Italy: Vladimir Luxuria and the lure of the TV screen

http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/view_from_bologna/2008/12/vladimir-luxuria-and-the-lure-of-the-tv-screen/
12/7/2008

Last week, seemingly against the odds, Vladimir Luxuria won the Italian reality-tv game show L'Isola dei Famosi (a type of 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here'). What makes her victory worth discussing - outside of the tv pundity columns - is that she is a) transgender, and b) a former member of parliament for the Rifondazione Comunista party. Take those two factors together, alongside the crushing defeat of the Italian left after more than 15 years of Berlusoni's presence on the political stage, and you have something worth probing.