Italian-American Culture When most people hear the term Italian-American, they begin to think of the Godfather, Rocky, the mafia, or even Fonzie from Happy Days. But, Italian-America is much more than the characters portrayed in films. Italian-American culture is a culture that has evolved through history despite discrimination and hardships. While they faced prejudice at first, they are now seen as a monumental contributor to the immensely diverse culture of the United States of America known as the great American melting pot.
Introduction: History of Italian-American Culture
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, a surge of immigrants came from around the world. One of the countries of origin of immigrants was Italy. …show more content…
According to Cinotto (2013), they created their own values and cultural traditions while only selectively keeping traditions they had known before. This can be seen through cuisine as it has been noted that foods that are seen as culturally Italian now, such as spaghetti and meatballs, may not have been ethnically based but instead ethnically created as women, the caretakers of the family, used what they had available to them (Cinotto, 2013). Cinotto (2013) also notes that this new creativity in cuisine rose from the parent’s disgust due to what their children were being fed in public …show more content…
Most families stayed together, even beyond immediate family (Cinotto, 2013). Even different families within the culture would stay near each other and create little communities, such as the city Little Italy (Barkan, 1999). Italian families were encouraged to stay around other Italian families, even to the point of only marrying within the Italian culture for a period of time after the mass immigration (Barkan, 1999). The men maintained the traditional role as head of household while the women maintained their traditional role of taking care of the home (Barkan, 1999). The women would also sometimes work outside of the home or the family would run their own business (Barkan, 1999). Overall, families stayed
Introduction: History of Italian-American Culture
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, a surge of immigrants came from around the world. One of the countries of origin of immigrants was Italy. …show more content…
According to Cinotto (2013), they created their own values and cultural traditions while only selectively keeping traditions they had known before. This can be seen through cuisine as it has been noted that foods that are seen as culturally Italian now, such as spaghetti and meatballs, may not have been ethnically based but instead ethnically created as women, the caretakers of the family, used what they had available to them (Cinotto, 2013). Cinotto (2013) also notes that this new creativity in cuisine rose from the parent’s disgust due to what their children were being fed in public …show more content…
Most families stayed together, even beyond immediate family (Cinotto, 2013). Even different families within the culture would stay near each other and create little communities, such as the city Little Italy (Barkan, 1999). Italian families were encouraged to stay around other Italian families, even to the point of only marrying within the Italian culture for a period of time after the mass immigration (Barkan, 1999). The men maintained the traditional role as head of household while the women maintained their traditional role of taking care of the home (Barkan, 1999). The women would also sometimes work outside of the home or the family would run their own business (Barkan, 1999). Overall, families stayed