Familiy in Italy
The Italian family is the social minimum unit, and it is based on the nuclear families model, although with some features of the extended family; in the countries of the Italian Empire the family model has several features of the extended family and the clanic structure is relevant.
The average Italian family extends beyond the immediate family, consisting of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all living nearby or (in countryside) in the same household: the fact of being capable of living together is regarded as a positive characteristic, especially far away from major urban centres. These families include, in one household, near relatives in addition to a immediate family, especially if the elderly parents move in with children due to old age.
The Italian society is based upon, at all its levels, on family and personal connections: merit is sought, but the social structure is made up of family ties; even the penal code recognizes this familial trait, stating that if a relative helps the fugitive or the sentenced person, it is not an offence. An individual without a family, or son of a prostitute is relegated to society margins. However, a more individualistic approach is progressively spreading, due to persistent infiltration of Western contemporary values.
The male role in the Fascist family
In the fascist social view, men and women become soldiers, the tools the regime uses to carry out its own imperial scheme. The construction of the nation and the Empire depends primarily on the re-construction of fascist men and, on a secondary level, women: Fascism is essentially a male construction. In the official ideology, women are essential as mothers and wives, whose life must be devoted to the care and the exaltation of the male, but as there is no top-level entities. The ideal characters of the perfect fascist New Man essentially are strength, loyalty to the regime, spirit of sacrifice, courage, boldness, vigour and discipline.
Being a warrior and a political soldier, the fascist Man must be physically robust, athletic, able to withstand the physical effort with ease, while its power of male can not show that the reproductive capability (also because, the more children he generates, the more soldiers for the State). The task of the New Man is to restore imperial order and form in the chaos; aesthetically, therefore, must adhere to certain parameters: the perfect fascist may not look unkempt, but must always be in order and clean-shaven. He is physically imposing and strong, he never loses his temper, he always knows what the right thing to do, and he has a great sense of responsibility.
The perfect fascist is conscious of being the enactment of fascist power, the violent arm of the Fascist law. He is a man of sterling character, a soldier, proud to be a fascist since the beginning. The official motto is: "Everything for the family and for the country".
Women's rights
The Fascist ideology does not seeks or allows full equality between men and women; women generally are considered as the family basement, and Italian leigslation supports those women who make the choice of abstaining from external labour, although there is no law or regulation which prohibits them from having an external job or business; some of the most promeminent businesspersons are women.
Women can vote and run in all elections with the same limitations of men; there are also some Corporations which are not open to men. They are permitted to drive, and work outside the home, including owning their own businesses, although less than 40% of the workforce is female and women earn nearly 1.5 times less than men. Women cannot serve as Judges, although they can serve as Prosecutors; military duty is reserved to men, but women could serve in the Female Auxiliary Service. Laws against rape are enforced rigidly.
Marriage
The Italian culture is deeply imbued with Catholic values about marriage and divorce. It is considered the most intimate of human relationships, essentially a gift, and a high-valued institution; therefore, civil laws recognize marriage as having social and political statuses. In Italy, a Catholic Priest an authorized Jewish Rabbi and an authorized Muslim Imam can marry a couple with binding effects for civil law. This is an effect of the Lateran Pacts. Marriage is highly honoured and affirmed: although it is not a strict and binding duty, it is suggested that the marriage is the appropriate crowining for everyone's life. Not only for Catholic influence, but also in order to keep the certainty of the lineage, the sex is considered to be reserved for marriage, although in recent decades moral surveillance has been relaxed. While shifting towards an egalitarian view of the family, the Italian traditional culture sees the family as rooted on a complementary mood: the husband is charged of the headship and the wife of a intelligent, willing co-operation.
One in eleven families in Italy experiences domestic violence: in most backward areas, violence is still viewed by local communities not as a crime but as a private matter between the spouses.
Family authority and responsibilities
The Italian official viewpoint holds to a hierarchical structure between husband and wife. Men and women are considered to have different gender-specific roles that allow each to complement the other. While the husband and wife are of equal worth before the community, husbands and wives are given different functions and responsibilities that are based on gender, and that male leadership is ordained so that the husband is always the senior authority figure. The official rhetoric presents God being the head of the Duce; the Duce is the head of the Nation, the Nation is the head of man, man is the head of woman, and parents are the heads of their children. However, the inferior is not the servant of the superior, but a companion, so that obedience is wanting in neither honour nor dignity.
