It is an ongoing mystery to me why a nation such as Italy continues to be led by the likes of Silvio Berlusconi. Granted, some of this is explainable: Italy's opposition is disgracefully weak and inept, his media empire gives him a huge forum, something I observed while on vacation there a few years ago and he's generally willing to align himself with some of the worst elements of Italy's political culture.
It appears now that Italy may have had enough and women may be leading the protests:
The protests were organized by women's groups and publicized by internet. The turnout surprised the organizers, who didn't want the demonstrations to be political, though that's what they became.
One woman who came with her family to the Milan rally told CNN that she was "fed up with the way women are portrayed as objects in the Italian media. The way that young girls are glorified by their looks and youth and then what? I don't want my daughter to grow up thinking that that is the only way to be ... that the only thing that matters is to be pretty and show off their legs. ... We are more than that."
In Milan, demonstrators had banners that said, "Stop the merchandising of women," and "Berlusconi enough. You bring us shame."
Many of the speakers at the Milan rally criticized the way Berlusconi's sex scandal made Italy look, his behavior towards women and his promoting ex-show girls to high government positions.
I'm not particularly sanguine about the prospects of actual change in Italy. As I mentioned before, the opposition is incompetent and is also filled with infighting. In addition, weak governing has been a hallmark of Italian politics since World War II. There have been more sixty changes in government since 1945 and this is hardly the foundation on which to build a stable society.
That notwithstanding, it's still gratifying to see Berlusconi squirming. I hope it's the last time he squirms as Prime Minister.
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