It would be amusing if it was not disturbing how leftist liberals who profess acceptance and tolerance, and who glorify diversity and equity, spare no effort to bash conservative females, be they celebrities, political leaders or ‘regular, everyday, normal’ women.
In the liberal universe of logical fallacies, you have to be a biologist to define what a woman is, and believe that men can get pregnant, but at the same time you have to celebrate Karine Jean-Pierre as the first ‘Black, gay, immigrant woman’ (shouldn’t she have used the gender neutral, inclusive term menstruator?!) to become White House press secretary. You need to swoon over a not-so-attractive Michelle Obama, and at the same time dismiss outstandingly beautiful Melania Trump as intellectually inferior, who therefore does not deserve to be put on the cover of major US magazines. You must chide her for wearing stilettos too often, but applaud the light blue high heels of US deputy assistant secretary (and non-binary drag queen) Sam Brinton.
Those who never missed a chance to highlight the ‘boys club’ nature of Fidesz, were not pleased when Judit Varga was appointed
The alleged champions of equality in Hungary have until now resisted the temptation to jump on the bandwagon of Western gender insanity and have so far remained just fellow travellers of the ‘movement’. But they are just as good as their Western comrades at celebrating female achievement only when the female in question is the standard-bearer of leftist ideology. Those who never missed a chance to highlight the ‘boys club’ nature of Fidesz’s upper echelons, were not pleased when Judit Varga was appointed justice minister, nor when Katalin Novák became minister of family affairs and then the first female President of the Hungarian Republic. Those who had been ecstatic about the prospect of Hillary being elected US president, engaged in manufacturing or amplifying the vilest of rumours about both of the above-mentioned Hungarian politicians, and have hardly ever uttered a single word of recognition about their work. Liberal opinion leaders in Hungary also seem to be tremendously irritated by the fact that these two women have managed to achieve a life-work balance, and are loving mothers raising their children in functional marriages, besides being powerful leaders and role models.
Well, four legs good, two legs bad, as Orwell said. The Italian left and the international liberal mainstream seem to be enraged and terrified at the same time that Giorgia Meloni may become the next prime minister of Italy. ‘Will Italy’s first female prime minister be bad for women?’, a recent Politico headline said. Of course, what else could she be but bad?! A seasoned professional politician, unmarried, mother of one, a great debater, still quite young and rather attractive, and a consistent and principled representative of such core values as patriotism, family and faith, she is clearly dangerous! ‘Women could lose a lot if the right-winger Giorgia Meloni becomes PM’, Politico’s sub-headline read. Politico was obviously hinting at the Italian left’s insinuations that Meloni might restrict access to abortion if elected premier. While Meloni has never been ambiguous about being against abortion, she has clarified that her government would not change the law on abortion currently in force in Italy. What Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy (FdI) intends to do is make sure that ‘abortion prevention’ is also put in place, essentially by offering women assistance and options other than the termination of their pregnancies. But apparently even this is too much for her liberal adversaries. The 2018 election campaign promise of FdI to ‘defend the natural family, combat gender ideology and promote life’ apparently ‘scares’ many.
Meloni and FdI were essentially likened to the Nazis who were holding Stalingrad under siege
But what scares the loving and peaceful left in Italy the most is Meloni herself. So much so, that she was threatened in a letter sent to the editorial offices of an Italian daily by a group claiming to be the Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse), the successors of the homonymous extreme-left terrorist organisation that existed in the 70s and which was responsible for the kidnaping and assassination of Italian Christian Democratic PM Aldo Moro. The letter said ‘death to fascists’ and warned Meloni against going to Trento for her campaign rally as ‘a nasty surprise’ would await her. Most recently, at a rally of the left-wing coalition parties, Michele Emiliano, president of the Apulia Region, said ‘Puglia like Stalingrad. They will not pass, whatever happens…They will sweat blood,’ with Enrico Letta, leader of the post-Communist PD party, clapping on. Let that sink in: Meloni and FdI were essentially likened to the Nazis who were holding Stalingrad under siege, and it was suggested that whatever the results of the democratic election will be, Puglia will resist…Love is love, no pasarán.
Giorgia Meloni and her party have of course been portrayed as neo-fascists, especially after a video was unearthed featuring a 19-year-old Meloni stating in an interview with a French television that Mussolini was a good politician and a patriot. Foolish words indeed from a young politician in her salad days. She has since grown up and hopefully knows better. (I wonder how many of Italy’s current ex-Communists have repudiated their former party for not denouncing the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolution.) She has unequivocally said, on several occasions, that FdI rejects all forms of totalitarianism and racism. But whether the left-liberal elites and left-wing extremists believe her or not is of secondary importance, as at the end of the day, it will be the Italians to pass a verdict at the polls on 25 September, and as Hungarian 19th century revolutionary writer Mihály Táncsics said, ‘The people’s word is God’s word.’ The way things stand now, Giorgia Meloni is set to write history as Italy’s first female prime minister.
