(Io sono il padrone della mia
casa, ma chi commanda ... mia moglie!)
(I am the
master of my household, but it is my wife who commands!) The past decades have seen many changes in the Italian family
of Windsor.
The first generation of the Italian family tended to be
more patriarchal. The father was the sole breadwinner of
the family. He had authority and it was respected by all
the members of the family. He was busy working, trying
to support his family. The mother was the centre of the
domestic life. Her duties inside the house included:
raising the children, homemaking, caring and serving the
family. The families
were large and they always gathered during
holiday celebrations or special feasts. The culture was
transmitted primarily by the family. The Italian family
had a very active community life; it was a strong family.
Later, in the following decades, the Italian family life
began to change. Many women started working outside the
home. Italian culture is transmitted
primarily
by
the family, and as a consequence family size started to decrease.
The first generation prefers to speak Italian at home. The
second generation, mainly born in Canada, prefers to speak
English, but they have good knowledge of Italian or a regional
dialect. The parents try to promote the
Italian environment from movies, records,
clothes, friends etc. The parents always insisted that their
children obtain a good
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