Barred from top jobs by a sexist elite, belittled and patronised by the media, Italian women were offered solace yesterday by the equal opportunities minister's "10 commandments for happiness".
Frustrated at home? Unable to find a job? Stalled on the career ladder? Follow this advice and banish those blues, said Stefania Prestigiacomo.
First commandment: consider motherhood a value; it is the greatest, most important, special experience for a woman.
Two: follow your childhood dream, be it writing a book, landing on Mars, being a good mother or making your beloved happy.
Three: keep falling in love, with people, ideas, books, films, songs, sunsets, the gleam of jewels, whatever.
Four: buy something useless once in a while, something you like but do not need.
Five: take pride in your beauty in the world, different from all the others.
Published yesterday in a women's magazine, Donna Moderna, the list unleashed a minor political squall. Ms Prestigiacomo, 36, a recent mother and a member of Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Forza Italia party, was accused of reinforcing the stereotypes which marginalise women.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Gloria Buffo, a leftwing opposition deputy. "For a minister who is supposed to promote equality between men and women, it does not seem like a great result."
The list goes on:
Six: do not be upset if your man does not notice that you have been to the hairdresser. It is him who loses, not you.
Seven: do not be too envious of important people, such as government ministers, since they, too, often spend evenings just watching television.
Ms Prestigiacomo, once dubbed Miss Parliament for her striking Sicilian looks, and one of only two women in the cabinet, said her accusers could not distinguish between government policy and ironic answers to a magazine which solicited her advice on how to improve women's lives.
But Livia Turca, a minister in the previous government, was not appeased. "It is the list of a spoilt girl," she said. "The only thing missing is the cake of Marie Antoinette."
The minister's final three commandments:
Travel to broaden your mind; defend other women; smile.
© Guardian News & Media 2008
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