Thursday, December 4, 2008

In Italy, Feminism Out, Women As Sex Symbols In

I heard this report Wednesday morning by NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. Could not believe some of the statistics.
An excerpt of the whole transcript:

Sexism In Italy

Today, Italy has the lowest percentage of working women in Europe. Only 2 percent of top management positions are held by women — that's even behind Kuwait — and only 17 percent of the members of parliament are women — less than in Rwanda and Burundi.

Television has become women's prime showcase.

"To sell your body for a calendar, for a career, is not considered now so bad for many young women," says social scientist Elisa Manna, who has studied this issue's impact on Italian society. "This kind of attitude is connected to television, because they have this kind of model in every hour of the day."

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