意總理遭10萬女性聯名聲討
More than 100,000 women have signed a petition saying they are offended by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- an initiative launched by a newspaper after the premier made a sexist remark to an opposition politician.
Berlusconi, 73, made the jab during a call in to a late-night talk show Oct. 7 that featured, among other guests, Rosy Bindi, a 58-year-old former minister who dresses conservatively, wears glasses and has short, gray hair.
"You are always more beautiful than intelligent," Berlusconi told her. She snapped back: "I'm not one of the women at your disposal."
Berlusconi's remark sparked outrage, and prompted three prominent Italian intellectuals to draft a petition stating that Berlusconi uses women's bodies for his political ends, denigrating women and democracy in the process.
"This man offends us. Stop him," reads the petition, which has been signed by well-known Italian artists, musicians, television personalities as well as ordinary Italians.
The left-leaning La Repubblica daily, which has been at the forefront of exposing accusations of impropriety against Berlusconi over his relations with young women and been sued by the premier as a result, is organizing the petition and reported Thursday that more than 100,000 women had signed.
Many women sent their photos into the newspaper's Web site, with the words "offended by the premier" or "not at your disposal" or similar statements written on them.
Berlusconi's scandal began earlier this year when his wife announced she was divorcing him, citing his presence at the birthday party of an 18-year-old model and his decision to run former showgirls as candidates for European Parliament elections.
義大利總理西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼日前遭十萬多名女性聯名聲討，這項簽名活動由一家報紙發起，主要針對總理先生此前對一名反對派政壇人物發表的性別歧視言論。
在10月7日的一檔深夜脫口秀節目中，73歲的貝盧斯科尼在接受電話連線採訪時對在座的前部長、58歲的羅西•賓迪出言不遜。羅西穿著保守，戴著眼鏡，頭髮呈灰色，留著短髮。
貝盧斯科尼評價她說：“你的美貌總是比你的智慧更勝一籌。” 羅西隨即反駁說：“我可不是你能玩弄的女人。”
貝盧斯科尼的這番言論隨即引發了民眾的極大憤慨，義大利三位著名知識分子還專門起草了一份陳情書，痛斥貝盧斯科尼利用女性的身體達到他的政治目的，並指責他在此過程中詆譭了女性和民主。
這份陳情書上寫道：“這個男人冒犯了我們。快阻止他。”陳情書上彙集了義大利著名藝術家、音樂家、電視名人以及普通民眾的簽名。
義大利左翼報《共和報》正在組織這一活動，並於本週四報道稱目前已有10萬多名女性在陳情書上簽名。《共和報》總是率先披露貝盧斯科尼和年輕女性的性醜聞，並因此被貝盧斯科尼起訴。
很多女性將自己的照片發到該報的網站上，照片上還寫著“被總理冒犯”、“不被你玩弄”或其他相似的話語。
貝盧斯科尼的性醜聞開始於今年早些時候，那時他的妻子宣佈要與他離婚。據稱，貝盧斯科尼出現在一名18歲模特的生日派對上，還決定挑選歌舞女郎作為歐洲議會選舉的候選人。
Vocabulary:
jab:a quick stab or blow 猛戳，猛擊
snap back: 反駁說（The Third World snaps back that such concerns are merely modern versions of colonialism. 第三世界反駁說，這種關注只不過是殖民主義的現代翻版而已。）
atone's disposal: availableto someone 由某人隨意支配
denigrate: to disparage; belittle 詆譭，貶低（We must be fair competitors and must never denigrate other firms. 我們必須公平競爭，絕不詆譭其他公司。）
showgirl:a woman, typically attired in an elaborately decorated costume, who performs in a musical or theatrical production 歌舞女郎
