Consider the ways in which your theoretical understanding has directly or indirectly influenced your practical work.

Femminist theory, class, family values and the modern identity applied to All roads lead to nowhere, no roads lead to anywhere In writing this piece I had some very clear themes in my mind. I wanted to write a story which primarily reflected on family values and how they differ according to socio-economic background. I wanted to set the story in modern day society consumerist society in these times of economic unrest, exploring the influence which capitalism and the postmodern work environment has on individual identities. I set it in Italy, my home country, recognising that the corrupt, highly consumerist and economically unstable environment visible in contemporary Italy sets an ideal scene for the exploration of these topics. I initially set out to write a story that functioned as a critique of the Italian penitentiary system, focusing on two imprisoned men (Aldo and Lamberto) from opposite cultural backgrounds, building a friendship under their claustrophobic circumstances. I then decided to set the story around the experiences of the women of these two mens lives, primarily Laura, the daughter of upper class Lamberto and girlfriend of lower class Aldo. The prison itself turned out to function more on a symbolic level, parallel to the deeper psychological and social constraints suffered by the characters outside the prison. As dictated by the character of Aldo in a conversation with his brother; We're never free Gigi; nor out there, nor in here...1 In this essay I take a closer look at how sociological theories surrounding the identity and culture of individual/family in todays post-modern consumer society, with a particular focus on feminist and post-feminist theory, learnt on the course have influenced the content of my prose piece. THE MODERN FAMILY / THE WOMAN IN THE FAMILY / THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE FAMILY/ ITALIAN FAMILY CULTURE The modern family Engel's patriarchal family [socio-economic structure] The family was seen as prison in the 60s/70s2 Family as prison, economic attachments, women always been seen as trapped in family, independence promoted in modern day society, less obligations felt too though as the woman can be economically independent so fathers more prone to abandoning LAURA'S FAMILY held together in a more traditional sense it seems, more customary of the upper class? Still aldo is aware a. Aldo and Lamberto both lead to prison in trying to act on their patriarchal position b. Sometimes Laura wondered what it was which had brought her parents together, but she based on her experience she suspected Maria to never have been much of a profound woman. Resounding more a patriarchal structure, still necessary because of upper class? Nuclear family model c. Traditional values Aldos famiy? According to Maria, all that Laura needed to know on her behalf, was that to her Lamberto was nothing more than a lying, thieving traitor and that she would be filing for divorce as soon as possible. Mother-son relationship My little boy, Pro-longed family due to unemployment3

d. PRIDE even in the working class You know I only do what's best! Maria replied in a defensive tone. No one wants their children to go round telling everyone at school about their twenty year old brother in prison! Just like no one wants to have their fugitive father be the talk of the neighbourhood... Woman figure in the family Il padrone sono io ma a casa commanda mia moglie - equal but different4 Family's selfishness, exclusion5 In the era of individualisation the family is elective, but it still privileged as an institution, functions as a form of governmentality INDIVIDUALISATION GOVERNMENTALITY 1 2 3 4 5 Story Neck Italy Today p.297 Italy Today Barret + Ma 221

