Abstract

My thesis seeks to explore the spatial experiences of second-generation Italian-Canadian women in Montreal in their childhood homes during the 1970s and 1980s to learn about the gendered domestic environments during their childhood and coming-of-age. By conducting photo-elicitation oral history interviews with six second-generation Italian-Canadian women, I seek to explore the spatial layout and material culture of the homes they grew up in and how the home was a space of interaction and negotiation of two cultures. My thesis argues that bella figura is an underlying ideal that contributes to the gendered facets of these homes, an Italian ideal that prioritizes one’s image in the public eye as it relates to decorum. Focusing on the untouchable upstairs living room as a case study, I argue that this space exemplifies this ideal not only through its spatial qualities and material culture but through its maintenance. This thesis explores how maintenance is gender-coded and historically belongs to the separate sphere of the domestic and, therefore, a woman’s responsibility. I explore an intergenerational tension felt by these women in relation to keeping up with these stereotypes and the gendered ideal of bella figura through their perspective of dual cultural identities. I also seek how acculturation and age affect divergent experiences within my sample and how bella figura has lasting impacts on these women as they matured and had families of their own.