Berlusconi not ‘pink’ enough say critics
Berlusconi managed to keep his election pledge of naming at least four women ministers, weeks after he dismissed Spain’s female-majority cabinet as “too pink” and declared it hard to find qualified women in Italian politics.
Only two women are among the 12 ministers to hold first-tier posts, taking over environment and education. The other two will look after equal opportunities and youth affairs, which are among the nine ministries without portfolio.
Vittoria Franco, a centre-left senator, now in opposition said: “There are four of them in posts that are traditionally more feminine. It’s a clear backwards step on the equal opportunities front.”
Berlusconi, 71, cultivates a playboy image and openly jokes about his fondness for pretty women, which has earned him public reprimands from his wife.
He once caused a minor diplomatic incident by joking he had used his seduction skills on the female Finnish president.
Perhaps reflecting the new prime minister’s attitudes, the Italian media concentrated on the female ministers’ good looks and relative youth — their ages range from 31 to 41 — in Italy’s geriatric political class.
“Young, beautiful and ambitious — Silvio’s four dames,” headlined Milan daily il Giorno. Il Giornale, owned by Berlusconi’s brother, called them his “Four Musketeers.”
Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna, placed sixth in the 1997 Miss Italy pageant, is best known as a former showgirl on television.
Berlusconi once famously said he would marry her if he were single.
