08 Mar
International Women’s Day in Italy
Today we celebrate the International Women’s Day, also called somewhat improperly the “Women’s Day”. Around all the urban legends about his birth, we can clearly see an important meaning: the desire to grant women rights and equal opportunities, removing them from the fear of prevarication and the shadow of sexism that exists even in the most progressive contexts.
In Italy this day is experienced as a moment of joy and reflection, so much so that it is talked about a lot in newspapers, on radio and on TV, but also on the street and among the people, throughout the day. We wish to women a loto of love (who often celebrate with each other) and give them special flowers: mimosas.
Why exactly mimosas? After the Second World War we lived in severe economic hardship, but there was no reason to give up giving a beautiful flower to women on this day. The mimosas seemed perfect: there were plenty of them, cheap, scented and above all worthy of an important story: the partisans, in fact, used to give mimosas to the relays during the Resistance. This beautiful tradition has therefore remained until today and only in Italy.
Mimosa – Pablo Neruda
“Andavo a San Jeronimo
verso il porto
quasi addormentato
quando dall’inverno
una montagna
di luce gialla,
una torre fiorita
spuntò sulla strada e tutto
si riempì di profumo.
Era una mimosa”.
“I used to go to San Jeronimo
towards the port
almost asleep
when from winter
a mountain
of yellow light,
a flowery tower
popped up on the street and all
filled with perfume.
It was a mimosa ”.
Greetings to all women, mountains of this world and light of the arid winters.