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GENDER EQUALITY

Italian TV show investigated after outrage over ‘sexy shopping’ tutorial

Italian state broadcaster Rai has opened an investigation into why one of its shows on Tuesday offered female viewers advice on how to look sexy while shopping in the supermarket.

Published: 25 November 2020 17:53 CET
Updated: 26 November 2020 09:57 CET
Italian TV show investigated after outrage over 'sexy shopping' tutorial
A show on Italian public television advised women on how to be seductive at the supermarket. Screenshot: Detto Fatto, Rai 2.
Viewers took to social media to express their anger and disbelief after the “Detto Fatto” show on Rai offered a tutorial on pushing a supermarket trolley while wearing high heels, instructed women on the most “sensual” way to pick up items dropped on the floor, and offered tips on seducing fellow shoppers.
 
“Is it 1970? No, 2020, almost 2021,” said one Twitter user.
 

Many pointed out the poor timing of the episode, aired just before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25th.

 
“If this is what public television thinks it should teach women, we are troubled as a society,” wrote another Italian Twitter user.
 
“As a woman I would not have participated in this farce. As a TV viewer I have mixed feelings: disgust for the show, shame for the broadcaster, anger because I pay the license fee,” commented another.
 
Many social media users from outside Italy questioned whether  the clip was real, or a parody.
The public broadcaster announced it would be investigating how and why the segment was allowed to be aired, after government ministers asked for an explanation from the channel’s management.
 
“How long must we continue talking about women in a fake, stereotypical way, with stiletto heels, sexy movements, always perfect, mermaids or witches?” asked Italy's agricultural minister Teresa Bellanova on Twitter.

 
“Obviously I’ve begun an investigation to ascertain responsibility and we are evaluating the future of this programme,” Rai’s CEO Fabrizio Salini said in a statement to the media on Wednesday
 
He said the segment had “nothing to do with the spirit of the public service and with the editorial line of Rai.”
 

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FOOTBALL

‘We’re pioneers’: Barça’s La Masia academy finally opens its doors to women

Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Guardiola and Piqué are among the FC Barcelona stars who kicked off their careers through the Catalan team's youth system. For the first time in 42 years, La Masia has now opened its doors to female football players; this is their story.

Published: 9 November 2021 12:24 CET
'We're pioneers': Barça's La Masia academy finally opens its doors to women
Photo: Pau Barrena/AFP

When Claudia Riumallo Pineda wakes up, it does not take her long to know where she is.

From her bedroom window she can see the Johan Cruyff Stadium inside Barcelona’s Ciutat Esportiva training ground, where she dreams of one day playing for the women’s first team.

She is on the right track. The 18-year-old is one of nine trailblazers who this season became the first female players to enrol at La Masia, Barca’s famed football academy and proving ground for the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernández.

Since its opening in 1979 as an old house next to Camp Nou, La Masia has never had female residents.

But the women’s team has been knocking on the door for a long time, with Barcelona Femeni winning the Champions League, Liga Femenina and Copa de la Reina last season.

“This year they have given us La Masia, which is a gift,” says Claudia, who for years had to travel an hour by car from her town of Girona just to be able to train with girls.

After playing for local rivals Espanyol, she now represents Barçaa B and in the afternoons studies chemistry at university.

Shaken by financial crisis and the unexpected departure of Messi, most of the good news around the club these days comes from the women’s team.

As well as last season’s treble, Barca’s captain Alexia Putellas was chosen as UEFA’s best player of the year and is now also nominated, along with four teammates, for the Women’s Ballon d’Or.

“It’s a huge responsibility because we are the pioneers but it’s also nice to know that you are one of the first women to go to La Masia,” says Laura Coronado, an 18-year-old goalkeeper.

Coronado’s photo, like that of the 105 others at La Masia spread across the club’s five professional sports, now hangs in the reception of the more modern complex that took over from the original in 2011.

Gavi, the latest gem of the men’s team, arrived when he was eleven years old and continues to live there. The 19-year-old Ansu Fati is also a former resident.

“The good thing we have at this club is the mirror is very clear,” explains Markel Zubizarreta, sporting director of Barcelona Femeni. “We just have to look at the men’s side to see what we have to aim for.”

Barcelona's women's B team Spanish forward Claudia Riumallo Pineda (L) and  goalkeeper Laura Coronado pose after a training session at the La Masia Residence (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)
Barcelona’s women’s B team Spanish forward Claudia Riumallo Pineda (L) and  goalkeeper Laura Coronado pose after a training session at the La Masia Residence (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)
 

 From strength to strength

In the corridor heading towards the games room is another reminder: a muralon the wall in tribute to the game between Levante and Barca on November 25, 2012.

It was another win that contributed to Barca winning the title that year but also a milestone for La Masia, after Barcelona had 11 homegrown players on the pitch, not to mention the coach, the late Tito Vilanova.

At that time it was difficult to imagine how the female team could find breathing space at a club where the men’s team was so dominant — but the women’s game continues to go from strength to strength.

In 2020, there were 77,400 licensed female players in Spain, 7.2 percent of all the federated footballers, according to statistics from the Ministry of Sports.

It is still a small figure, but a clear improvement from 2011, when there were only 36,200, 4.3 percent of the total.

“There are many things that are still missing, such as professionalisation in the League,” says Coronado.

“We know the salaries are not going to be equal, but we would like to be able to live more comfortably from football, and that’s what we’re fighting for.”

Spain’s Ministry for Sport approved the professionalisation of La Liga Femenina in June but negotiations to see it through are proving complicated.

Barcelona’s women’s B team players attend a training session at the La Masia youth academy. Photo: Pau Barrena/AFP
 

For all

Like many of her generation, Barca defender Jana Fernández started out playing with boys.

At six years old, she convinced her parents to let her join her local team and, now 19, she has already won the treble. But the road has not been easy.

“I try to remind the girls who are at La Masia now to take advantage as much as possible because I would have loved to be here,” explains Fernández, who combines professional football with a career in advertising.

Women’s sport has taken a big leap in recent years, but there is still work to do.

“We want to fight to get more and more for those playing now,” says Fernández. “And for those that are still to come.”

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