Are the Romani misogynistic?
Exploring the stereotype of the woman-hating Romani man
“They cheat.”
“They beat their wives.”
“They sell their daughters.”
“They are rapists.”
When Martina scandalized her white middle-class peers by falling in love with Pepi, a Romani man, and starting a relationship with him, she received a lot of warnings based on the above stereotypes.
Outsiders are convinced that the Romani see women as inferior to men. Roma culture is often described as patriarchal: The man is in charge. The woman cooks, cleans, and bears children.
Is any of this true?
“The woman gives the signal.”
It was funny when a friend asked us what was the moment we realized we had feelings for each other. We gave different answers.
For Martina, this happened during a conversation. In this conversation, Pepi confessed his feelings and Martina confessed hers.
For Pepi, it happened a couple of weeks earlier when we were sitting next to each other, and Pepi put his arm around Martina’s waist for a few moments. Martina didn’t …
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