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LA STAMPA

Berlusconi And Feminism: Do Italian Woman Need To Defend Their Dignity?

As women take to the streets of Italy to defend their dignity in the face of a series of Silvio Berlusconi sex scandals, one Italian woman explains why she wants no part of it.

An anti-Berlusconi rally in Amsterdam in 2009 (Jos van Zetten)
An anti-Berlusconi rally in Amsterdam in 2009 (Jos van Zetten)
Elena Loewenthal

I will not take to the streets Sunday to defend women's dignity – not mine, not any other woman's.

I don't see the point. Even the slogan of the demonstration, "If Not Now, When?" leaves me perplexed. Not because I think it's a desecration – it's the title of Primo Levi's last novel, and before that it was an old rabbinic adage urging responsibility – but because I don't get the connection between this eternal call to commitment and the current female indignation.

Why do women feel a duty to defend their dignity in light of the obscene spectacle filtering through from Silvio Berlusconi's home – or, for that matter, his plane, his bodyguards' cars or his cell phone?

Did men feel a duty to launch a demonstration to defend their dignity? Which, truth be told, seems to be more violated than our own. Did they feel a need to take their distances from that model of masculinity? Did they tell us, in rage, pain and indignation, that not all of them are dirty old men incapable of loving or establishing a sentimental relation? That not all of them need to grope the bodies of dozens of women in order for their own bodies to feel alive? They did not.

Still, if we are talking about dignity, that of men comes out of this way more bruised than women's. After all, in this tale of parties, naked bodies, stupid games and prostitution in exchange for what were hardly small sums of money, the prime minister looks more like a prey than a hunter, more like a victim than a perpetrator. His frailty as a man worries me more than his sexual compulsion.

The fact that Berlusconi doesn't seem to be able to do without showgirls, or without touching them, has the obvious consequence that a good number of girls who are younger than my daughter (while he is old enough to be my father) are provided with his number, threaten him, blackmail him. If this isn't a collapse of one's dignity, I don't know what is.

As far as us we women are concerned, why do we need to prove we are not all like those girls? It seems obvious to me. In fact, it's even nice to think that we are not all the same: old and young, ugly and beautiful, smart and silly. There are scientists, clerks, and whores, too. I don't understand what there is to feel indignant about.

If emancipation has given us our sacrosanct freedom, why are we crying scandal now? "The womb is mine, and I'll manage it" went the old feminist slogan. But dignity is also mine, and I'll manage that, too. And I have no intention of managing somebody else's, at least as long as there is no exploitation, no violence, no abuse. I don't think that is the case here, as it seems to me it's the girls, not Berlusconi, who have the upper hand, as well as their hands in his wallet.

I am indeed worried, but not about the dignity of women. Rather, about the reliability of a man who falls prey to instincts, naivety and blackmails like only very vulnerable individuals can.

That is why I am not participating Sunday in the "If Not Now, When?" demonstration. I don't feel a duty to reiterate, let alone demonstrate, that I'm not like them, that not all women are like them. Not all are, but some are. But I don't feel I can say to any of them that "Enough is Enough!"

Enough of what exactly?

Read the original article in Italian

photo - (Jos van Zetten)

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Green

Moose In Our Midst: How Poland's Wildlife Preservation Worked A Bit Too Well

Wild moose have been spotted on Polish beaches and even near cities. They're a rare example of successful conservation efforts, but they're increasingly coming into contact with people.

Photo of a moose crossing a road

Moose seen in Poland

Joanna Wisniowska

GDANSK — Images of wild moose roaming the streets and beaches of Poland’s Baltic coast have been cropping up online more frequently. What should someone do if they encounter one? According to Mateusz Ciechanowski, a biologist at the University of Gdansk, the best option is to leave them alone.

“This is the result of the consistent protection that has been provided to this species of moose,” said Ciechanowski. “As the numbers increase, so does the animals’ range”.

Various media outlets have been publishing reports about spotted wild moose in the cities of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Sopot with increasing frequency. Perhaps more surprising is that these moose have been seen on beaches as well.

Centuries ago, moose could be found all over the European continent. But, like the European bison, they were often hunted for their value as an attractive game animal.

Aside from population declines due to hunting, the drainage of European wetlands also decreased the number of viable moose habitats. The animals, which prefer marshy areas, dwindled without the proper natural environment to flourish in.

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