Dating & Courtship in Italy
Meeting an Italian Girl
Italians usually do not like to pair up and date like in some other European countries and the United States. In Italy young singles like going out in good-sized mixed groups of their peers and do their socializing while together. Unmarried Italians enjoy this social approach more and feel less under pressure to act in an contrived manner. It also becomes more difficult for anyone to step out of line. Newcomers can get to know each other in a natural context and observe the others' behavior with out having to penetrate a myriad of facades. It also gives the parents a sense of security knowing their son or daughter is not alone or with a stranger.
The innocence and reputation of Italian girls has always been carefully protected, and it was in the best interests of a man that bad words not get around about him.
In the past, when a young single man and woman would want to meet privately, an older matronly woman would often chaperone the couple wherever they went. In the evenings she would hold a small lit candle between the two interested parties. The Italian expression reggere il moccolo means just that: to hold a candle up in the air. Today it has come to represent an ironic term where someone is cut off from all the action and as a result feels quite useless.
