Mara Carfagna, a 33-year old former television showgirl, topless model, and finalist in the Miss Italy 1997 competition, has recently been appointed minister for Equal Opportunities within the cabinet of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has been described as a “playboy and man of ostentatious political gestures.” Carfagna, who graduated from law-school in 2001, became the subject of controversy when 71-year old Berlusconi admitted that if he was a single fellow, he would have proposed marriage instead. Naturally, Berlusconi’s wife was not pleased to hear such a statement.

Carfagna insists that although she has posed semi-naked for various calendars and lad mags, she is a woman of virtue and substance. She has also admitted that beauty isn’t a prerequisite for politics, but it sure doesn’t hurt:

“Being pretty helps you make relationships quickly, and the political world is a segment of society full of male chauvinists. But [these people] do not believe women can be serious and worthwhile politicians. It is not because of my beauty that my political career draws attention.

“I do not think it is an offence or a fault to have an appealing physique, and nor does it necessarily have to preclude me from dedicating myself to politics, to society and to the institutions. Any one who wants to linger just on my physique and face, well, let them have their fun.

“The compliments are flattering, but at the moment I am so incredibly shocked at my new position that any judgement on my looks has really faded into the background.”

Miss Carfagna has turned her back on her past and has outlined a broadly conservative and anti-abortion political stance. “I am not proud of [my television career]. It was not a life choice.

“It was a necessary route. I regret I did not discover politics sooner. This is the message I want to give to women and girls: it is not just by becoming a television presenter, a singer or a showgirl that you can get the most out of life.”

Hmm. Should gorgeous women be precluded from entering politics? Of course not. However, when the position is an appointed one, and the years since law school have been spent posing mostly naked, it sort of makes you question what the hell is going on in her apparently intelligent mind. Still, Carafagna has yet to demonstrate the extreme flexibility of Vladimir Poontang’s hot little dish, so let’s not rush into judgment just yet.

Images: Maxim Italy

Thanx to Flea for the *ahem* heads up on this one.