ROME More than 1,000 men gathered in the Italian seaside resort of Viareggio Saturday to campaign for their right to be "househusbands".

"Men have a natural disposition towards house work," Lorenzo Bresciani, the promoter of the first conference on men who work at home told Italian state television Rai. "We need to explore this disposition and recall some of our long forgotten values," Bresciani said.

The conference, the first of its kind in Italy, will discuss cooking, darning and house keeping methods that are seen to be most suitable for men.