Hi Italy x

So after hearing about the hospitalisation of #that man, I went into a rabbit hole and found out about the ‘veline’ model and how popular it had become during the 2000s due to his influence on the media. I learnt there were whole shows directed to the genre and how deep it went, including the eventual scandal. I tried to find more articles on this in English; most seemed to have dried up by [2012](https://www.businessinsider.com/the-bunga-bunga-era-on-italian-tv-is-over-2012-11?r=US&IR=T). Some articles even said many Italian girls wanted to become ‘veline’!

This leaves me with a few questions since it’s kinda unknown on the english side: Are velines still popular on italian tv/culture? Is being a ‘veline’ still a popular job and do young girls still aspire to be one? and a more lengthy questions which I’d love to hear, How did the downfall of the ‘Veline’ happen?

28 comments

  1. They’re a lot less common than they were during the first years of 2000. Shows like “Non è la Rai” and “Bagaglino” kind of Veline don’t exist anymore. The only exception is “Striscia la Notizia” were two girl dance just in the first 30 seconds of program and then they’re never seen again, unless there’s a comedic bit.

  2. I don’t watch that much tv nowadays, and growing up my family has avoided all tv channels that were his.

    In my opinion, there are still programs were you see these veline, but luckily not many. To be honest, in 2023 I think young girls aspire more to be an influencer than a velina, that’s just not seen as a current job anymore.

    On why the downfall happened I can’t really say, but I believe the cultural damage he brought to Italy is still tangible today. And the veline are only the tip of the iceberg.

  3. Up to early 1990’s “velina” was journo slang for “breaking news, somewhat ignored by other media till now”. Then some popular tv show used the term to define the skimpy scantily dressed thots coming on the stage to give a paper with the latest “velina” to the show anchorman. It’s a term that describes a function, not a job. If a woman is OK with posing half-naked on stage, there’s a different (and even more derogatory) term to describe it. Fun fact, during 1950-1960’s they were called “starlettes” or “soubrettes”.

  5. > How did the downfall of the ‘Veline’ happen?

    Pretty young women can now show themselves naked on Instagram, hence superseded “veline”.

    > Some articles even said many Italian girls wanted to become ‘veline’!

    Many italian, british, american, chinese, etc. girls want to become instagrammers/tiktokers or generally “influencers”. The difference between now and then is that their social media manager will spam some “girl power” post every now and then, followed by an OnlyFans link.

    The dynamic is the same: young, attractive girls trade their looks for money.

  7. No, they barely survive in Striscia la Notizia and they’re not famous since some years, I have no idea who are the current veline for examples.

  8. Nowadays, very few TV shows have the Veline/showgirls (I recall only 2 shows) and the difference is that now those shows have also showmen.

    Anyway, in the past Veline were popular among girls because it was a springboard for the show business. Most of the Veline did that job for 1-2 years and after that they were able to get other jobs like sponsor advertisings or television hosts (I hope the translation is right). Anyway, not everyone was so lucky, but some of them became really famous. For example, one of the girlfriends of George Clooney was a Velina (Elisabetta Canalis) when she was younger.

  9. The peak was Sara from the show Eredità, the rest is background noise. I literally watched the show just to see her, the game is stupid and I hate it with immense prejudice because only takes time from me watching her. There is a video of me finding out she was no longer on the show [https://youtu.be/8MUc-rQD8j0?t=12](https://youtu.be/8MUc-rQD8j0?t=12)

    https://preview.redd.it/6nbr329dbosa1.jpeg?width=928&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=220ef4577445c371b9bf310b034c4a7d9af2f751

  10. Because nowadays there is Instagram, in which even the common girl can be worshipped.

    It’s called democratization lol

  11. They got big in the late 90s with popular ones like Laura Freddi, Miriana Trevisan, Alessia Merz, Elisabetta Canalis and Maddalena Corvaglia. The reason is that they were the only sexy girls you’d see on tv every day, and they ended up dating celebrities

    Then people got internet and they became less relevant because you could find porn

  15. Striscia la Notizia manages to survive to this day somehow, so I guess they still are a thing to a degree. Haven’t watched TV a bit, but in the 2000s I remember A LOT more scantily dressed women on Mediaset shows than a few years ago, so it seems to be not that popular anymore.

