Palermo

They voted for him and consume his media. What female Italians on the streets of Palermo and a researcher have to say about the sexual attraction of the Italian prime minister.

Silvio Berlusconi loves women. The 73-year-old loves being photographed with models, beauty pageant queens, showgirls and other lovely young things. Berlusconi adheres to a diet, has his eyebrows plucked, and goes to his plastic surgeon to have wrinkles and fat removed. Yet, what is it that makes Berlusconi, who 67 percent of Sicilians voted for, so attractive to women? This reporter investigated in Palermo.

Two women are waiting at the bus stop, talking and wildly gesticulating. One should not ask Sicilian women directly whether the find their prime minister attractive as a man, but word the question in a more indirect way. So, what makes Berlusconi so appealing? “He speaks well and presents himself well,” says Maria taking off her glasses. “If you’re asking me whether I like him physically – well, that is absolutely not the case.” Elia, her friend, vehemently shakes her head. Then, which women do find Berlusconi attractive? The two 43-year-olds reply without hesitation: “Those are all women who want to move ahead in their careers.” Maria adds with a wink, “Berlusconi supports women who have given him something.” She emphasizes the word “something” knowingly. These two neither wish to move ahead in their careers, nor have they given him “something.” “We are housewives and mothers; women who don’t get any support from the state – or from Berlusconi – for their work.”

A woman walks past shop windows on the other side of the street, stops and looks at the latest shoe models. “Signora, excuse me, but could you tell me what makes Berlusconi so appealing?” She flinches and does not wish to respond at first, but then says he is not “her political direction.” Maria is 55, has grey hair and works as a salesperson. She invites me to a cup of espresso and lights a cigarette. “If Berlusconi were the last man on earth, I wouldn’t take him.” He’s only popular with the young, upper class women and women who want to get ahead in their careers. “Unlike me; I am poor and will stay poor. Basta.”

My next target is an attractive, longhaired woman wearing a sporty trench coat, black boots and dark glasses. When she hears my question about Berlusconi’s appeal, she starts to laugh. “Oh my God, he’s a man for desperate women.” She, however, is by no means desperate. Moreover, he is too short, “far too short for me,” says Lia, in her mid-thirties, who works in the municipal administration.

A few streets further, an elegantly dressed woman walks. She is wearing white glasses, a red leather jacket and diamond earrings. At first, she is quite reserved. “Let me tell you something,” she inhales loudly, “this so-called charisma of Berlusconi is for idiots. His style is ridiculous.” Berlusconi is popular with those women who “sit grinning in front of their televisions and watch his soap operas,” says Mariella. She is 49 and works for the city. Rosa, 57, a homemaker with three children, enjoys watching television. Although she finds Berlusconi’s voice “quite pleasant,” his dealings with all those women, that is “not good.” That’s why she changes the channel when Berlusconi comes onto the screen.

On the shopping street Via della Libertà two women stroll by. The response of the two from Milan, who are in Palermo on a visit, to Berlusconi’s appeal is plain. “He is charismatic, no question, but to me he’s too artificial,” says Nadia, 43. Her friend Gracia nods. What do they think about Berlusconi and the young women? The two friends shrug their shoulders, “Oh, you know, all men have younger women, around the world. The old men need to feel young now and then.” Nadia runs a “bar,” as she says, in Milano.

“Molto bene,” is the immediate response to my Berlusconi question by a very elegant lady who is looking at the jewels in the case at Fiorentino’s. She likes him and his politics; he appeals to everyone, rich and poor. Yes and the stories about all those women – “now that is really exaggerated.” Elisabetta is 79 and a retired secretary. A few yards ahead, two elderly women are walking, supporting one another with linked arms. They are on their way to church. When I ask them about Berlusconi, their reaction is very coy. He is “carismatico.” Maria and Rita are both “far over 70.” Maria smiles to herself and whispers. “I like him. Yes, hm, as a man, too.”

Hence, far more women that are elderly find Berlusconi attractive, while very young women do not even want to talk about the man. They wave the question away with their hands and put on expressions of disgust.

Yet the young women in particular are fans of Berlusconi, claims Stephen Gundle. Gundle is professor for film and television research at the University of Warwick in the UK and an expert on Italian cultural history. “Yet they don’t find Berlusconi physically attractive. They like his political party, his television companies and they are striving for their own careers in TV, show business or politics. They know that Berlusconi possesses the power to make their dreams come true,” says Gundle. Berlusconi himself appears more as an “asexual being”; always clean-shaven, well-groomed, orderly, powdered and rather formal. “I am certain that Berlusconi is generous and when he woos a woman, he gives her the feeling that she is desired and special. As an executive, he is a professional seducer. He works hard at it because he probably knows that he is not the most handsome man in the world,” says Gundle. Now that Berlusconi is single, he will probably become the target of a number of good-looking, power-hungry and ambitious women. Yet, his largest female constituency are homemakers. They like Berlusconi because he unites the family man, the Catholic and the traditionalist. Berlusconi emits the “everyday charisma of a kind, middle-aged friend of the family.” Unlike former Fiat chief Gianni Agnelli, Berlusconi does not seem distinguished or unapproachable, but possesses a personal attraction that is “stronger than his appearance.”

On the other hand, it is not quite clear which kind of woman – blonde or brunette – Berlusconi prefers. “In Italy they say every Italian loves a blonde and marries a brunette,” according to Gundle. He suspects, however, that Berlusconi prefers the flaxen-haired women, “the dyed blondes especially.” In Italy, blondes are consider modern, a little exotic, American and very sexually accessible.