(Re)Presenting Women in Italy

This paper looks at the position of women in the Berlusconi cabinet between 2008 and 2011. Following wide media coverage and debate about the use of political women (and their bodies) to frame Berlusconi’s masculinity in Italian politics, this paper seeks to unpack the complex set of interactions that converge in the body politics of the last four years. Looking at the idiosyncrasies of conservative values (appropriated by the Popolo delle Liberta’) and the overtly sexual nature of women’s position in politics, this paper seeks to assess whether at this particular historical moment women of the Centre Right can meaningfully appropriate a “feminist agenda” based on the politics of emancipation. The challenge for this paper and scholars of women’s political representation in Italy is to nature (and quality) of political representation provided by women in position of leadership in the since 2008. More specifically, the paper will address the following issues: 1. Which interests these women sought to represent; 2. Their relative position to feminist politics; 3. Their position in relation to the emerging gender order in the country