Women in 2008 elections: Italy and US

(Photo source)

This week I’m going to discuss 2008 elections again! To tell you the truth, I’m getting more and more involved in this matter because, while learning English, I can increase my intercultural competence and keep abreast of the latest political developments in both Italy and the U.S.A. For example, during my last English class before the Easter break, my group mates and I were thinking about analysing if and how women are considered in the platforms of the Italian and American candidates. For this reason, I decided to get some information on this issue. Instead of reading articles from newspapers, this time I chose to watch some videos taken from the candidates’ official websites:

- a video about a convention, “Donne per l'Italia. Protagoniste del cambiamento”, that Berlusconi hold in Rome on March 29;

- a video about a meeting of the Democratic Party (PD) which took place in Mestre on March 8^th and was dedicated to women.

- a video published on Hillary Clinton’s official website, under the page “A Champion for Women”, where the candidate talks about women's rights.

After listening to these speeches and quickly reading through the platforms, I can say that Italian candidates are more concerned with women role in society than the American candidates. As a matter of fact, only Hillary quotes women among her platform issues; McCain and Obama talk about family in general or children, rather than women. In Berlusconi and Veltroni’s platforms, on the other hand, women play a key role. Both candidates put the accent on their intention to increase women representation in Parliament and women participation in the socio-political life of our country. Veltroni stated that, if he won, there would be 130 women in Parliament (three times as much as in Prodi’s government). PdL (People of Freedom) wants women to be central figures of the next government – above all in fields such as economics, defence, security, foreign policy, etc. – because women politicians in Italy still suffer prejudice and poor support; they’re often victims of gossip or considered as recommended people.

Both Italian parties aim to valorise women not only in politics, but also in society, for example, by encouraging firms to hire women workers (one of Veltroni’s proposals is to benefit businesses that respect gender equality and to oblige state enterprises to have effective women representation in their boards) and by preventing women from choosing between professional career and motherhood. In addition, PdL and PD agree on the need to build public nurseries, and Veltroni supports women’s possibility of choosing flexible and part-time jobs as well. The two candidates share the same opinion on motherhood too: families have to be supported by giving them the so-called “baby bonus”, that is a benefit for every child born; finally, big families should be backed through significant tax cuts. Veltroni (who in my opinion provides more concrete examples of how he wants to achieve his goals) says that he will give families 2.500 euros for each new child, that he will introduce additional paternity leave, and that low-income families will get 100% of their wages for 12 months while on leave.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is totally involved in fighting against pay disparities between men and women. Actually, US women still suffer pay discrimination. In the speech I listened to, Hillary said that full-time women earn 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes and that for women of colour is even less: 67 cents for African American women and 56 cents for Latinos. If she wins the elections, she will close the pay gap between men and women by toughening the penalties for those who violate the Equal Payment Act, ensuring equal pay laws, and prohibiting employers to fire employees who share salary information to find out if they are treated unfairly. Moreover, she wants to raise funds for the research on breast cancer.

Comparing Hillary’s platform to that of Berlusconi and Veltroni made me reflect upon the fact that none of them has taken unequal pay practices into account, although this is a big problem that affects Italian society as well.