome, but I am going to highlight two main explanations deducted from research and personal notes as to why we here at _______,com believe that young women may have difficulty finding work in Rome. Do not get too discouraged however! There are signs that the Italian economy is on the upswing and there is in fact, light at the end of the tunnel.
The role of women in 19th Century Rome
Analyzing the history of life for women in Nineteenth Century Rome seems irrelevant when assessing life for Roman women in modern times, but surprisingly there are many societal norms that have carried through to today which have dramatic effects on everyday life for women. One of these areas of life impacted most dramatically is the work environment. Women in the Nineteenth Century were “visualized in a traditionally private setting, the home” (Moretti, 2014, p. 4) and thus restricted to domesticated roles in the household. This historical concept of gender roles is still seen in today’s work environment in Rome. This domesticated role of women, which was a societal norm in the past, is still apparent today and explains why women are currently struggling to find jobs in Rome. In the nineteenth century Italy, women and men were viewed as having strict, separate roles when it came to “men’s work” and “women’s work”. Moretti (2014) explains how women, due to their maternal love had bias opinions and therefore were restricted from engaging in anything outside of the home. This meant that women were viewed as domesticated, nurturing humans whose main job was to tend to the house and family. Though this concept seems old, it has impacted the work environment for women today. A reason as to why these gender roles remain in today’s society can be explained by Silverman’s (1966) concept of ‘new ethnography’, which views “culture as a system of implicit rules, learned and shared by the members of a society and used by them in perceiving the objective world” (p.899). The “implicit rules”, which were learned long ago are still prevalent today in the way that men hold far more jobs than women do. It was established in the Nineteenth Century that women were restricted to domesticated roles in the household and that perception of women is still seen today and is accepted by many. “Individuals’ perceptions are, in many ways, and to some degree, influenced by the culture or group with which they identify.” (Vincent-Marrelli, 1997, p. 81) Vincent-Marrelli does a good job at explaining why this perception of women is influenced by Roman culture since these gender roles were established years ago throughout Roman and Italian culture. As a woman entering a brand new culture, these differing gender roles will seem extremely foreign to you coming from the United States where women and men share more equality in their daily lives.
Blame the economy!
Another reason women may have a hard time finding work in Rome may be because of the economic state of Italy. Locke (1995) explains Italy as the “sick man of Europe, because it suffers from just about every conceivable problem…” (p. ix) Since Italy is known as a country going through hard economic times, it is understandable that finding work as either a man or a woman is difficult. More specifically, there is “strong protection for those in permanent employment, and very little protection for those in temporary employment. These rules severely restrict opportunities for labour-market entrants.” (Anxo et al., 2007, p.3) This means that women and children, the main “labour-market entrants” are the ones most affected by this dilemma. Since jobs are occupied by men, and have been since the Nineteenth Century, it makes sense as to why women are having issues entering the workforce with there being little protection of temporary employment. So as a woman just arriving to Rome, temporary work may be a struggle to find at first, even more so than in the United States. It is important to be aware of this and to not get too discouraged from this cultural difference.
What to expect
After you arrive in Rome, take the necessary two to three days to settle in and explore the beautiful streets of your new home. As you do, you may notice most of the street vendors and restaurant staff heckling you to buy their products and enter their cafes are not only quite aggressive, but are mostly all men. This is something that we here at _____ have been interested in researching and observing and have made this one of our main focuses for the past two months.
"There are six restaurants that line the piazza near the Pantheon. Men stand outside of each restaurant, dressed in similar waiter attire, and advertise their menus to tourists walking by. We see no women waiting tables and no women standing outside of the restaurants luring people in. The men speak loudly and directly towards tourists walking by, often raising their menus in the air and making claims about how their food and prices are better than the competing restaurant next to them. Two blonde American girls walk past the tall waiter with black hair and he says the all too familiar, ‘Ciao bella, special pricing for you pretty girls’ and holds out his hand to them. The girls look uncomfortable as he steps close to them, only about two feet away from their faces" (January 13, 2015).
