A number of female politicians have posted photos of themselves wearing mini skirts in response to Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, who claimed women who wear long skirts are better wives and mothers.
“My children are married,” Tajani, who is also the country’s foreign minister, said at an event last week. “But if I had to advise a young man which woman to marry, I would suggest a less flashy but more reliable, more serious woman, who will certainly be a good mother.
“Ready to provide the necessary answers, always present. Perhaps less pretty, with a slightly longer skirt.
“But while with the attractive one you might get a few ‘cornettos’, with the other you are certainly sure of everlasting love. She will keep her promise to marry and ensure the stability of the home. She will be there.”
The comments were picked up by the international media and prompted a group of female politicians from across political parties to attend the Italian senate wearing mini skirts.
“A thought for the minister,” Simona Flavia Malpezzi wrote, sharing the photo of the women to Instagram.
Former Turin mayor Chiara Appendino also posted a photo of herself in a miniskirt, writing: “Tajani, am I not a “trustworthy” woman? Am I not a “good family mother”?”
“In 2026 we still can’t hear a Minister of the Republic explain to us that it’s better to marry a less flashy woman with a longer skirt,” she said.
“Our reliability isn’t measured in inches of fabric. Let’s exit the Middle Ages.”
A city councillor in Treviglio, Matilde Tura, wrote: “If I had a daughter, on the other hand, I would tell her not to choose someone who judges her based on the length of her skirt.“
Some men even got behind the trend, with Florence city councillor Andrea Ciull, sharing an AI-generated photo of himself in which he is wearing a skirt.
“The length of a skirt does not measure a woman’s worth, her freedom does,” he said.
After days of criticism, Tajani apologised while in New York for the UN General Assembly, saying he hadn’t intended to offend any women.
“I am very sorry that some of my remarks, taken out of a much more wide-ranging speech, have been misunderstood,” he said.
“I apologise if some people felt offended by what I said, but I have never intended to offend women, I have never done so in my life, either in private life or in public.”