Letter Sent to the Irish Times, 31st March 2011

Madam,
Paddy Agnew (31st March) provides an excellent overview of sexism in Italian society – but, despite what he says, it is clear that the ‘slumbering dragon of Italian feminism' is awakening with a vengeance. At an Italian Society meeting in Trinity College this week, I had the pleasure of speaking alongside the wonderful feminist film-maker Lorella Zanardo. Her recent documentary ‘Il Corpo delle donne', which presents a brilliant critique of the sexualised portrayal of women in the Italian media, has been viewed online by over 3.5 million people. Many thousands of Italian women took part in the day of protest against Berlusconi earlier this year; and despite Italy's poor record on women's rights, at 21% their rate of women's representation in parliament is still significantly better than our own. Has the dragon of Irish feminism been slumbering too long?

Yours, etc,
Ivana Bacik
Law School
Trinity College
Dublin 2