308. R-E-S-P-E-C-T by un'Americana a Venezia

La mancanza di rispetto spesso è  l’origine dell’aggressività e della violenza, anche domestica. In proposito, lo scrittore Richard Bach ha precisato che “…il legame che unisce la tua vera famiglia non è quello del sangue, ma quello del rispetto e della gioia per le reciproche vite…” Roberto Rapaccini

Remember the 1967 hit "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, the one in which she sings and spells the title?  That song was written and first performed by Otis Redding.  Aretha toggled the lyric like this, "All I'm asking for is a little respect when you get home."  Otis had already asked for the same respect whenever he came home from work.  This post was inspired, unfortunately, by criminal events in Italy this month.  For some reason, probably a very good one, that old hit came to mind.  At least three murders of females, crimes which are being called feminicidio, feminicide, have just occurred in rapid succession, one of them committed by a jealous husband with a gun while the other two involved young single women whose killers were not necessarily their partners.  On top of that, a man on a scooter in Milan hurled acid at a pregnant stranger a few days ago; she has no clue as to his identity and, thanks to her reflexes, was not harmed badly.  Last month another Italian woman was very badly injured with acid thanks to a disgruntled ex, as was an Italian man.  This kind of violence is mind-boggling.  Last year 124 women were murdered in Italy while many more were battered and assaulted.  Feminicide has become shockingly commonplace elsewhere, as in Central America, El Salvador's record being the worst.  We tend to associate violence against women with poverty and misogynistic cultures, considering the unpunished crimes committed in India, Pakistan, China, the Middle East and parts of Africa where being a female means hardship.  But how do we account for this kind of crime in Italy?  How do we explain the murders of women in a modern country where images of goddesses and the Madonna still adorn the cities, in a once mother-worshipping culture where women used to be social bulwarks?  Apart from the effects of the ongoing recession, there is another kind of poverty on the rise.  I'll call it moral decay.  The thing that is causing this decay has been gnawing away at the personal liberty and security of all.  The Italians used to call the individual la persona umana, the human person, a term which had a sacred ring.  Its disappearance from the nation's daily vernacular may be part of the reason why more and more women are falling victim to violence inside Italy.  People need to be reminded of their own worth, so that they can respect that of others.  Aretha Franklin says in her autobiography:  "It was the need of a nation, the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman, the mother, the fireman, the teacher--everyone wanted respect . . . The song took on monumental significance.  It became the 'Respect' women expected from men and men expected from women, the inherent right of all human beings."  Amen, Sister.  Literally, the word respect means "to look back on" as with esteem or courtesy.  Do all Italians feel properly respected as citizens with a constitutional right to work?  Do they feel that the laws and the sentences handed down for crimes against women are in the society's best interests?  Is there cultural support for a show of feeling and compassion in men, and for self-reliance and economic independence among women?  Which human qualities are being projected for youth by adults?  Honesty?  Diplomacy?  Respect?  Or the exact opposite?  Think of the damage certain TV shows and movies have done, and how irresponsible some role models are.  Meanwhile, emotions such as jealousy and possessiveness dominate far too many "love relationships," the conflictual kind that risks ending in tragedy.  Insecure men would be as happy with robots as they are with women, while too many insecure women ruin themselves trying to improve their partners.  Finally, far too many people have used the term investire, invest, as a way to describe the time and energy dedicated to love partners.  Some people exist in an ego-driven soap opera, it would seem.  Others are strangers to empathy and act without limits when it comes to their worst emotions.  Woe to the woman, or the man, who is trapped with a pathologically selfish individual.  A person can die, waiting in vain, for just a little respect.     UN’AMERICANA A VENEZIA

Aretha Franklin - Respect (Original Version) – clikka qui