What it looks like
Half a backside.
Anatomically, nothing particularly complicated. We have two. At least here, we all start with the same opportunities.
What it really is
One of the great units of measurement of Italian society.
A chiappa can be high, low, firm, enhanced, trained, strategically photographed, accidentally revealed or deliberately placed where you were supposed to notice it.
Above all, it can become metaphorical. That is when it starts having a career.
In Italy you can work your ass off for twenty years. Or you can simply have culo: be lucky. Two entirely different career paths.
The first requires sacrifice, consistency and dedication. The second requires culo.
How it works
The Italian chiappa is everywhere: at the beach, at the gym, on Instagram.
It is in flesh-coloured leggings that, from a distance, make you think for three seconds that something extremely serious has happened.
It is in an advertisement for a product that, officially, sells taps.
But its true greatness emerges in the language.
Che culo! Incredible luck.
Fatti il culo. Work hard.
Mi sono fatto il culo. I worked my ass off.
Mi sono rotto il culo. I worked even harder and would like somebody to notice.
Ha una faccia da culo. Somehow the backside has migrated to the face.
Parla col culo pieno. Now we have reached the summit.
Here culo no longer means anatomy, luck or hard work. It means social class.
The unwritten rule
Not all chiappe are equal.
There is the one you build, the one you inherit, the one you train and the one you photograph.
And then there is that rare category of people who seem to have been born with their ass covered: protected from consequences.
They are extremely dangerous.
They are usually the ones explaining to everyone else how important it is to take risks.
The key
A foreigner might conclude that Italians have an excessively casual relationship with the backside.
They have missed the point.
In Italy, culo is a complete philosophical system.
It can describe beauty, luck, hard work, arrogance, protection, risk and social position.
With just two cheeks, we built half a vocabulary.
And with the right one, sometimes, a career too.
