Italy has a new Prime Minister, and for the first time in the history of the Italian Democratic Republic, it is a woman. 

This election was held on October 22. 2022, after a chaotic summer caused by the fall of the previous government. 

This event is surely a significant milestone in Italian history. Future generations will refer to the new leader, Giorgia Meloni, as a pioneer and a strong figure. 

Italy has been considered a “good nation” with a long history and an ancient culture. A constitutional and fair democracy, a quite stable economy, and a healthy and prosperous population contribute to Italy’s reputation of success.  

However, gender equality is a distant concept to the country of Italy. In the last ten years, they have certainly improved in certain areas, but less than 50% of politicians are women.

The hope is that with the new female Prime Minister, the role of women in politics is even more valued.

In an equal world, a democracy should represent its citizens with an equal number of men and women representing the population. 

Some countries are nearing equality, such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and New Zealand. 

These countries have always been known to be very proactive in the fight for gender equality.

New Zealand, for example, was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893. Iceland had the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election. Her name was Vigdís Finnbogadóttirfirst, and was elected in 1980.

While the list of female leaders is growing, some countries still do not acknowledge or implement gender equality. 

In places like Liberia, people are still deeply bound to the traditions. A good portion of Liberian women get married before the age of 18 and spend their lives working in the household and taking care of their offspring.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was, in fact, a Liberian politician and economist who was president of Liberia between 2006 and 2018. She was the first woman to be elected head of state of an African country. 

Johnson Sirleaf was part of the traditions as well. In fact, she got married at 17, but this event didn’t hinder or discourage her. She decided to keep studying at the College of West Africa in Monrovia. She eventually came to college in the United States to fight for her dreams. 

Seeing the world from the perspective of a Western country led her to want to return to her home country and fight to represent all the women in Liberia and her ideas of equality.

During her administration, many positive changes took place, and she was also one of the three female recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. There has never been a female leader in the United States, but the country has seen improvements, such as the current Vice President, Kamala Harris. 

Many other women are covering important roles around the USA: 24 of the 100 seats are occupied by women in the Senate, and in the House of Representatives, there are 123 women out of 435 seats. 

They maintain political power, and they represent all American women. However, these numbers are still insufficient if we discuss democracy in 2022. 

Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing, national-conservative, nationalist, and Christian values and ideas are very far from what I believe. She believes that Italy should close its borders to the African immigrants trying to escape poverty and misery and risking their lives traveling on boats for thousands of miles in the Mediterranean sea. 

She has no interest in defending the rights of groups of people discriminated against, such as LGBTQ+ members. She supports the “traditional Christian families,” while a family shouldn’t be limited to just one religion and should be deemed a family based on each family’s love. 

And these are only some examples of what I don’t share with Giorgia Meloni’s political views.

But, despite all this, she was elected by my fellow citizens in a fair election, and she has all the right to lead my home country. I respect her because not thinking the same way is not a good reason to disrespect someone, and the world seems to forget this concept too often.

As long as she protects and promotes equality in my home country, I will be happy and satisfied with her presidency. I hope she will be a real example of what women can do, and I hope that Giorgia Meloni’s presidency can be another step forward to the day when women won’t have to “fight” anymore to be treated equally.