Th e Hollywood treatment of the mafi a has largely been centred on male roles.
Women existed, if at all, as sexy decoration, dutiful wives, very occasionally as
reluctant accomplices, rarely as rebels. Th ey seldom participated in the actual
organization and development of the criminal business. Ombretta Ingrasc ì ’s pathbreaking
study engages the reader in a far more complex perspective. Her
fascinating account shows how women succeeded in breaking the ‘glass ceiling’
even in a traditional criminal organization such as the Italian mafi a. Th is is bound
to raise eyebrows. It shows that the mafi a and ‘its’ women have managed both to
build on their traditional values (the so-called ‘code of honour’, the misogynistic
commitment to ‘family values’) while at the same time adapting to major social
and cultural changes.