Though Italian director Federico Fellini's "8 1/2" is applauded as a masterpiece of modern film, behold Saraghina, his image of the independent Italian woman. And she was played by Fergie in the modern musical adaptation "Nine" if that's any indication of how sexism has evolved.
Though it’s a rough time to be a business anywhere in the world, one Italian firm has found itself in a PR fiasco after laying off fifteen of its eighteen female employees. The justification? “We are firing the women so they can stay at home and look after the children. In any case, what they bring in is a second income.”
I’m not sure which part of this statement is more sexist: The blunt confession that they envision the women, and not the men, in a housekeeping role, or the even more blunt confession that they pay their female workers less than their male counterparts. Women are certainly second-class citizens in Italy, which ranks the lowest in female employment in the European Union and 74th in the world for women’s rights. [Source; Image]
