Berlusconi sparks rare feminist backlash over ‘beauty’ remark

SILVIO BERLUSCONI’S cutting remark about a female rival’s lack of beauty has stirred a rare public backlash from thousands of Italian women who had largely kept silent about the prime minister’s womanising and sex scandals.

About 97,000 Italian women have signed the “Women offended by the premier” appeal after Berlusconi told the matronly, bespectacled leftist Rosy Bindi that she was “more beautiful than intelligent” in a swipe at both her looks and brains.

Since then, Facebook sites offering solidarity have sprung up, protests have been held in towns like Reggio Emilia, while Bindi’s response — “I’m not a woman at your disposal” — has become a rallying cry printed on T-shirts and placards.