100,000 women say they're offended by Berlusconi
More than 100,000 women have signed a petition saying they are offended by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- an initiative launched by a newspaper after the premier made a sexist remark to an opposition politician.
Berlusconi, 73, made the jab during a call in to a late-night talk show Oct. 7 that featured, among other guests, Rosy Bindi, a 58-year-old former minister who dresses conservatively, wears glasses and has short, gray hair.
"You are always more beautiful than intelligent," Berlusconi told her. She snapped back: "I'm not one of the women at your disposal."
Berlusconi's remark sparked outrage, and prompted three prominent Italian intellectuals to draft a petition stating that Berlusconi uses women's bodies for his political ends, denigrating women and democracy in the process.
"This man offends us. Stop him," reads the petition, which has been signed by well-known Italian artists, musicians, television personalities as well as ordinary Italians.
The left-leaning La Repubblica daily, which has been at the forefront of exposing accusations of impropriety against Berlusconi over his relations with young women and been sued by the premier as a result, is organizing the petition and reported Thursday that more than 100,000 women had signed.
Many women sent their photos into the newspaper's Web site, with the words "offended by the premier" or "not at your disposal" or similar statements written on them.
Berlusconi's scandal began earlier this year when his wife announced she was divorcing him, citing his presence at the birthday party of an 18-year-old model and his decision to run former showgirls as candidates for European Parliament elections.
意大利總理西爾維奧·貝盧斯科尼日前遭十萬(wàn)多名女性聯(lián)名聲討,這項(xiàng)簽名活動(dòng)由一家報(bào)紙發(fā)起,主要針對(duì)總理先生此前對(duì)一名反對(duì)派政壇人物發(fā)表的性別歧視言論。
在10月7日的一檔深夜脫口秀節(jié)目中,73歲的貝盧斯科尼在接受電話連線采訪時(shí)對(duì)在座的前部長(zhǎng)、58歲的羅西•賓迪出言不遜。羅西穿著保守,戴著眼鏡,頭發(fā)呈灰色,留著短發(fā)。
貝盧斯科尼評(píng)價(jià)她說(shuō):“你的美貌總是比你的智慧更勝一籌。” 羅西隨即反駁說(shuō):“我可不是你能玩弄的女人。”
貝盧斯科尼的這番言論隨即引發(fā)了民眾的極大憤慨,意大利三位著名知識(shí)分子還專門起草了一份陳情書,痛斥貝盧斯科尼利用女性的身體達(dá)到他的政治目的,并指責(zé)他在此過(guò)程中詆毀了女性和民主。
這份陳情書上寫道:“這個(gè)男人冒犯了我們。快阻止他。”陳情書上匯集了意大利著名藝術(shù)家、音樂(lè)家、電視名人以及普通民眾的簽名。
意大利左翼報(bào)《共和報(bào)》正在組織這一活動(dòng),并于本周四報(bào)道稱目前已有10萬(wàn)多名女性在陳情書上簽名?!豆埠蛨?bào)》總是率先披露貝盧斯科尼和年輕女性的性丑聞,并因此被貝盧斯科尼起訴。
很多女性將自己的照片發(fā)到該報(bào)的網(wǎng)站上,照片上還寫著“被總理冒犯”、“不被你玩弄”或其他相似的話語(yǔ)。
貝盧斯科尼的性丑聞開始于今年早些時(shí)候,那時(shí)他的妻子宣布要與他離婚。據(jù)稱,貝盧斯科尼出現(xiàn)在一名18歲模特的生日派對(duì)上,還決定挑選歌舞女郎作為歐洲議會(huì)選舉的候選人。