Male or female title? Italy's new PM Meloni stirs gender debate

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rings the bell to signify the start of her first cabinet meeting, at Chigi Palace, in Rome, Italy, October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

MILAN (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni is Italy's first woman prime minister, but she is choosing to refer to herself using the masculine form of her new title - sparking a debate on the issues of female empowerment and political correctness.

In Italian, names can take a masculine or feminine form and Meloni's formal title of "Presidente del Consiglio" was preceded by the masculine article "il", rather than the feminine "la", in the first statement issued by her office on Sunday.