As An Italian American, Is There Pressure From Your Family To Be Married & Settled?

Ahh...yes, flashes of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," come flying into my head when it comes to thinking of marriage or long term relationships. In previous posts, I write about whether its important or not to be with someone of Italian descent and more importantly is it expected?

We all know as Italian Americans we are exposed to many ethnicities and cultures, so the likeliness of meeting someone who isn't Italian is... I would say pretty high. So, when you reach the ripe old age of lets say from 25-30, do you feel the pressure to meet the "one" and settle down? In the traditional Italian families, I would say, yes. Now a days, even in Italy there is more favoritism for careers, and independence as opposed to being settled with 4 children. (for example.)

I think the modern Italians have really taken the "modern" independence to a whole new level, which is also factored into the low birth rates currently in Italy. But again, I will add that for the Italian Americans who come from traditional families, it is kind of expected to be married and settled by a certain (?) age. Just from my experience with friends of family and family, let's say very close Sicilian friends, all of their children were married off and settled by no later than 30. So, yes..I do think the expectation and factor is there.

I'm lucky because as much as my parents are traditional, you would think this upbringing or time capsule mentality would be present, but actually its the opposite. I never felt that pressure, but if there's any pressure..it might be my own. You know, I think in all Italian families our parents or family members want us to be happy and settled. I guess it makes everyone feel better and more importantly its just who we are, so I will embrace the pressures and expectations with positive energy and hope that we can all be happy with who we really love. After all, we Italians are the experts on love. ;)

(Photo-MyBigFatGreekWedding)

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November 7th, A Day To Honor Italian Americans, Who Served In World War II.

November 7th, marks a very important day for veterans of the Italian-American community. On November 7, 2000 Congress passed the Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act. This act was passed to help discuss the injustices brought to the Italian-Americans who served in the second world war. Congress felt that the story on how the Italian-American's freedoms and civil liberties were violated could help educate newer generations about civil liberties and how freedom and liberty should never be taken for granted.

This topic is especially sensitive for me as well, World War II is where my grandfather lost his life. It wasn't until recently that the Italian government actually notified my father of the supposed resting place of my grandfather. At first he was claimed MIA, then years later there was documentation that he was killed in action somewhere in Northern Italy. Having a family member in World War II, leaves us very interested in knowing about the freedoms and violations that occurred to many especially the Italians, who at that point were also fighting for freedom. Anyway, its truly an interesting topic and here is the link to the actual act passed by Congress.

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/wviacla.php Tweet

Condolences to The Family of Dr. Kenneth Ciongoli, President of National Italian American Foundation.

With deepest sympathy for the family of Dr. Kenneth Ciongoli, President of the National Italian American Foundation. I would like to express my heart felt condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Ciongoli.

Official statement from the NIAF.

http://niaf.org/news/index.asp?id=620 Tweet

How To Find An Italian American Girl or Guy For Dating!

Ah....love...its what we live for and strive to find. As Italians its our God given talent to love better than other cultures. (Just my opinion) In doing so, its imperative that we find the right person to love. If you recall in my past blog we discussed the background factor and whether or not it was important to be with someone who is Italian or of Italian descent.

From personal experience, I've always found that dating someone who has an understanding of my background really does make a difference. Of course, I'm not saying its impossible to also fall in love with someone of a different culture, but I find it (for me) as someone who is totally imbibed in my culture to be with someone of Italian descent. The bottom line is this, I'm American, a culture in itself, but I am also Italian..so being with someone who understands all of it --counts

Anyhow, enough of my rant, the purpose of why I was writing this was because I wanted to share an online dating site, where you can find men and women of Italian descent looking for the same connection. Online dating works for some people, actually its worked well for a lot of people I know,up to the point of some of my very close friends having met and married their online matches. Its an interesting concept. Also, whats great about this site is that they also have other culture sites for Greeks and many others.

So, if you're in the market for love and want to start connecting with other Italian Americans, Italians--go to http://www.italianosingles.com/ Hey you never know.

11/22/08- I was informed of another site, check out http://www.italiansinglesconnection.com Tweet