  16. I don’t have a Tv, so I only get to see them when I am at my relatives house on Christmas and such.

    The Tv show “striscia la notizia” still has them, they’re on air every night I believe but I don’t think they’re as popular, I don’t most Italians would know their name, they’re definitely not the cultural phenomenon they were in the 90s and the 2000.

    In the 90s they were popular, but it was only at “striscia la notizia” and a few other girls. It was almost “innocent” (sort of) and they were admired by young girls who wanted to look like them. They promoted all sort of stuff, including make up and clothes. They were on the cover of magazines.

    In the 2000s there was an explosion, every show had them, they literally multiplied. Some show had 4, some had as much as 8 or more. They were know as letterine, microfonine, meteorine, professoresse, and much more. Even a satirical show had they’re own version, letteronze. Show who never had them put them on. They were everywhere.

    Granted based on the quality of the show and how trashy it was they could be more or less dressed and the framing could be more or less vouyeristic, yet they were there, doing nothing and looking pretty. Some Mediaset shows had them dance and filmed them in a way that was beyond objectifying and straight up soft porn, with close up on their tits and close up below their skirts.

    Even though they were everywhere in the late 2000 they lost a bit the appeal they had in the late 90s, perhaps because there were too many girls it was hard to keep track and become invested, but also because they became more and more sexy and sexualised “The velina” of the 90s and Early 2000 was super sexy but in a “girl next door” kinda way, and aspirational for the girls who wanted to dress like her, and be her. The girls at striscia la notizia dressed in bright colours and had minimal trendy make up. Then it became this bomb shell character and girls maybe wanted to look like them but certainly not dress like them.

    So probably there was an over saturation, and trends shifted.

    Then a couple of things happened that really buried the phenomenon.

    – the critiques : even in Italy which has a very high tolerance those images weren’t deemed appropriate of daytime and prime time televisions by some. The documentary “il corpo delle donne” (the body of women 2009) went “viral” and it wasn’t even a real documentary or well made, it was just a voice over on low quality stock footage of said girls, a super edit compilation basically, with a think piece read in voicer, but it was available on YouTube and and it got massive traction.

    – the scandals and the multiple investigations involving some of the girls, Berlusconi dinners, and so on. I don’t even remember all of them.

    Anyhow by 2012 of the hundreds of girls you could see in every show only a few stayed.

    Thanks to these two things, the scandal and outrage, coupled with the fall of Berlusconi government the sentiments around them switched quite quickly, and that is probably why you don’t find things about them after 2012.

    Nowadays as I said even the few girls who are on Tv in that capacity are less relevant, Tv itself it’s lees relevant.

    The girls to aspire and copy have been replaced by influencers.

  17. The phenomenon has evolved a little bit – even in a conservative society like ours #metoo and cancel culture have changed customs in the past few years – but you’ll still see a modern version of the Velina in public figures like Diletta Leotta. The underlying concept is that an attractive woman has to be brilliant, but not enough to outstage the men for any merit other than looks.

  21. Now I’m gonna tell my fellow nationals something that will blow their minds!

    The Gabibbo has a secret life in the US as “Big Red”, the mascot of Western Kentucky University! Look him up!

  22. Not really, if you watch Italian tv shows from the 2000s you will see always beautiful girls always half-naked with boobs and ass in show, if you watch an average tv show now girls are all dressed and there are even male “velini” (soubrettes) lol

  25. Essere adolescente nell’epoca in cui si alternarono Canalis, Satta e Palmas be like 🤤💦💦💦💦

  26. not really the downfall of the veline was simply due to the fact that TV is less popular thatn it used to be.

    being selected to be a velina at the time mean getting famous for 2-3 years and if you were lucky maybe getting into a relationship with a pro soccer player.

    now i don’t think i’ve seen their faces in a few years

  27. In the 2000s Veline sometimes participated in other TV programs. Nowadays, due to the audience decline of TVs and the facts that becoming an influencer let’s you express yourself more, the figure of “Velina” is in steep decline.

    In Striscia la Notizia (the program known for having Veline) these girls just danced and stayed still smiling.
    This phenomenon was so popular in Italy that we also had another TV program that selected the next couple of Veline.
    Later, it also became popular “Velone”, a version in which old ladies would compete with songs and dances to win a prize.

    Sometimes “Velini” (a male version) would also pop up in Striscia la Notizia, but they never became a thing, since Mediaset (especially in the 2000s) was very focused on showing female figures.

  28. “Veline” evolved into “Influencers”; nowadays young girls want to become like Chiara Ferragni

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