Lorella Zanardo

It is very important to represent gender equality in the media, especially in television and on the web, because images deeply influence our representation of the world. The video documentary ”WOMEN BODIES” took off as a matter of urgency. It all started with the observation that women–real women–are an endangered species on television, one that is being replaced by a grotesque, vulgar and humiliating representation.

Ms Zanardo sensed the enormity of a loss: the erasure of women’s identity is happening right before our eyes, but without a proper reaction, not even from women themselves.

This led her to select television images that share a common manipulative exploitation of the woman’s body, to let people know what is happening–not only people who never watch television, but especially those who watch it but “don’t see.”

Her aim is to pose questions about the reason behind this ereasure, a real “pogrom” of which all of us are silent spectators. The project grants special attention to the erasure of adult women faces on television, to the use of plastic surgery to diminsh signs of the passage of time, and to the social consequences of this erasure.

The videohas been watched by 10 millions people and gave birth to a real new awareness among women both in Italy and abroad. Ms Zanardo then wrote a book in order to convey the message even further.

Additional information

Since 2009, she is traveling around Italy and Europe giving lectures in schools and university with the aim of raising awareness on gender stereotypes.

She is the creator of the Media Education Program “New Eyes for the Media” for students aged 14-19. She has already trained nearly 50 thousand boys and girls giving them instruments to better understand gender stereotypes in the media.

The International Alliance for Women awarded Ms Lorella Zanardo for her contribution to making “all the difference in the world” in relation toeconomic improvement of women.