Better off married

Petra Paroubková, wife of ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek, has been making headlines recently. She is continuing her so-far unsuccessful fight with cartoonists and caricaturists who target her and has also launched a fight to improve her husband's image in the media.

Last Friday Paroubková asked graphic designer aTeo to remove photomontages of her, some depicting her as the heroine of the Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films. aTeo did so out of respect for her pregnancy. Previously she demanded apologies from Reflex and Mladá fronta Plus for cartoon depictions of her but failed.

In the middle of July, Paroubková published an ode to her husband on her blog, in which she praised Paroubek for his attention and care. The blog was read by more than 100,000 visitors and the comments that sprung up are certainly worth reading, too.

Paroubková's baby is due near the date of the October elections. Analysts say this might help her husband against Mirek Topolánek, who is still in the process of divorcing his wife and is campaigning without Lucie Talmanová, the mother of his son.

• Should a wife of a politician quietly accept media attacks?
• Can her activity help her husband?
• Does the marital status of a politician influence you as a voter?

Barbara Bindasová is a staff writer and translator at the Monitor. She is a graduate student of literature at Charles University.
You can reach her at barbara@praguemonitor.com. See more of her stories here.