By Deepa Babington
ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi wins applause from acrowd of flag-waving Italian women at an election rally when heurges them to cook for his party's candidates.
"Cook for our party's representatives -- and make thesustenance as sweet as possible," the 71-year old businessmantells them in the run-up to an election on Sunday and Monday inwhich he is seeking a third term as prime minister.
Other women have been outraged by such comments in acampaign that has underlined how men still dominate Italianpolitics and old stereotypes linger, despite the gains womenhave eked out over the years.
"Every now and then, I sometimes feel we in Italy live inpre-historic times," Marianna Madia, a 27-year old economistrunning for the rival Democratic Party in the parliamentaryelection, told Reuters.
Despite boasting a higher rate of education, Italian womenhave long lagged their male counterparts in politics. Just over17 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament and 14percent in the upper house are held by women.
This puts Italy 67th in a ranking of nations by the numberof women in parliament according to the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion, an international organisation of parliaments.
"The major parties on both sides have always been made upof men, and they take us for just mannequins in their windows,"said Daniela Santanche, a far-right candidate.
The likes of a woman such as Hillary Clinton in the UnitedStates or France's Segolene Royal challenging for thepremiership in Italy is not even on the horizon.
Even in Spain, which also has a reputation for maledomination of society, more than 36 percent of lawmakers arewomen.
"SHAMPOO-WOMEN"
The main forces in Italy's election -- Berlusconi'scentre-right People of Freedom alliance and Walter Veltroni'scentre-left Democratic Party -- are competing to presentthemselves as more women-friendly.
Veltroni says 46 percent of his parliamentary candidates'lists are composed of women. They were dismissed by aright-wing senator as "shampoo women at beauty parlours".
Berlusconi says that if he is re-elected, four of the 12ministers in his cabinet will be women, but rivals say he seeswomen only in a role of servitude and prominent womenpoliticians such as Santanche do not expect much change.
"Women, as they always have been, will be confined toportfolios such as equal opportunity, or if they are smart,schools, and if they are extremely smart, health," she said.
Some say the poor showing of women in Italian politics ishardly surprising given how they fare in other spheres of life.
Employment among Italian women stands at just 45 percent,among the lowest within the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development, the group says.
In the world of business, about 83 percent of managementranks are filled with men, according to a report this year.Excluding banks and insurers, 63 percent of companies listed onthe stock exchange did not have any women on their boards.
On Italian television, bikini-clad women sell everythingfrom mobile phones to ice cream and skimpily-clad andwell-endowed showgirls appear on talk shows, sometimes withraunchy dance numbers.
"Every young boy that watches television must ask himselfif women have a brain," Emma Bonino, a minister in the outgoinggovernment, once remarked.
Berlusconi, who said this week the women fielded by hisparty were prettier than those of the left, has also found aplace for show business beauties in his party.
Running for re-election from Berlusconi's party is MaraCarfagna -- a one-time "showgirl" -- while model Ramona Badescuis campaigning for city councillor in Rome.
But some say it is time for a change.
"It's not only a question of the number of women, but alsoa question of the quality of women put up and whether the womenin politics just fit into a male model of politics," saidMadia, the centre-left candidate.
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
