ROME (Reuters) - 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 womanizing 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.
"Someone tell Berlusconi he's no George Clooney," centrist Senator Patrizia Bugnano said, calling him a "chauvinist." "It's offensive that he always refers to women in aesthetic terms."
The campaign is publicized by left-leaning newspaper La Repubblica and draws support heavily from the left. It is a rare example of a feminist initiative against Berlusconi that has managed to gain momentum.
Bindi says it signals a "new feminism" taking root in Italy, where Berlusconi's quips about women being "God's most beautiful gift to men" and Italy being "homeland of great lovers, Casanovas and playboys" are usually met with indifference.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59J3F520091020
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