Rome: Some 100,000 women joined a protest
against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, accusing him
of "offending" women, the daily La Repubblica reported on Wednesday.
The women signed a petition launched by the left-leaning
paper -- a relentless chronicler of sex scandals that have
been dogging Berlusconi for months -- after he said on a
television broadcast that Opposition Deputy Rosy Bindy was
"prettier than she is intelligent."
The remark, made in a telephone call to the show where
Bindy, 58, was a guest, was perceived as an insult aimed at
contrasting her with a bevy of right-wing ministers and
deputies who entered politics after careers as television
showgirls.
"This man offends us, stop him," reads the petition for
"women`s dignity" that drew more than 98,000 signatures,
according to La Repubblica.
Many women sent in messages, such as "woman offended by a
disappointing leader," "we are not at your disposal," and
"this insult comes from a man who is more honest than
intelligent."
Former Left-wing Cabinet minister Giovanna Melandri said
of the billionaire Prime Minister, reputedly self-conscious
about his below-average height, that he is "taller than he is
polite."
"By constantly putting the accent on the age of a woman,
on her physical looks and not on her human qualities, there`s
a danger of going back to the time before feminism," said
signatory Lidia Ravera, a prominent writer.
Bureau Report
