Mafia Wives and Goomattas— Behind Closed Doors

Every mob wife -- except supposedly for the wife of now-deceased Joe "Piney" Armone, formerly of the Gambino crime family --- eventually has to deal with the “goomatta” issue.

"Whether pronounced “goomah,” “goomar” or “goomatta,” the word is the Americanized corruption of the Italian word comare, which means “mistress” or “girlfriend.” According to the glossary in The Sopranos: A Family History, ”No self-respecting wiseguy is without one,”" reports the Crime Library on truTV.com.

"How a mob wife reacts when she learns of her husband’s goomatta is usually determined by the wife’s age. The younger wives tend to lash out and demand their husband’s fidelity, but in time these women learn that the goomatta is a fact of mob life. To keep the goodies—the house, the cars, the furs, the jewelry, etc.—the mob wife has to put up with the mistress.

"The flashy young girlfriend is a necessary accessory for a man of honor, like a Lexus or a Rolex. Having a woman on the side is a symbol of the man’s success and power. It says to the world that, not only is he potent enough to keep two women satisfied, he clearly rules the roost and doesn’t have to worry about retaliation from the woman he married."

Read the rest of the article, MARRIED TO THE MOB: MAFIA WIVES AND MISTRESSES — Behind Closed Doors — Crime Library on truTV.com

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