TV pulls the plug on Miss Italia pageant
Source: Agencies |
July 18, 2013, Thursday
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THE organizer of Italy's Miss Italia beauty pageant is criticizing the state-run television network's decision not to broadcast this year's contest, a step that comes as audiences for the show have dwindled and amid pressure to improve how women are portrayed in the Italian media.
Miss Italia's finals have been shown on RAI in September for 25 years. But the broadcaster's general director, Luigi Gubitosi, was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the Italian news agency ANSA that "the format by now has become outdated."
Scantily clad women are a mainstay of much of Italian TV, with everything from quiz shows to talk shows featuring leggy showgirls on state channels as well as on private networks. The formula was championed by media mogul Silvio Berlusconi on the nation's three main private networks before he became a political leader.
On Monday, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, hailed the decision to abandon the traditional transmission of the contest finals as a "civilized and modern choice."
"I hope that Italian young women will have the chance to be appreciated, even on television, in a different way than by parading with numbers on them," she told a conference on violence against women.
'Silly questions'
But Patrizia Mirigliani, the organizer of the contest, blasted RAI's decision, saying the broadcaster, which is funded partially by taxpayers, should instead try to modernize the show's format. She insisted that the beauty pageant doesn't degrade women.
"In the past years, I've worked hard to change the competition, keeping it up-to-date," she said. "Miss Italia is about a woman who is beautiful, but also complete and eager for challenges. But this idea hasn't come through" on TV, she contended.
For example, Mirigliani said, TV emcees have clung to the format of asking the contestants what she called "silly questions."
Boldrini suggested there was a clear connection between sexism on television and physical abuse against women.
"If women are made into objects, the distance from there to violence is small," Boldrini said.
But Mirigliani called Miss Italia a "show for families" and noted that such pageants are shown on television around the world.
Miss Italia's finals have been shown on RAI in September for 25 years. But the broadcaster's general director, Luigi Gubitosi, was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the Italian news agency ANSA that "the format by now has become outdated."
Scantily clad women are a mainstay of much of Italian TV, with everything from quiz shows to talk shows featuring leggy showgirls on state channels as well as on private networks. The formula was championed by media mogul Silvio Berlusconi on the nation's three main private networks before he became a political leader.
On Monday, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, hailed the decision to abandon the traditional transmission of the contest finals as a "civilized and modern choice."
"I hope that Italian young women will have the chance to be appreciated, even on television, in a different way than by parading with numbers on them," she told a conference on violence against women.
'Silly questions'
But Patrizia Mirigliani, the organizer of the contest, blasted RAI's decision, saying the broadcaster, which is funded partially by taxpayers, should instead try to modernize the show's format. She insisted that the beauty pageant doesn't degrade women.
"In the past years, I've worked hard to change the competition, keeping it up-to-date," she said. "Miss Italia is about a woman who is beautiful, but also complete and eager for challenges. But this idea hasn't come through" on TV, she contended.
For example, Mirigliani said, TV emcees have clung to the format of asking the contestants what she called "silly questions."
Boldrini suggested there was a clear connection between sexism on television and physical abuse against women.
"If women are made into objects, the distance from there to violence is small," Boldrini said.
But Mirigliani called Miss Italia a "show for families" and noted that such pageants are shown on television around the world.
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