De Laurentiis and the comment on Schlein: political controversy and accusations of sexism

"Unwatchable". The adjective triggers sexist accusations and also opens a political clash. The judgment, formulated by the president of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, towards the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, was expressed by the Azzurri patron on the sidelines of a lunch of Forza Italia representatives gathered in Naples in view of the regional congress.

According to the accounts of the journalists present, De Laurentiis said that the women present at the event were "very beautiful" and Schlein "is really unwatchable".

A sexist comment, it would seem. "Far be it from me", explains De Laurentiis coldly, reiterating the clarification previously leaked by SSC Napoli. His was "a political judgment".

Moreover, those close to him explain, his very words spoken subsequently would support this position when he spoke of "these people from the centre-left who argue, don't have a program and seem great.... I wanted to say a bad word".

And then, "what did they propose from the beginning? If they had said: 'We want to participate with our conscience and wisdom while respecting yours. We will make proposals, we can discuss them'. Instead, from the beginning they play cat and dog" with what seemed to be a reference to the divisions in Campo Largo.

No discounts from the Democratic Party senator, Valeria Valente. De Laurentiis' "is a judgment on physical appearance. A miserable comment, the result of a chauvinistic and dangerous subculture, which must be fought". "When a woman assumes a role of power, comments about her body are commonplace, uttered in public, in front of witnesses, without even the suspicion that they might be wrong. Indeed, with the reasonable certainty that someone will laugh."

Two dem exponents who hold institutional roles in the area form a common front. Teresa Armato, councilor for the Municipality of Naples and national leader of the Democratic Party, claims that "that of the president of Naples is a comment from the 1930s, which denotes a lack of respect towards women, his is a sentence that speaks for itself and I wonder what the women of Forza Italia and the Prime Minister herself think of it".

For Enza Amato, president of the Naples City Council, "the clarification does not overcome the ambiguity of the expression, which due to the context and the words used can be interpreted as a sexist judgement".

A clear negative opinion from the centre-left exponents of the Napoli Club Parliament. Defending the president of Napoli, Fulvio Martusciello, secretary of Fi Campania. "A controversy has arisen over Aurelio De Laurentiis that has no reason to exist. His words were loaded with a meaning that they didn't have. He was referring to the constant arguments on the wide field."

The person concerned reiterates: "My reference was intended exclusively from a political point of view. I believe that, in recent years, Elly Schlein should have sat at the political table, instead of repeatedly condemning and expressing continuous manifestations of dissent.

The ideas and political vision of the opposition can also be appreciated by those who govern, but if the conflict is fueled every time, then it becomes tiring and risks being 'unwatchable'", added the Italian patron.