MAYBE THIS time, even Silvio Berlusconi has gone too far. Inspired by the slogan, “If not now, when”, hundreds of thousands of Italian women are expected to take to the streets of more than 150 towns and cities tomorrow to protest against “the role model for relations between men and women, a model displayed by one of the most important state figures in the land”.
It hardly requires Einstein to conclude that the “state figure” in question is Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, ever more embroiled in the “Rubygate” sex scandal investigation. Intellectuals, trade unionists, media figures and feminist activists are expected to attend protests which have been organised by the web-driven “If-Not-Now-When” movement.
“[Italian] women’s rich and varied experience of life has been wiped out by the repeated, indecent and brazen representation of women as a naked object of sexual exchange, an image offered by newspapers, television and advertising . . . This widely promoted culture induces younger generations to believe that there are easy earnings and exciting rewards to be had by offering their beauty and intelligence to the powerful, people who repay them with public resources and roles . . .”
Although various opposition politicians are expected to attend the demonstrations, organisers have asked demonstrators to carry white flags rather than party political or trade union flags.
Meanwhile, the political climate continued hot and heavy yesterday with a small group of Mr Berlusconi’s supporters protesting against a “politicised judiciary” outside Milan’s courthouse. That protest followed yet another vehement self-defence from Mr Berlusconi, who in an interview with daily Il Foglio accused the judges of adopting “Communist East Germany” methods of investigation against him.
Not surprisingly, the prime minister’s words prompted bitter criticism from opposition figures. Senior Democratic Party (PD) figure Dario Franceschini commented: “In any other country and at any other time in Italian history, a party leader would have understood that the time had come to withdraw, for the good of his country, his coalition or even his party. But that won’t happen here because Berlusconi always puts his own interests in front of those of the country.”
Will the women get him to change his mind?