Vera Gheno | Normal bodies: on the concept of normality

Sconfinare Festival 2025 OLTRE IL MURO |Saturday, October 11 | 2:00 p.m.

What does it mean to be “normal”? And who decides what that is? Starting from her latest book, Nessunə è normale (UTET, 2025), Vera Gheno guides us through a brilliant reflection on one of the most ambiguous and powerful concepts of our time. By analyzing words—their use, their history, their social implications—the author dismantles stereotypes and conventions that too often define people's bodies, identities, and lives. A sociolinguist, popularizer, and one of the most followed voices in contemporary public debate, Vera Gheno invites us to question the language we use and the norms we construct, often without realizing it. This meeting, intertwining linguistic reflection, personal experience, and critical thinking, aims to rethink the concept of normality and open up new spaces for listening.

The meeting will be moderated by Sandra Sain, cultural journalist.

Vera Gheno is a sociolinguist, writer, and translator. She has collaborated with the Accademia della Crusca for over twenty years and is currently a researcher at the University of Florence. Attentive to the relationships between language, society, and inclusion, she is the author of numerous essays, scientific articles, and monographs. Her publications include Femminili singolari. Il femminismo è nelle parole (effequ, 2021), Grammamanti. Immaginare futuri con le parole (Einaudi, 2024), and Nessunə è normale (UTET, 2025). She hosts the podcast Amare Parole for Il Post.