I was lucky to encounter a real manifestation in Madrid. I didn’t want to leave the country without filming a real manifestation to show my students.
On this occasion, people were marching to celebrate the International Day of the Working Woman (“You are working women, right?” a waiter asked us at a restaurant. “In that case, congratulations!”) and protest sexism. Spain has made amazing strides in its fight against sexism since the end of the woman-hating dictatorship of Franco in 1975. Today, in terms of gender equality, Spain has left not only all other Spanish-speaking countries but also the US far behind in the dust.
It was, of course, very entertaining to see Soviet flags at a manifestation against sexism and in defense of reproductive rights. Given that under these very banners Stalin had issued a law that punished both women seeking abortions and doctors performing them by death, the presence of the banners at this particular manifestation was pretty hilarious. The protesters justified this strange choice with a slogan saying, “There is no fight for gender rights without a class war.” Well, as you can see, these are all very young people. They have all the time in the world to read their history textbooks.
“Without feminism there is no Socialism” the slogan behind the flags says. Yes, tell that to the Soviets, the Cubans, or the Chinese.
In the middle, you can see the flags of the Spanish Republic (the red, yellow, and purple.) What the purple flag means I have no idea.
“No to sexist salaries!” and “Paying for the King and his mistress? I’m fed up!” said these slogans.
“Neither yes-men nor yes-women” and “No to domestic violence irrespective of gender or age.”
I would keep filming but my sister didn’t appreciate my journalistic enthusiasm. “You are a pregnant woman!” she said in a terrifying whisper and dragged me away.
Clarissa's Blog 
Sorry Clarissa but daughter in Rome e-mailed me to say: Habemus Pap Pap!!!!.
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Hooper, in The New Spaniards, http://www.amazon.com/New-Spaniards-2nd-John-Hooper/dp/0141016094, says the reason the reforms are going down so easily is that women still do most of the housework. Apparently women do 5+ hours of housework-childcare while men do less than 1 hour, so their having gone to work and having other rights and so on is OK because it does not disturb the leisure of the men. Thoughts?
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I have had several discussions about housework on this blog. The comments by my female readers convinced me that they will not give up the fight for doing the bulk of housework without a fight. We won’t be able to pry the vacuum machine from their cold dead hands, it seems, because they it’s an identity-building device.
In developed countries, the ONLY reason to do more housework than one’s partner is by personal choice. Here are our discussions where women defend their right to be doormats for men passionately and aggressively:
https://clarissasblog.com/2010/08/02/can-i-be-an-appendage-to-a-man-but-still-call-myself-a-feminist/
https://clarissasblog.com/2009/10/04/feminism-and-taking-a-mans-name/
I wasn’t talking about any legal reforms, though. I was talking about the horror and outrage that people from Spain experience when they see how incredibly sexist the US TV shows and ads are and hear the hugely offensive sexist discussions by their US peers. This is a change in consciousness that no legislation can achieve.
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My mother happened to be in Italy on the May 1 once… She discovered various demonstrations occurring in different places around the city… The one resembling the Soviet May 1 demonstrations the most belonged… to the “Red Brigades”. 🙂 So her Italian colleagues had to drag her away… 🙂
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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Your sister is being protective! I find this amusing.
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You have no idea! The nasty looks she gave me every time I lifted a cup of coffee to my lips were priceless.
I remember changing her nappies, and now she is all grown up and very strict. 🙂
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