In Italy, large families have long been the norm. Many people used to live with their extended family and countless children. This was often out of necessity, but it was also a great help for women, who could count on other women to assist them with their daily tasks.
Italy now has one of the world’s lowest birth rates. As families are becoming smaller, female communities are moving online. Groups are to proliferatesich stark verbreiten; hier: stetig anwachsenproliferating, offering every sort of support, ranging from parentingElternschaft; hier: Kindererziehungparenting to web design.
One of the most active Facebook groups in my area is Palermo Mamme (Palermo mum (UK) (informal)MamaMums), where women exchange advice about to juggle sth. and sth. | to juggleetw. mit etw. in Einklang bringen | jonglierenjuggling childcare and their professional lives. On a national level, there’s “socialgnock — Women to ignite sth.etw. anfachen; hier: in Gang bringenIgnite Relationships”. The group’s 24,000 members network for reasons ranging from finding holiday homes to improving their SEO (search engine optimization)SuchmaschinenoptimierungSEO strategies.
There’s also a lot of psychological support to be found online. When reading women’s complaints about their irritatingnervig, störendirritating husbands, intrusivesich einmischendintrusive mother-in-lawSchwiegermuttermothers-in-law or unbearable managers, it isn’t difficult to imagine other women to nodnickennodding in sympathy. These women don’t know each other in real life, but they feel connected.
The pandemic has to accelerate sth.etw. beschleunigenaccelerated this trend. Even those to be reluctant to do sth.etw. widerstrebend tunreluctant to use technology are now trying it out. According to the “Digital 2020: Global Digital Overview” report, almost four billionMilliarde(n)billion people worldwide use social networks every day, a nine per cent increase compared with 2019. For women, this interconnectivityhier: Vernetztseininterconnectivity offers a great support system: closed communities to grant sb. sth.jmdm. etw. gewähren; hier: bietengrant like-mindedgleichgesinntlike-minded women the freedom to be themselves.
These online communities remind me of women’s parlour (UK)Salonparlours in old aristocratic homes. I saw one recently in the Palazzo Arone di Valentino in Palermo. It was a small room with green fabric wallcoveringStoff-, Textiltapete; auch: Wandbespannungfabric wallcovering, which stood in contrast to the large men’s smoking room. Of course, these aristocratic women didn’t have much of a choice. They would not have been welcome in the men’s smoking room, and feminism was still to come.
Today, however, women gather freely online, form their own networks, support one another and help each other to grow.
