Rai, the Italian state broadcaster, has stoked controversy with plans to create TV channels based around heteronormative gender stereotypes.

Rai, the Italian state broadcaster, has stoked controversy with plans to create TV channels based around heteronormative gender stereotypes.

Under the plans there would be one channel aimed at men, airing films such as Rambo, with a separate service for women.



Amid an instant backlash, a source told The Guardian: “There are lots of channels that are targeted according to age and gender. Take, for example, the film Rambo. It’s obvious that this would appeal more to a male audience.”

“There are lots of channels that are targeted according to age and gender.”

The source added that the idea was to allow advertisers to target audiences more effectively, and called the row “ridiculous.”

“This plan is not intended to discriminate. It never came to mind to create a channel about sewing or one called Rai Men and another called Rai Woman. That would be offensive.”

Italian leaders criticise plans

Vladimir Luxuria, an Italian actor and LGBT+ who became Europe’s first openly trans MP in 2006, has called for a boycott of Rai should the plans go ahead.

She told PinkNews: “This plan seems quite antiquated to me. We live in a time where gender shouldn’t preclude women from being astronauts (like the Italian, Samantha Cristoforetti), truck drivers or political leaders.

“Do we need a specific channel for women? Would it be a channel with romance movies, kitchen shows and gossip? Taste overcomes gender, so why not let audiences decide what they want to watch regardless of gender.”

Salvatore Margiotta, a Democratic senator, called the proposals “frankly incomprehensible.”USIGRai, the Italian journalists’ union, said in a statement that the “division on the basis of gender is unacceptable and risks opening up the door to the worst stereotypes.”

“As we try to overcome gender discrimination, in 2019, having one public channel that is dedicated to a female audience and another to a male audience is crazy. But it seems to be in line with the subculture of this government,” he said.

“Having one public channel that is dedicated to a female audience and another to a male audience is crazy.”

—Salvatore Margiotta, Italian senator

It was first reported on Friday (April 19) that Rai would reorganise its content along gender lines to replace two ailing channels: Rai Movie and Rai Premium.

While the stations bring in a reported €30m (£26m) in annual advertising revenue, they both suffer from low ratings.

Rai is part-funded by an annual television license, with the remainder of its budget coming from advertising sales.

This isn’t the first time that Italian media has come under fire for archaic views on gender and sexuality.

In January, the newspaper Libero ran a headline which appeared to link economic decline with an increase in LGBT+ people.

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Charlize Theron has revealed that her eldest child Jackson—who was originally introduced to the world as a boy—is actually a girl.

Charlize Theron reveals that her child Jackson, who was introduced to the world as a boy, is actually a girl (Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty)

Charlize Theron has revealed that her eldest adopted child Jackson—who was originally introduced to the world as a boy—is actually a girl and now being raised as one.

When asked about Jackson’s gender identity yesterday by The Daily Mail, Theron replied: “Yes, I thought she was a boy too. Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: ‘I am not a boy!'”



The actress said she has “two beautiful daughters” and said she hopes to see them both thrive.

Charlize Theron on her daughters: ‘Who they want to be is not for me to decide’

The acclaimed actress continued: “They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide.”

She told the publication that her job as a mother is to celebrate and love her children regardless of their identities.

Theron also said that her parenting has been inspired by her own mother.

“Yes, I thought she was a boy too. Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: ‘I am not a boy!'”

– Charlize Theron on her daughter Jackson

“I was taught by my mom that you have to speak up; you have to be able to know that, when this life is over, you’ll have lived the truth you’re comfortable with, and that nothing negative can come from that.”

Theron has spoken in the past about her difficult upbringing with an alcoholic and violent father.

Charlize Theron reveals that her child Jackson, who was introduced to the world as a boy, is actually a girl (Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty)

Charlize Theron: ‘Who wants to tell that story?’

The actress told Howard Stern in 2017 that her mother shot and killed her father in self-defence.

“I just pretended like it didn’t happen. I didn’t tell anybody—I didn’t want to tell anybody. Whenever anybody asked me, I said my dad died in a car accident. Who wants to tell that story? Nobody wants to tell that story.”She said that people did not know “how to respond” when she told them the story, and said she did not want to “feel like a victim.”

“I struggled with that for many years until I actually started therapy,” she said.

This is not the first time Theron has opened up about Jackson’s gender identity. In an interview with Access last year, Theron hinted that her child was a girl.

“I look at my two beautiful girls, and I think I have the worry that every mother has out there. I don’t think it’s any different. I want them to be safe, and I want them to live their full potential,” she said.

Charlize Theron is a long-time LGBT+ activist

Theron is a long-time LGBT+ activist. In 2009, she said she would not marry her then boyfriend Stuart Townsend until equal marriage was a reality across the US.

In 2017, she played a bisexual spy in Atomic Blonde. That same year, she revealed in an interview with Andy Cohen that she has had same-sex sexual experiences.

“Ooh! When I was young, yes. When you’re young you’re just kind of exploring it all. But it was pretty clear that I really like dudes.”

Asked about playing a bisexual character, she said: “Why not? It’s just so strange when we talk so much about it. It should be normalised by now.

“It’s something I feel is not represented enough in cinema… I feel that when you make movies, if you’re going to hold that mirror up and reflect society, then you should reflect society.”

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Falconairy Comic on Indiegogo

           Falconairy: A transgender superhero in a Steampunk World.
         If you are fans of the Wizard of Oz, like LGBTQ and Steampunk Stories?
         You are going to love this teen and work friendly comic for Channel 17Uinn.
         

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/falconairy/x/20660962?create_edit=true#/

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