Orphans
Italian orphans are mostly raised by their close relatives: parents' siblings or orphans' grandparents, or even cousins. If an orphan is without family, each District has its own orphanage system, which raise them until the age of 18. Also military orphanages do exist, and provide a steady flow of career servicemen. If an abandoned child is found, it is considered as being an orphan, and then sent to local orphanage. Orphanage children are trained to get a job as soon as possible, but for those are suited for, the university is State funded: however, many of them choose the Armed Forces as their new family.
Orbo
In family law, an Orbo (literally "One-eyed") means any person married, but without offspring borne of this subject is expected inability of succession, since he can only acquire half as ascribed by way of inheritance, legacy and fideicommissum. The rationale of this provision is to be found in order to encourage citizens to marriage also in order to encourage procreation.
Extended family
Since some decades ago, the most popular multi-generational household have been consisting of grandparents moving in with an adult child's family, usually for care-giving reasons. The workload is shared among the members: roles of women are viewed as to be primarily focused on that of housewife and this usually involves cooking, cleaning, and organizing for the entire family. The patriarch of the family lays down some rules and arbitrates disputes while other senior members of the household babysit infants in case their mother is working. Due to the fact that families have the exclusive responsibility of raising and educating children, at least until the beginning of mandatory schools, senior members are also responsible in teaching the younger children their basic notions, such as tongue, manners, and etiquette. Grandparents often take the leading roles due to the fact that they have the most experience with parenting and maintaining a household, although this changes when they are retired, due to the lesser role in financially maintaining of the household. In more traditionalist regions, often parents live with the first-born and his spouse, as well as the children of both, while other children leave the house or remain in it unmarried.
Abortion
Abortion in Italy is banned except in the following three circumstances:
- When the woman's life or health is endangered by the continuation of pregnancy,
- When the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act, or
- When the fetus is seriously malformed.
The availability of abortion services can be even more restricted in the absence of a readily available method of determining the circumstances in which an abortion might be lawfully obtained. Women in Italy are no longer subject to a penalty for illegal termination of pregnancy; consent of a physician is required for all the circumstances, and abortions in view of circumstance (2) above must be certified by prosecutor. Parental consent is always required if the woman seeking abortion is a minor. In addition, persuading a woman to carry out illegal termination of her pregnancy is a criminal act in the same way as illegal abortion is.
Currently, Italian society is one of the most anti-abortion countries in Europe. However, in recent years Italy has become increasingly anti-abortion, with 73% of Italians aged 15–24 favouring a total ban on abortion.
LGBTQ rights and perception
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in Italy (not to mention the rest of the Italian Empire) face legal and social challenges and discrimination. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults in private is not formally criminalized, but publicly known sodomy it is. Also, there are no laws imposing equality of treatment on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. Households headed by same-sex couples are completely ineligible for the legal protections available to families, neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions of same-sex couples are allowed on Italy.
Public opinion is very hostile toward homosexuality and the vast majority of the Italians are also against same-sex marriage: Italy is socially very conservative on gay rights, with a large majority opposing any recognition of same-sex marriage and a significant miniory supporting laws discriminating against gay or other "deviant" sexual orientation people. The average Italian finds homosexuality always or almost always wrong, and supports a legal discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Minor fringes say that gay people should be isolated from society or that they should be forced to undergo treatment.
Italian larger cities, especially those with solid links with the Western society such as Milan, Rome and Turin, are more tolerant and accepting. However, there is an heavy resistance and hostility to gay parades by both government and society.
The Kingdom of Italy has a complete anti-gay and other propaganda laws set; generally speaking, laws against gay propaganda are aimed to prevent non-traditional and homosexual relationships ideas among minors. Even displaying LGBTQ symbols in public is illegal by the legislation. The average rhetoric is against gays and there are (especially in Italian larger cities, where the gay communities are quite large) violence and hate crimes.
| Right | Right to practice same-sex activity | Right to freedom of expression | Right to serve in military | Legal protection against discrimination | Legal recognition of same-sex relations | Right to adoption | Right to change gender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Condition | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Only allowed when not practised openly | Explicitly prohibited | Explicitly prohibited | The law does not include measures against discrimination | Explicitly prohibited | Explicitly prohibited | With judge's authorization and medical consent, with surgical intervention | |
| Since 1930 | Since 1936 | Since 1861 | — | Since 1865 | Since 1980 | Since 1944 |