"I apologize if people were offended by what I said, but I have never intended to offend women. I have never done so in my life, neither in my private life nor in my public life."
Antonio Tajani, in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, responded to the recent controversy surrounding his comments on women and marriage. "I'll give everyone an example: precisely in defense of women's rights, I appointed, and chose to appoint, two women ambassadors to Iran and Afghanistan, precisely to send a very clear signal that women's rights cannot be trampled upon anywhere in the world. This is one example; I could give 100 more," added the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
From the stage of "Itaca," the event organized by Giuseppe Cangemi on Friday in Formello, Tajani, answering a question about what advice he would give to a son who asked him what kind of girl to marry, spoke of the difference between a "charming" woman and a "less flashy but more reliable" one. "My children are married. But if I had to advise a boy on which woman to marry, I would suggest a less flashy but more reliable, more serious one, who will certainly be a good mother. Ready to provide the necessary answers, always there. Maybe not so pretty, with a slightly longer skirt. But while with the charming one, you might get a few "cornettos," with the other, you can certainly be sure of everlasting love. She will keep her promise to marry and ensure the stability of the home. She will be there."
The statement initially went almost unnoticed, but was resurfaced when Italia Viva published the entire story on its social media : "Tajani's statements about today's girls give us a 19th-century idea of women. The Foreign Minister should focus on the burqa of Afghan women, not the miniskirts of Italian girls," commented Matteo Renzi. The Democratic Party (PD) also strongly criticized the minister: "He's a concentration of stereotypes about women and a vision of women as angels of the hearth, faithfully waiting for their husbands at home with the children and wearing long skirts. Tajani's statements are simply shameful, unworthy of a minister of the Italian Republic."
Today, M5S MP and former mayor of Turin Chiara Appendino posted a photo of herself in a miniskirt, sitting on a bench, on social media: "Tajani, am I not a trustworthy woman? Am I not a good mother? In 2026, we cannot still hear a Minister of the Republic explaining to us that it's better to marry a less flashy woman with a longer skirt. Our trustworthiness isn't measured in centimeters of fabric. We're leaving the Middle Ages behind."
(Unioneonline/D)