BERLUSCONI: His capacity to put his foot firmly in mouth
has once again resulted in controversy.
La Stampa, Italy
Of Women, Rape and Old Politicos
"If the final attack by the
old dying age of information and politics were the photos of Hillary Clinton's
wrinkled face (no one would have attempted to demolish a male leader because of
his ugliness), today’s TV screens and news headlines inform us that the new
is represented by the lithe Obama and his Michelle, who isn't just a wife but a
co-protagonist, capable of showing off a pair of charming green gloves without
diminishing her stature."
By Giovanna Zucconi
Translated By Enrico Del Sero
January 26, 2009
Italy
- La Stampa - Original Article (Italian)
[This article was written
in reaction to a comment made last weekend by Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi. On Sunday he suggested that Italian women are so beautiful that they
need military escorts to avoid being raped 
].
Just as an old man tells decrepit
jokes about rape, a young woman talks no less brilliantly about State affairs
and ladies’ hats [Carla Bruni ].
In precisely this moment we have at the center of the media stage masculine
power that is the most parochial and calcified, and true international glamour.
They say that women make the best news (Carla, Michelle, Hillary, Rachida , Maria
[De Filippi ], Veronica,
Tzipi ).
To state this is
to state the obvious. But things may not be as they appear, and it's not a
question of male or female, nor of being in the limelight, nor of some form of
rivalry. Perhaps this is a question of the new and of the ancient, of young and
old. Suddenly, the old (old politics and old policies) seem as old as the
hills. And the new has a certain fluidity, a pliancy, as Carla Bruni would say - very feminine.
In the old days,
in that other world that now seems so stale, roles were well separated. Here was
the power, and beyond were aesthetics and Eros [Greek god of love and
intercourse ].
Women that newspapers spoke of were movie stars, mute wives, repudiated
empresses, assistants: beauty without power, at best at its side, as it was
with Jackie Kennedy. There were a few niche exceptions: some intellectuals, but
intellectuals didn't count (don’t even mention female intellectuals!). The rare
women who did work on the field of real and visible chauvinist power were
"half man-half woman." But let us say it brutally: they were ugly or
had to pretend to be; they were tough to the point of paroxysm. Margaret Thatcher,
Golda Meir, Tina Anselmi , etcetera.
In the old world, even newspapers
had separate roles. Women’s magazines spoke of women, fashion, beauty, glamour
and gossip. All others, vice versa. Today one sees a commitment to politics in
so-called women’s magazines, and there are no manly newscasts or newspapers
without the things of personal lives, frou-frou, gossip, gastronomy and glamour
- in other words, that don't pursue frivolity. One is frequently told that
politics, or at least its representation in the media, has become feminized, in
an attempt to intrude into our private lives and trendy fashions. And
information (whether as a cause or an effect) has become feminized, too. The
new world of information, to use a word that is also new, is transgender.
It cuts across gender, its traditional ways, and its well-established language.
Well then. In doing feminine
things, women are more capable than men. If we perceive as new and youthful
that which is able to slide with ease between public and private, mixing them
and fulfilling different roles simultaneously - well that is a struggle that
women have trained several millennia to undertake. Perhaps this explains why
they seem to be dominating the media landscape.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
If
the final attack by the old dying age of information and politics were the
photographs of Hillary Clinton’s wrinkled face (no one would have attempted to
demolish a male leader because of his ugliness), today’s television screens and
news headlines inform us that the new is represented by the lithe Obama and his
Michelle, who isn't just a wife but a co-protagonist, capable to showing off a
pair of charming green gloves without diminishing her stature.
And
by the Italian model and singer-songwriter who became the presidential first
lady, and who talks of terrorism as easily as of what the best hat would be to
wear for a visit to the Queen of England [Carla Bruni, photo left]. And Israeli
[Foreign Minister] Tzipi Livni, belligerent without feminine embarrassments.
And French [Justice] Minister Rachida Dati, another champion of double living,
motherhood and power. Her return to work just days after giving birth has
reopened the debate on the proper disposition of roles and hard work. And let
us add to these Maria De Filippi, once the young wife of a once-powerful
television host [Maurizio Costanzo ]
who is now so “new,” that she has managed to demolish the last barrier between
Italian television networks, which (allegedly) compete with one another. (As
for Men and Women [one of De Filippi's most successful TV shows]: do
recall how embarrassing Piero Fassino [a male, left-wing politician] was when
trying to match the easygoingness of De Filippi).
One last thing.
They say that for good or ill, women make the best news. On the front pages
beside the glamorous power couple, there are also rapes. But that is the most
masculine crime. It is the oldest, crassest, and most in need of being expunged
from a man. Only an old politician can invoke, on this point, a frivolity that
makes no one laugh, be it a man or a woman.
[Editor's Note:
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sparked outrage for suggesting that
Italy's women were so beautiful that they needed military escorts to avoid
being raped. He made the comments in response to a question about his proposal
to deploy 300,000 soldiers to fight crime in the streets. A series of attacks,
including a rape in Rome on New Year's Eve and another outside the capital this
week, have put pressure on the government to crack down. But Berlusconi said
that, even in a militarized state, crimes like rape can happen. "You can't
consider deploying a force that would be sufficient to prevent the risk. … We
would have to have so many soldiers because our women are so beautiful."
In an effort to explain himself, Berlusconi said he was complimenting Italian
women "because there are only about 100,000 people in law enforcement,
while there are millions of beautiful women ."]
CLICK HERE FOR ITALIAN
VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
January 30, 5:55am]
