“Shame on you, you’re old”, “You get the money from the state”, “Look at you, you’re in bad shape”, “Go retireAnd so on, with the series of all those disturbing and gratuitous offenses of which the undergrowth of the web people is capable (but not only that, eh…).
These are just some of the insults that Licia Colò received on her social profile after promoting an event inspired by the Bosco Grande fire in the Montiferru area, in Sardinia. Words thrown once again with brutal lightness by those who, certainly taking advantage of the distance of a screen, forget that there is a person on the other side and throw down random nastiness, for the sake of who knows what. And from those who perhaps Licia Colò had already followed her since the days of Bim Bum Bam and had fallen in love with her or, worse, from women. All against another woman, a professional, a voice that for decades has been talking about the planet, animals, nature, our relationship with the Earth.
The presenter chose not to pretend nothing happened and announced that she will report the authors of the insults. He did so by publishing a video on social media, not to fuel a new controversy, but to make a point: why online hatred cannot continue to be considered “just one comment”.
How is it that people feel entitled to make judgments about anyone’s work? And then what society do we live in if chronological age is used as an insult?, he said.
A question that concerns everyone, considering that the problem is certainly not what was written to a famous person, but the terrible message that passes: that a woman, having reached a “certain age”, must hide, change herself, leave space for others. As if experience, competence and passion had an expiry date.
Licia Colò, who turned 64 last July 7, responded by claiming just the opposite:
I’m happy, I’m 64 years old, I’m happy to appear plain and simple even on social media, because I don’t give a damn.
A simple but powerful phrase, since a world in which women are often asked to always be young, perfect and impeccable, accepting the passing of time can become an act of freedom.
Yet, as the presenter herself admitted, certain words hurt:
On the one hand I don’t care, on the other hand it still hurts.
Of course, right? Even those accustomed to public exposure can be affected by the violence of the words. And suffer through it. Even those who have a long career, a community that follows them and a recognized voice can find themselves faced with an avalanche of gratuitous malice.
Social media should be places of discussion, not spaces where you feel entitled to demolish someone. Behind every profile there is a person. And no like, no keyboard and no virtual distance can erase it.
