The INAF Brera Astronomical Observatory is organizing a series of monthly meetings for 2026 on issues of gender, disability, identity, aesthetic pressure, and neurodivergence, entitled “Shades of Red for the Coexistence of Differences.”
Title for the second conference 2026: “Double Discrimination: When Inclusion Stops Halfway.” Sex, Disability, and the Right to Not Be Invisible
Speaker: Dr.ssa Valentina Tomirotti – Journalist, content creator, and disability rights activist, expert in accessible and inclusive communication.
Date and Location: February 5, 2026 – 11:00 AM – At our headquarters in Merate – Via E. Bianchi 46.
In the afternoon, starting at 2:30 pm, the speaker will hold a small workshop (focus group) where we will have the opportunity to discuss some issues related to disabilities that affect our institute.
Abstract: Discrimination rarely comes alone. For many people, especially women with disabilities, it presents itself as a juxtaposition of barriers: gender, body type, and social expectations. This is known as double discrimination, but it is often also triple, systemic, and structural. Being a woman in a society still plagued by inequalities means fighting for authority, economic independence, and representation. Being a person with a disability means fighting against paternalism, invisibilization, and marginalization. When these two conditions meet, the risk isn’t just exclusion: it’s symbolic erasure. In this talk, we’ll analyze how double discrimination operates in workplace contexts, the media, sports, public policies, and cultural narratives. But above all, we’ll discuss power: who represents whom? Who decides which bodies are credible, desirable, and competent? This talk aims to shift the focus from welfare to self-determination, from the rhetoric of “inclusion” to the real redistribution of opportunity and voice. Because simply adding a ramp or a quota isn’t enough: we need to rethink systems. Double discrimination isn’t a theoretical category. It’s a lens through which to interpret the present. And a starting point for changing the rules of the game.
