As Milan fashion week closes the most unlikely amazing political interview of the week comes from US Vogue editor, Anna Wintour who used an interview in La Repubblica to say that Italy’s reputation is being damaged by Prime Minister Berlusconi and his antics… “On one side, there is the Made in Italy, the designers, the great creations that credit you around the world and that have no equal. On the other side, there is a political reality that is so compromised. How can you tolerate all this? I am disgusted. I have no other words, I am disgusted and embarrassed: How can Italy tolerate Silvio Berlusconi and his bevy of girls?” She also compared Mr Berlusconi’s rule to a dictatorship and wondered where Italy’s feminists were.
This is a question my sister and I have often pondered as there is a deafening silence from Italy’s women against the blatant sexist and overly sexualised portrayal of women. However, a few months ago I listened to an interview on Woman’s Hour where an Italian feminist blamed Berlusconi’s hold over Italian media. She claimed protests did occur in Italy but if there is no one to report on the protests the desired effect is lost. Such stories make me shudder at the thought of how much control Rupert Murdoch might have had over what news we hear and I am glad that, at least temporarily, there is hope for a free and open press.
We are so lucky to be women in a country like Britain.
Bubbly