From observing scenarios like this, it has become apparent to us that in Rome, men mainly dominate the tourism business including restaurants, cafes, street vendors, and cab drivers. Not only do men dominate Italy’s main business industry, but also by analyzing men’s nonverbal communication, specifically in this scene with the restaurant workers, we notice that the separation of gender differences is very apparent. The way the waiter gestures towards the girls with his hand, the tone he uses when calling them “bella” and “pretty girls”, and the way he gets physically closer to the girls than he did with previous tourists who were men all reinforce the belief that women are treated differently in Italy compared to the women in the United States. This difference in culture may stem from historical norms of the maternal woman and also from the economic state of Italy. Either way, nonverbal communication can be used as hard evidence for making the claim that women in Roman culture are treated differently than men not only when trying to find work, but in everyday life. You will undoubtedly take notice to this as well, and it is important to not be alarmed or offended, but instead accept it as unique speech code in this different culture. According to Gerry Philipsen, “Speech codes theory posits a way to interpret or explain observed communicative conduct by reference to situated codes of meaning and value” (2005, p. 56). In this instance, the way Italian men gesture towards women and the way they say “ciao bella” or use other flattering terms are specific speech codes of how men treat women in Italy. These characteristics are distinct to this certain culture in Rome and it is important to recognize this.
Hope for the future
In today’s modern Rome, women have not reached full status of equality with men in the workplace nor in other aspects of everyday life. Whether this be because of preexisting gender roles dating back to the Nineteenth Century or the Italian economy, young, prospective women looking for jobs in Rome may have a more difficult time finding jobs than men. Yet, there is hope for a brighter future, as there is evidence of more women slowly breaking into the world of work.
After assessing these factors, it may seem like there is little hope for women who want to find work in Rome, but there is in fact a small light at the end of the tunnel. Since the economy is now in a better place than it was in the 1970’s and 1980’s, there is a slow increase in the number of women becoming entrepreneurs. According to Blim (2001), “Women… have pursued successful entrepreneurial activities in both commerce and industry.” (p. 260) The fact that women are starting their own businesses, despite the obstacles of old gender roles and the Italian economy sheds some light for prospective women hoping to engage in Italy’s workforce.
Here at _____.com we have tried to seek out these women entrepreneurs in order to see if our research about a hopeful future for women proved true in what we were personally experiencing. Here is just one of our observations taken near the Spanish Steps in the heart of a shopping district.
"We noticed a man shopping for a watch. He wandered around the store peering into the glass cases enclosing bright gold and silver watches. A tall, sleek looking woman, dressed in a navy pencil skirt and fitted navy coat approached the man, gesturing towards the case and asked him something in Italian. The man nodded and the woman opened the case with a key that was attached to a band of other keys. Besides the woman in the pencil skirt, there was one other worker in the watch shop and that staff was also a woman, dressed in similar business attire. As we exited the watch shop, we glanced up at the storefront window that had the name ‘Adalina’ elaborately carved into a large block of wood that hung above the doorway” (January 26, 2015).
This is an example of two women working professionally in Rome, a place that seems to be dominated by men. Not only were women the only workers at this time in this particular store, but also the store name ‘Adalina’ may be evidence that a woman could own the store. ‘Adalina’ is not the only possible evidence that we have run into of women entrepreneurship, but in fact there are quite a few other shops, mainly shops that sell women’s products like jewelry, fashion, shoes, and cosmetics that are mainly run by women. Though these stores are a little out of the way of the busy touristy places, they are still present and are proof that women do and can work in the city of Rome.
The purpose of this column is to not discourage you or scare you off from seeking careers in Rome. The purpose of this column is to bring to light the realities of what life is truly like in Rome and to prepare you for the differences of culture and lifestyle. As an American woman, it may be hard to picture a life where women may not seem to be treated as equal counterparts to men in the work environment, but in many places including Rome, it is the reality for many women. It is important to recognize that cultural difference like this can impact your professional life and that is why we here at ______.com advise you to familiarize yourself with other local women who do have jobs and seek advice about obtaining work. Being an American, you have a different set of skills to offer, one of those being proficiency of the English language, which could in fact be very useful in many aspects of Roman business. It is important to take into account the diverse culture of Rome when planning for future work. Hopefully our advice helps and we wish you luck in all of your business endeavors!