Please don't pinch me!
 

My husband and I are taking our beautiful 18 year old daughter and her gorgeous 17 year old girlfriend to Italy as a graduation present. People keep telling us the boys will follow and pinch them. One woman told us when she chaperoned a group of girls she had them carry pencils to poke the boys and keep them away. Is this really necessary? What would be the proper response to "overly" friendly young men?

It's certainly possible. but I can't imagine two such "gorgeous" young women haven;t figured out how to rid themselves of unwanted male attention by this point. (Most girls figure it out by about 14.)

They're not about to be assaulted, just get some admiring glances, perhaps an appreciative remark. And while a pinch is certainly possible, the young men in Italy aren't sex maniacs. Oh - and if the young women dress appropriately (no short shorts or very bare tops in towns) they're likely to have a lot fewer problems.

My gorgeous 18-year-old daughter traveled with me to Italy in 2006 and attracted a good deal of attention. None of it involved pinching. All of it was entirely good-natured and even flattering. We ended up having some very interesting conversations with some charming young men.

I think it's unlikely they'll be pinched. Some years ago when I went to school in Italy I was only pinched once and when I turned around a man who had to be 80 years old was standing there smiling. (All I could think was "if you're even able to remember why you'd want to pinch me at your age, God bless you"!) An American classmate of mine wore loose shorts one day out in public and some boys came from behind and put their hands up her shorts, but that was the most "forward" thing I heard of happening to any of my classmates. If the young women dress with relative modesty, I don't see any problems, and they don't have to be in ankle-length skirts and long-sleeved shirts to achieve relative modesty.

Buon Viaggio,
BC

The response is 'basta' the same meaning as enough in english.

My now wife traveled with her sister about twenty years ago. Yes, there were one or two pinches reported. I think that NYtraveler's and StCirq's advise should help. Italy is all about things that are gorgeous and beautiful.

I think the pinching in Italy phenom dates back years ago, the young men now days know perfectly well that pinching a stranger's behind is not kosher. They are not fools and it is not innocent.

One of the nice things about growing old is that you get to pinch the girls and they don;t call the cops.

((I))

You have watched too many old fashioned Italians movies..The Days of La Dolce Vita or Three Coins of the Fountains where the girls were Pinched by the naughty Boys, are over..

The new generation does not have the need to Pinch Americans girls anymore.

You can sleep peaceful at night now..

BTW, I travel with my teenager Grandaughter quite often,she is quite atractive, however she was never Pinched!!:):)

So, Bookchick, it could have been Ira who pinched you. (yes, I know the ages are wrong, I'm just saying...)

-Granddaughter-

For pinching you have to go to Vietnam. Children will unexpectedly pinch the nipples of both men and women, and then they will giggle uncontrollably.

And that's not the only part of the body that they will pinch.

Ira, if some strange old codger pinched me I wouldn't call the cops but I sure would smack him upside his head.

LOL, Nikki, I'm sure Ira would have chatted me up instead of pinching me!! SeaUrchin, I wouldn't have dare hit the guy, he would have fallen over.

And Ira, I'm not quite sure how to respond to your remark. There's definitely a time and place to call the cops, and having an older man pinch your bottom seems a tad "overkill" for the situation.

BC

Yes, BC, your old guy was old school when it was ok to pinch ladies in Italy, I guess, glad you didn't smack him over, lol. Before I first visited Italy in the early 80's or late 70's I was told that I would be pinched. When I was there, men would walk by me and buzz me and approach me but never pinched that I can remember. One of the ladies who was traveling with us and her husband kept pointing her bottom at men to get them to pinch her but it never happened, I guess they liked the element of surprise and not the invitation.

The last time I went to Italy, I was 35, and I was pinched! It was on the bus 64? (I believe) in Rome. I turned around and couldn't figure out who it was. My husband was standing right there with me. I guess I would rather that than the person in Montepulciano that tried to pick my pocket.

Thanks for all the feedback. My daughter is feeling better about the issue now (dad is still nervous). I'll be sure to report back!

I grew up in Rome,and when I was a teenager, I had my share of "Che Bambola"(What a Doll), whistlings, Bella etc.., but I dont remember being pinched.

Pony, I wouldn't worry about her being pinched but maybe being sweet talked into something when you are not watching, lol.

If she is 18 then she is an adult, don't worry and enjoy your trip, you have had 18 years to raise her and give her your values.