A real, existential need. The attention and participation with which dozens of young people followed the meeting with Francesco Cicconetti at FuoriLuogo for the review “L’École” it not only denotes intellectual curiosity but the will to understand something that is part of existence. Something like the air you breathe, but which too often is not perceived like this.
The chat with Inti Sartoretto and Vittoria Briccarello had the tone of a friendly exchange of experiences and impressions, but he tackled the issue of transsexuality touching several spheres, from psychology to ethics, from identity to the right to culture. A complex subject that becomes light thanks to the self-deprecating attitude, always attentive, lucid, often deeper than it wants to appear, of Cicconetti. That is the transsexual guy who signs Mehths on Instagram, where he has 158,000 followers.
Presented as a social activist and digital entrepreneur, Cicconetti remains calm and smiles: «I try to get involved in many projects – he says – I am more of a popularizer, I speak of transition in an objective but also subjective way, I try to be of help for someone ».
About her experience as a model for a fashion show she jokes: “It’s not my job.” She then she adjusts the shot: «But it was nice because it was a show with non-compliant people, like someone with a prosthesis, a short girl. It had a political value: it is not just a body that he wears, but he represents himself ».
We then moved on to the question of humor about transsexuality, based on stereotypes and prejudices. «The problem is when you laugh ‘at’ and not ‘with’ the trans person». The discourse has thus moved on to the question of the image that is given of people and of a theme that will be addressed on March 31, World Day of Transsexual Visibility. Cicconetti also anticipated the theme of his next post, the relationship between “cis gaze” and “male gaze”that is the way (the look) in which the transsexual and female figures are seen by men.
By introducing the issue of inclusive language, Cicconetti has played down: «I feel the ghost of Vera Gheno next to me». Praising the work of the sociolinguist, he also considered that «schwa is probably not the solution, it has many limits», and that «it must be recognized that there is a limit on language. Let’s find a solution all together. There is so much to improve. There is talk of schwa, but there is still a lot to be done before».
From inclusive language, it was a short step to talk about an inclusive city. Cicconetti talked about his experience as a student in Urbino. “It’s a city where 80 percent of young people are, but there is nothing for young people. In fact, it is not important to make the whole city inclusive, welcoming, but to create spaces where you can talk, discuss. I hope that in a city we can talk about everything, that we can choose between the things that may be of interest. We need to be aware that there are things that are of no interest to me but may be of interest to others».
The questions from the audience confirmed a certain existential urgency (“How much did the judgment of others influence you”? The transphobic attitude, the situation of the transition path), but it ended with a hint of the romantic relationship with the fiancée. «It also works thanks to my identity, now more solid. But before I was very wrong “.
Today, 24 March, at 6.30 pm FuoriLuogo will host the footballer Anderson Hernanes. The next appointment with «L’École» will be on 5 April with the artistic directors of the Spazio Kor theatrical season, Chiara Bersani and Giulia Traversi. –