
Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani sparked a political backlash on Saturday after advising his son to marry a less attractive woman, arguing she would be a more trustworthy partner and mother.
Speaking at a Forza Italia event in Formello, near Rome, Tajani said, “It’s nice to marry an attractive girl. But what is her character like? Has she had many fiancés, dumped someone, cheated?” He contrasted this with “another girl, perhaps less attractive, but more trustworthy, more serious. She will be a good mother, she will remain faithful to the love she pledged in marriage. So I tell my son: choose the second one.” He added that the more serious woman “wears longer skirts” and guarantees “stability for the home, stability for the family.”
The remarks drew immediate condemnation from center-left opposition figures. Raffaella Paita, leader of the Italia Viva group in the Senate, called the comments a return to “the climate of the 1950s, worthy of the worst patriarchy,” and demanded an apology. Valeria Valente, a Democratic Party senator, accused Tajani of perpetuating the stereotype of women as “domestic angels,” while former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi questioned whether “someone like this can be Italy’s foreign minister in 2026.” Elly Schlein, leader of the Democratic Party, stated, “Women are not judged by the length of their skirts. Shame on him, he should apologize.”
The controversy dominated Italian media, with *La Stampa* summarizing it as “Tajani’s gaffe.”
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