short circuit of political correctness –

Marco Zonetti

August 01, 2024

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games, more than a sporting event, now seem like a backstage segment on Dancing with the Stars. In fact, not a day goes by without some social uproar overshadowing the feats of the Olympic athletes in favor of controversies that last a few hours. The latest in chronological order concerns an article in Repubblica that, yesterday, exalted the winners of the gold medal in women’s epee, the Italians Rossella Fiamingo, Giulia Rizzi, Alberta Santuccio and Maria Navarria. The newspaper headlined on its social profiles as follows: “Italy gold in team epee, French defeated at home. The 4 queens: Diletta Leotta’s friend, the Frenchwoman, the psychologist, the mother”.

We have seen for decades that when a woman’s successes are “paid tribute” in Italy, surnames disappear, titles disappear, the family role of mother or wife is emphasized, but “Diletta Leotta’s friend” is probably the lowest point ever reached. pic.twitter.com/zRve9cq80s

— Ventotene Committee (@ComVentotene) July 31, 2024

First controversy: the title “mom” seemed to many to be demeaning of the athlete’s professionalism, and not politically correct enough, and so he quietly became “veteran”. Not enough. Shortly after, the web’s attacks focused on that epithet “friend of Diletta Leotta”, almost as atrocious – according to social media users – as “mom”. And so, also pushed by the criticism of the former fencer Margherita Granbassi on live TV, the newspaper was then forced to change it to “the musician” and then delete the post from its social media pages.

Repubblica therefore falls victim to the politically correct drift that it has often defended tooth and nail, experiencing that writing anything has become a minefield. With pitfalls hidden in every word, adjective, verb, adverb. Even the most innocent ones like “mamma”. If the four gold medal winners – can we say that? – have not commented so far, Diletta Leotta has done so in an Instagram story, addressing Rossella Fiamingo with a diplomatic: “Proud and honored to be your friend, champion”. A jab at politically correct.