Banfield Amoral family, lack of civic consciousness 6 Family generally changing structure, single mother more acceptable, death of the patriarchal? EG Rosa fulfilling both roles, and really is because Gigi and Aldo still treating her like a mother; Women more independent but then also prone more to being abbandoned, less repsonsability felt Postmodernity, decline of social commitment7 (eg Maria) Decline of social commitment on both sides, Not a social structure but the selfishness inflicted by individualisation also does not keep us tied? Co-living with neo liberal family values and liberal choice8 2. Love in society No Laura, you do not love Aldo. Love is unconditional, you love someone beyond their actions. How do you think one feels after dedicating an entire lifetime to providing for your children in the most honest way possible, without the help of a husband, to then have your son get arrested not once, but being a small time drug dealer? I'll tell you this, I'm as happy as your mother would be if that were you. But family is what means the most to me, and I know it means the most to Aldo to. Aldo has disappointed me twice as much as he's disappointed you. Now you tell me, is it you who loves him? Or is it me, who visits him every week, who is ready to welcome him back into my home even after months of abandonment? Liquid Love- Zygmunt Bauman Another idea dismissed; class Aldo echoes a very traditional idea of society in the introductory letter to the story which he writes to Laura; I was born into this life and you into yours is his justification for his criminal activity. He recognises himself as what has been referred to in sociological writings concerned with contemporary masculinity, as a product of post-industrial masculinity9, a man who due to lack of the availability of working class labour has resorted to criminal activity with both economic as well as as social incentives. Aldo represents as well as himself believes in the more traditional conception of class ORIGINAL WRITING OF CLASS ( E.P. Thompson and other cultural theorist writers class is a historical relation embodied in people and in real context10) More contemporary social theory denounces this conception of society, stating that we live in a postmodern society, where class no longer defines who were are as an individual, that we are living in an era of individualisation, where we are given the opportunity to create or own narratives independent of our social status. Consumerism is seen as a great enabler of this new formation of identities11. T The character of Laura in my story can be seen as constantly struggling with this notion, refusing to identify herself with her own class but at the same time being drawn to that which she clearly senses as different Personally my beliefs echo strongly echoes Beck's notion that market insecurities in fact strengthens class society12 PaulWillis: Anti-school mentality, working class lads recognising there are no equal opportunities under capitalism and now matter how hard they work their chances of success remain far lower than those of middle class pupils13 -Capitalism seems to have reached a stage, especially in italy, where there is no way of climbing up, you can either fall. The market is weak, there are no opportunities Laura may not realise, What you do rather than who you are... choices of lifestyle > class 14 but only her aspiring for university embodies her class she knows that she preconditioned for success15; STUDYING HARD GIRL? Middle class girl preconditioned for success Laura is constructing her identity in the exclusive method recognised by Derrida16 (her mother - consumer) 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Edward Banfield Bauman 1998 McRobbie Mothers and Fathers Campbell 1993 EP Thompson 1982 Beck Beck 1998 Learning to Labour Paul willis Barret + Mac Can Do Girl Laclau (1990) Derrida

She is the Can-Do girl but rejecting consumerism, or believes she is 3. Lauras character, breaking and following conventions of the can-do girl a. Rebelling against her mothers consumerism; feminist? And her mother is a post-femminist b. Upper class girls meeting lower class men, the rebels, but still deeply embedded into her expectations eg she grows out of it , into a responsible woman, prioritises herself (although she says its her dad) over Aldo What's wrong with you? You're always so busy studying... You're a beautiful young woman, why are you never out enjoying yourself? Individual compelled to make the right choice, to carry through her life plans 17 =>Reflexive modernisation 18 4. The mother figure single mother/ consumer mother a. Rosa single mother, strong, cant cry in front of her kids as she need compensate for both father and mother figure Rosa waved her hands in front of her eyes, trying to dry them out as much as possible. She didn't like to appear vulnerable in front of the children; she didn't feel she could afford to, as she had to fulfil both parental roles.

5.

Govermentality (focault psychology) a. Breaking class conventions, superifical?

6.

Consumerism, consumer identity, commodities security/affirmation , consumerist deliberation

a. Maria as the ultimate consumer Laura had come to realise that her mother's superficiality functioned
to compensate for the desolate existence which her life really consisted of A second thought infuriated her; how could her mother have been so self-indulgent as to not even have once sat down her father to question if everything was alright? Everything was alright to her as long as her credit card was still working; by now she would have realised that it was probably time to snap her card in half. b. Materialism even in the lower classes: Except your brother, who mysteriously struts in a new item of clothing on an almost weekly basis, Bet you can't wait to be free again, hey? Check this out; a taste of freedom, Gigi pulled up his sleeve to reveal a shining golden watch c. Laura had found a twisted sense of peace in being deprived of most of her material possessions. 7. The network society But why not! Do you know how many people dream of being as lucky as you? Besides everyone knows the only way of getting anywhere these days in Italy is through connections, connections which your father has. You know, if it weren't for him you would probably not have been able to get a place in this school in the first place. We live in the era of networking sweetheart, being out there gets you further than being in here! in lecturing Laura she drew a shoebox out of one of the many bags, opening it to reveal a pair of expensive designer heals. -Education (having a degree/status/lable)

Can't say I'm surprised to hear that. After all it takes a cheating man to get that much money in life in the first place, right? Laura's irresponsiveness fuelled Rosa's words with even more venom.

17 Mc Robbie Post-femminism and Popular Culture 18 Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens & Scott Lash 1994