Well, of course I have an opinion on the Amanda Knox saga - I have an opinion on EVERYTHING, and this is a big one. Having lived in Italy, with an Italian husband, for over four years now, I felt some connection with this story. I have watched it unfold, as have most of us I think, slightly ashamed of my own prurience and yet still reading the stories, plus their sidebars. Right from the beginning I thought it damning that there was so much emphasis being placed on Amanda Knox's reported 'promiscuity' and drinking and drug-taking (as in, she liked getting stoned with her boyfriend.). I thought she didn't have a hope of getting off in an Italian court with such a profile and as it happened, she didn't. Eventually, it seems that the case fell apart at the seams and she and Raffaele - her then 'boyfriend', although they had only reportedly been together for a couple of weeks - were released.
It looked like a witch trial with additional trial by media and it felt all wrong. Jurors are not sequestered here so they were free to read all the intimate details, and form their own opinions, on Amanda Knox's life before it even got to trial,. There was from the beginning very little evidence to support the case. It seems that the fact that she 'behaved oddly' when Meredith Kercher was discovered was a major point against her. This of course is not real evidence, it is a 'gut feeling' - which works fine in a detective story where the 'gut feeling' is felt by the hero and ultimately leads to the catching of the bad guy. But this cannot work in a real-life court of law. The language used in the court of appeal was just horrific. She was accused of being given over to 'lust, narcotic substances and the consumption of alcohol'. Oh dear. In which case, 90% of the students in the UK are carrying out the same wild and terrifying behaviour.
Apart from all the legal aspects - there are some good articles about Giuliano Mignini and his own issues in knowing which side of the law he should be on - it gives a great insight into the hypocrisy of Italian society with regard to women. On the one hand, at ANY GIVEN MOMENT, I can point you in the direction of prostitutes standing by the roadside looking for business. These are main roads, one of which runs past the Sky TV HQ, outside which there are often young, scarily scantily-clad girls touting for trade. I have driven along these main trunk roads at rush hour when the famous Roman traffic permanently threatens to grind to a halt with my two young boys in the car and had the arses of said 'mignotte', hookers, grinding in my direction in their underwear. In broad daylight and nose-to-tail traffic. Alemanno, the Roman mayor, came to victory a couple of years ago and promised a 'zero tolerance' policy on the prostitutes and for several months, my husband and I didn't argue about the state of 'it' driving into town because, amazingly, it turns out that if you threaten to send a letter home about your kerb crawling and send the police in to move them on on a regular basis, it actually nips the problem in the bud. My husband's attitude is much the same as most Italians - you can moan all you like but there's nothing you can do about it. (This attitude, by the way, applies to almost everything unpleasant about Italian life). They are almost all back now, however, and just as young and just as brazen as ever they were. Seems the police have better things to do with their time these days.
I very rarely watch Italian TV either as, again, it invariably ends up in an argument. There are scantily-clad women on everywhere, often as not with an older, or at least fully-dressed, male companion. Our version of 'You've Been Framed'? Girl in a bikini top accompanied by a bloke who does stunts on a bike, in jeans and t-shirt, I may add. Our 'Live at the Apollo' equivalent? Dolly-bird, with her breasts overflowing her dress, skirt up to here, accompanied by two blokes who are, of course, fully dressed. The women, even when successful comediennes in their own right, are more often than not used for their body and beauty than for their comedic timing, as a foil for the men. Women are, in the vast majority of cases, included for their ornamental value.
Amanda Knox was held accountable for her 'promiscuous behaviour', the utterly scandalous detail that she had a 'sex toy in her wash-bag' and had her own condoms. To me, it sounds perfectly reasonable and actually, she sounds like a sensible girl sorting out her own pleasures and precautions. The Italian media and legal system took this as a sign that she was a bad sort and somehow as evidence that this is what led to her raping, torturing and killing her room-mate. Italian women who are not showing their breasts on TV or standing with all on view by the side of the road (and actually, most of the goods on view are imported into Italy) are still far from emancipated. It is rare to see groups of girls in bars, out for a night just to have fun together. Groups of boys, yes; couples, yes; but rarely will you see the common sight in the UK of a gaggle of girls laughing raucously without a man by their side. There may be a couple of girls, who will have an ice-cream or cup of coffee together, but then they head home. I believe it was a misunderstanding of the more emancipated American culture that drew many of the male, 'buon famiglie', members of the legal system into the conclusions they did.
I have a young, pretty, petite friend who is a lawyer doing further study. She has told me that a male colleague took her to one side and advised her not to wear her shirts buttoned up so tight as she would get a better showing from the judge. Another young girl who works in my hairdresser and happens to be Anglo-Italian has told me she wants to go to work in the UK when she qualifies as 'they don't judge your work by how pretty you are'. Luckily for me, my husband is utterly egalitarian in his gender views, but even he doesn't see how difficult Italian culture can be for a modern young woman taking for granted her right to have fun and enjoy life - be it sex, alcohol or the odd 'marijuana cigarette'. But then, what surprises can there be with a person such as Silvio Berlusconi and his vile, casual sexism in charge of the country?
We have an Italian friend, a record producer who has lived and worked in London for many years. He has digital Italian TV. He tells us, 'if I want to have my mind broadened or be spoken to on my level, I watch the BBC. If I want tits and arse, I watch Italian TV'. Amanda Knox, young, pretty, emancipated Amanda Knox, didn't stand a chance.
Rachael Wilkinson
Via Vincenzo Federici No. 10
Monterotondo (Roma)
00015
Italia
+39 348 3450724 (Mob)
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