Women throughout the ages have always been considered inferior to men, so that they struggled to obtain their rights. It wasn’t always like this actually, e.g. women in Etruscan society (IV century b.C.) could attend banquets and receive an education.
In modern ages, and especially since the end of WWII, women around the world have begun to conquer their rights, with protests and tough efforts. However there are still forms of male chauvinism that do not allow women to hold important working roles: Italy for instance have had its first female Prime minister only in 2022 when Giorgia Meloni was elected.
“Gender disinformation” is the dissemination of fake news (inaccurate or unverified news, false images) with the intention of tarnish the reputation of women in positions of power, such as politicians, journalists or activists and limit their influence on public opinion.
An example of this was analyzed by the Luiss Data Lab, together with the project #ShePersisted: several cases of fake news against prominent Italian figures are reported, especially politicians. The data found speak quite clearly: most of the insults and fake news analyzed portray political exponents as “enemies of families and children” or “incompetent to play their role”.
