De Laurentis to Schlein: "He's unwatchable." The Democratic Party attacks him: "Such miserable and sexist words."

A single remark attributed to Aurelio De Laurentiis, Napoli's president, was enough to spark a new political controversy. According to Repubblica.it, De Laurentiis called Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein "unwatchable" during a lunch with members of Forza Italia's Campania headquarters.

Neapolitan Democratic Party Senator Valeria Valente intervened, primarily challenging the nature of the comment. "Not a political objection, not a disagreement on the merits: a judgment on physical appearance. And all around, laughter of approval," she said.

"A dangerous and chauvinistic subculture"

For Valente, it wasn't just a joke or a prank, but a manifestation of a still-entrenched culture. The senator calls it "a paltry comment, the product of a dangerous, chauvinistic subculture that must be fought."

"When a woman assumes a position of power," Valente claims, "comments about her body are the order of the day, made in public, in front of witnesses, without even a suspicion that they might be wrong."

"A man's ideas are commented on"

The central point of the criticism concerns the different standards with which, according to the Democratic senator, men and women engaged in public life are judged.

"No one would describe a male leader as 'unwatchable'; his ideas are rightly commented on," Valente emphasizes. Hence the request that the episode not be dismissed as a simple joke.

According to the parliamentarian, in fact, allowing statements of this kind to slide "gives the impression that all of this is acceptable."

The appeal to Tajani and Meloni

Valente then addressed a direct question to the center-right leadership: "I ask the leaders of the center-right forces, starting with Tajani and Meloni, are they distancing themselves or are they joining forces with their leaders and letting things slide?"

For the senator, the political response to similar incidents also represents an important step in the battle against the culture of violence against women.

"Whoever represents citizens in Parliament should have long since moved beyond the culture of the sports bar," Valente concludes. And he reiterates the principle that, in his opinion, should apply to everyone: "It's time for women, as well as men, to comment on each other's ideas."