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Silvio is back….

April 16th, 2008 by MP (Athens, Greece) · 4 Comments

Silvio Berlusconi promised to give at least four women cabinet posts. If he fulfils his promises, remains to be seen. Until then, ” il Cavaliere ” didn’t lose time to make comments on the newly Spanish cabinet. « Too pink», he characterized the new government of Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. “Zapatero has formed a government that is too pink, something which we cannot do in Italy because there is a prevalence of men in politics and it isn’t easy to find women who are qualified for government.” “Now he’s asked for it,” Mr Berlusconi said of his Spanish counterpart: “He’ll have problems leading them”. His comments caused outrage in Spain. Magdalena Alvarez, Spain’s Infrastructure Minister, described Berlusconi’s remarks as “absolutely inappropriate” and an “offence to citizens. Many of us women would never belong to a government headed by Mr Berlusconi,’ she declared. Mr Zapatero stunned the international scene by appointing a young woman – who is seven months pregnant – as Defence Minister along with another 8 women in senior government posts.

Tags: Gender · Politics · Society · women

4 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Barbara // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:43 pm

    And this is just the day 1….
    I can’t image what he will be able to do and say in the next 5 years. J’ai honte! Mais malheuresement la majorité des Italiens est d’accord avec lui. We are really in a bad shape

  • 2 CP (Roma, Italia) // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    I hate pink colour, it doesn’t represent women I think.
    Anyway he says (Silvio) that we don’t have enough women in politic, this is why he couldn’t find women as ministers.
    I think that Zapatero is a genius, not because I am a woman a feminist. In Italy a very high percentage of women that have children don’t work. I think that encouraging women in politics is not only a question of civilisation, it’s a question of helping economy. If you put a pregnat woman into the government you give a great example, you encourage women to not give up working if they have children.

  • 3 AH (London, UK) // Apr 16, 2008 at 10:46 pm

    Oh boy, I wish I had something serious to say about Berlusconi, but I just can’t believe he’s true…

    Je suis d’accord about the appointment of a pregnant women to the new government in Spain, but I can imagine the questions being asked if the new Minister of Defense is due to take maternity leave soon. It was my initial reaction in fact: why appoint someone just as they’re going to have to take maybe 6 month’s off for a new born child?

    But that’s exactly the point: Zapatero (and I like CP’s choice of the word ‘genius’ - it does seem to be a very clever though admittedly risky political move…) is making such a strong point that Carme Cachon is the best person - not the best woman, not the best man, but the best person - for the job. It sends a very strong message regarding pregnancy and motherhood - that there should be equal opportunities and equal value given to a woman both before and after pregnancy. That it should be possible for a woman to continue her career along exactly the same trajectory if she wishes (and I accept that some women don’t always want to, or find that their goals change of course), with the exact same chances of success, regardless of the necessary allowances to be made for her role as a mother.

  • 4 Luciano Rispoli // Apr 25, 2008 at 3:54 am

    BONJOUR A TOUTES
    DEUX COMMENTAIRES :
    UNE FEMME QUI VIENT D ACCOUCHER PEUT CONTINUER A TRAVAILLER SI SON ENVIRONNEMENT S ORGANISE. JE SUPPOSE QUE LE MINISTERE DE LA DEFENSE N AURA PAS TROP DE MAL A LUI FOURNIR LES PERSONNES NECESAIRES POUR AIDER A LA GARDE DE L ENFANT ET ELLE PRENDRA PEUT ETRE LE TEMPS QU IL FAUT POUR LUI DONNER LE SEIN. CEPENDANT, PERSONNE NE PARLE DU MARI DE CETTE DAME QUI PEUT AUSSI PRENDRE UN CONGE DE SON TRAVAIL POUR S OCCUPER DU BEBE PENDANT QUE MAMAN EST AU MINISTERE.VOUS ETES ENFAIT ASSEZ SEXISTES DANS VOS COMMENTAIRES… :)
    2/ LE ROSE N EST PAS LA COULEUR DES FEMME. C EST LA COULEUR DU SOCIALISME ET JE CROIS QUE C EST CELA SURTOUT QUI GENE LE PRESIDENT DU CONSEIL ITALIEN… IL Y A UNE SUR REACTION DU COTE ESPAGNOL MAIS SI VOUS LISEZ BIEN PERSONNE NE PARLE D UNE INJURE FAITE AU FEMMES MAIS D UNE INJURE FAITE AU PEUPLE QUI A DEMOCRATIQUEMENT FAIT LE CHOIX DU ROSE… LA AUSSI MESDAMES, JE CROIS QUE VOUS ETES UN PEU SEXISTES…
    JE VOUS EMBASSE

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