We gladly receive and publish Raffaele Lauro’s contribution:
MARCH 8, 2021. THE MASCHILIST AND SEXIST PREJUDICE IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY, IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AND IN POLITICS. WHEN A WOMAN PREMIER IN OUR COUNTRY?
1. THE MALE AND SEXIST PREJUDICE IN HISTORY
The male chauvinist and sexist prejudice, with a few very rare exceptions, moreover passed off as a contingent matriarchal phenomenon, dominates the whole history of humanity, the different civilizations of the origins, none excluded, along the span of centuries, pre and post Christians, in the East and in the West. It is not surprising, therefore, that no sociologist of politics has explored the complex cultural, religious and economic reasons, even physiological ones, which have consecrated and legitimized the male chauvinist ostracism towards women, in the seizure and exercise of power, in the government of peoples and states. Without going too far, it would be enough to reread, in this perspective, the history of the republic and the Roman Empire, the Christian Middle Ages, the absolute monarchies, modern and contemporary history, totalitarian, communist and fascist regimes, and even constitutional monarchies. and parliamentary democracies.
Women were condemned to be handmaids, lovers, courtesans, nuns, witches, spies and bargaining chips, in dynastic terms and objects of sexual supremacy. Decoration, appendix, frame: le contour du pouvoir! Among the few who have managed, through the Cunning of Reason (List der Vernunft), to conquer and exercise power, none have escaped the stigma of sexist discrimination, with the exception perhaps of Empress Maria Theresa of Habsburg. All have been told by contemporary historians, almost always male chauvinists, as prostitutes, courtesans, whores, manipulators, poisoners and, not infrequently, witches. The agrippine, the messaline, the marie, the elisabette and the caterine, were the sacrificial victims of the same prejudice.
Women, not endowed with the phallic symbol of power, the scepter, and without the masculine attributes to exercise it, because they were judged to be too sensitive, inconstant, hysterical and unable to control their passions, were thus confined to the Indian reservation of the alcove and of the ‘harem, intended only to give pleasure, to procreate and to raise children. Completely unsuitable for politics and leadership responsibilities in public institutions. It is no coincidence that, when you want to emphasize a strong female personality, you use the expression, in vulgar jargon: “That she has the attributes (masculine, of course)”!
2. THE BATTLES OF MILITANT FEMINISM
The same male-dominated prejudice has weighed, and still weighs, in all fields of human activity, in culture, art, science, sport, entertainment, cinema, communication, political parties, professions, management apparatuses, public and private, as well as in the business world.
Those women are well aware of this, who rarely succeeded in breaking down that prejudice and establishing themselves, even if their fatigue was, and continues to be, double, exhausting and daily, victims of marginalization, which has become pathological. An marginalization that invests, in terms of violence, sometimes murderous, and persecution, also other sexual minorities, condemned to hide, to be silent and to live in deception and fear, without the dignity of persons.
They too were victims of the same male-dominated prejudice. This is too broad a topic, to be dealt with briefly, but which violates constitutional principles and constitutionally guaranteed rights. It must be recognized, however, that often the battles of militant feminism, radicalized and ideologized, especially on the left, have done more harm than good to the cause of respect for the human person, regardless of the differences of sex, race, language or religion.