5-minute listening: Italy’s ‘imperfect’ models redefine beauty with diversity of ages, disabilities, genders
- Practise your English with our short listening exercises: play the audio linked below; answer the questions; and check the answers at the bottom of the page
- Imperfetta modelling agency has models of all sizes and ages, some with disabilities or medical conditions, visible scarring, or who have lost limbs
Sonia Sparta, one of Imperfetta’s models, has a rare skin disorder called hyperpigmentation that has caused her to have dark spots on her face and body. Photo: APQuestions
1. What did the Imperfetta modelling agency start as?
A. a shop that sells clothes for plus-size women
B. a project featuring everyday women and their flaws
C. a documentary about women from all walks of life
D. a modelling agency for teenagers
2. Which word can replace “defy” in the podcast?
A. resist
B. despise
C. violate
D. provoke
3. Who does “they” in the sentence “They are of all sizes and ages” refer to?
A. Carlotta Giancane
B. the models at Imperfetta
C. women with disabilities
D. all of the above
4. Which part of the world is mentioned in the podcast for having agencies similar to Imperfetta?
A. United States
B. Korea
C. Thailand
D. none of the above
5. What condition does Sonia Spartá have?
A. hyperpigmentation
B. alopecia
C. vitiligo
D. eczema
6. What does Spartá’s condition cause her to have?
A. bumps on her skin
B. severe hair loss
C. dry, itchy and inflamed skin
D. dark spots on her body
7. If you try to “conceal” something, you ...
A. keep it from others.
B. attempt to hide it.
C. do not want people to know about it.
D. all of the above
8. Which of the following best describes Spartá?
A. She regards her condition as a flaw and is doing her best to accept it.
B. Although she is now less conscious of her looks, she still feels hurt when people talk about her.
C. She has learned to embrace her condition and now sees it as a trait that makes her unique.
D. While she has learned to live with her condition, she is looking at ways to fix it.
9. What condition does Lucia Della Ratta suffer from?
A. blindness
B. albinism
C. alopecia
D. deafness
10. What did Ratta do in the past to hide her condition from others?
A. She dyed her hair.
B. She cut her hair.
C. She wore a hat.
D. none of the above
11. Based on your understanding of the podcast, what is likely Ratta’s “natural hair colour”?
A. jet-black
B. light blond
C. pale pink
D. brown
12. What happened to Ratta during the Covid-19 pandemic?
A. She caught the coronavirus.
B. She went to seek treatment.
C. She suffered from depression.
D. She decided to embrace her condition.
13. How was Desireé D’Angelo bullied at school according to the podcast?
A. Her classmates pulled off her hat.
B. Her peers ignored her.
C. Her classmates mocked her and said that she was from the circus.
D. Her peers pushed and hit her.
14. How many models does the agency have?
A. less than 50
B. more than 100
C. as many as 200
D. more than 500
15. Which of the following suggests that the models at Imperfetta are beginning to gain acceptance in mainstream media?
A. They have appeared in advertising campaigns in supermarkets.
B. There have been requests for them to appear in television commercials.
C. They have been cast as fashion runway models for a renowned designer.
D. all of the above
Answers
1. B
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. A
6. D
7. D
8. C
9. B
10. A
11. B
12. D
13. A
14. B
15. D
Script
Voice 1: A project on Instagram to highlight ordinary women and their imperfections has transformed into a modelling agency that aims to redefine notions of beauty in Italy. The name of the agency is Imperfetta, which is Italian for “imperfect”. It was started in 2020 by Carlotta Giancane and has a casting book full of models who defy the industry’s pre-established standards of beauty.
Voice 2: They are of all sizes and ages, spanning the gender spectrum. Some have disabilities or medical conditions like alopecia or vitiligo. Some have visible scarring or have lost limbs. Modelling agencies like this have existed elsewhere in Europe and the United States. This is the first of its kind in Italy.
Voice 1: Sonia Spartá, a 28-year-old from Sicily, is one of the models. She has heard adults whisper to children that she was from the circus when they saw the dark spots on her face and body, which are the result of a form of hyperpigmentation. Although she once tried to conceal her condition, she now is conscious of her beauty. Sparta said she learned to change her mindset so that what she used to perceive as a weakness became her source of strength and distinctiveness.
Voice 2: Another model, Lucia Della Ratta, is a university student in Rome. She hid her albinism for most of her life by colouring her pale hair in darker shades and using tanning lotions on her skin. Under the pandemic lockdown, she let her natural hair colour grow out and began posting photos on Instagram – and she felt beautiful for the first time in her life.
Voice 1: Desireé D’Angelo has had alopecia since she was 10 years old. At school, she wore a hat to hide the baldness, but bullies would yank it off. When she was 15, a dance teacher persuaded her to accept her condition and stop hiding it. Since then, she has become a successful dancer, performer and model.
Voice 2: The agency counts more than 140 models both in Italy and abroad, but it is focusing its work in Italy. Its models have appeared in advertising campaigns for cosmetic brands, fashion retailers and supermarkets. Much of the work is in online advertisements, but there have also been calls for the agency’s models in television commercials. Two have even appeared on the Milan fashion runway for designer Marco Rambaldi.