"Keystone of the Patriarchal Family? Indissoluble marriage, masculinity and divorce in Liberal Italy," by Mark Seymour

In this article, Mark Seymour discusses the arguments for and against divorce laws in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Italy. Those who opposed the divorce laws argued that such laws would be harmful to women because it would allow men to abandon their wives more easily. Because it was more difficult for women to remarry than men, their economic situation would have greatly declined as a result of such practices. The predominant Catholic ideology of the region was also very influential in keeping divorce laws from being passed. The Catholic church promoted the idea that divorce laws would "empty marriage of all meaning and lead to a free-for-all" and "free love." On the other side of the debate, authors such as Anna Franchi demonstrated through their writing the horrible plights of women who were forced to remain in unhappy or even abusive marriages. Seymour points out that Italy's failure to initiate divorce laws before the 1970's illustrates the resilience of Italy's patriarchal system. Many Italians feared that passing divorce laws which allowed equality for men and women would lead to emasculation of men and essentially undermine the stability of society.

This article relates to Mary Hartman's chapter "What Men and Women Want" because it demonstrates the fact that many felt that a man's masculine identity would be compromised if they did similar work (because of marriage equality) as women. This article fits under the category of gender because of it's exploration of traditional gender ideals which were threatened by divorce laws in Italy. It also fits under the categories of Law, Church and State, as well as Marriage and Its Dissolution for obvious reasons.