London, Nov. 4 (ANI): Italian comedian turned politician Beppe Grillo, whose web-based democracy and anti-corruption campaigning led Italy by storm, has been dragged into a row after he was accused of being a "medieval" sexist.
Grillo's non-sexist credentials were called into question when Federica Salsi, a local councillor representing his Five Star Movement in Bologna, appeared on a TV talk show, ignoring Grillo's strict instructions to his councillors to stay off TV and stick to the internet, reports The Guardian.
Grillo, reacting angrily to her appearance on TV, likened the lure of television to the 'G-spot', which gives you an orgasm in talk-show studios.
"It is Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame. At home, your friends and relations applaud emotionally as they share the excitement of a brief moment of celebrity," Grillo said.
Salsi, 40, reacted quickly, calling Grillo's outburst "disappointing", and adding: "He has shown himself to be a victim of the Berlusconi culture ... a chauvinist like the others."
Grillo's reference to the G-spot, she said, gave "a negative connotation to a quality women have" - and that, she concluded, "is medieval, really degrading".
Grillo's visceral loathing of the rowdy talk shows aired nightly on Italian TV is based on the idea that they give visibility to the caste of professional politicians his movement is seeking to oust. Grillo himself was banned from state TV in 1987 after joking about government corruption, prompting him to take his routine to live audiences and build his blog into one of the world's biggest.
With one pollster predicting that the Five Star Movement could become the biggest party in Italy, Grillo will be eagerly awaiting regional elections due in Lazio and Lombardy. Then, next spring, national elections are due as Mario Monti steps down as prime minister.
Grillo has not stood for office himself to date but, in a video posted on his blog this week, he called himself a "political leader" of the movement for the first time and added: "We are about to confront something extraordinary". (ANI)
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