Today is March 8, working women’s day! If you have ever read me, you will know that I am quite critical of current feminism. Perhaps they expect a cultural analysis that shows the false premises of militant feminism. They can wait seated. Why would I write about this? For years I have been saying that the final battle would be between feminists and transsexuals, and nobody listened to me. Don’t worry, I’m used to nobody paying attention to me, especially since I’m a mother. The important thing now is that I am going to tell you about someone who might interest you on this very important day.
Javier Santamarta is a versatile author, he has touched on all kinds of humanistic branches (if we want to include journalism within these). He is a political scientist, a writer of historical essays and is very committed to humanitarian aid (he is one of the experts of the European Commission, and a professor at the School of War in the Department of Peace Missions). At Vozpópuli we had the honor of having his pen as a collaborator, but he has also worked on EsRadio, La aventura de la historia, La Escóbula de la Brújula, ABC and El Mundo.
During the last few years, 8-M has become a mixture of boredom, laughter and indignation for those of us who watch it from the sidelines eating popcorn. To compensate for this monotony that has long ceased to be funny, we can use Santamarta’s essay: They were always there. Historic Gallery of Memorable Hispanics, a very entertaining work with which to delve into the richness of our history through the most outstanding female characters. The added value of this essay is that it is free of any ideological suspicion on the part of its author: if a typical feminist were to look at Don Javier’s twitter, they would surely say that he is a noble boomer, a guarantee of quality to take the book with pleasure without fear run into tedious feminist rants throughout your reading. Santamarta, however, not only does not ignore the difficulties that women have faced due to their condition, but also tells us how our illustrious Hispanic women have overcome them.
The preface, in this sense, is a complete declaration of intent that shows what I have just commented on. The first words of it are “I am not a woman. Nobody is perfect. But, as a man, I admit that I have always admired and been fascinated by the female characters in history, especially those from Spain”. This “Chapter Zero”, as the author calls it, is entitled “Matria”, despite the controversy that it implies (because it refers us to the antagonism between the masculine and the feminine). This interpretation of the term is etymologically more recent, while Santamarta points rather to something much earlier:
“The Motherland is nothing but that very land to which we belong and whose feeling is what makes us feel more rooted to the land where we were born. Not for nationalism. Nothing to see. But because she is the Mother where she, in effect, she becomes the refuge and the reference from which we come.
And Spain, which is said to have been more stepmother than mother (I cited it myself) with its sons and daughters, I have to say that it has been the place where the atavistic feeling of a Hispanic Motherland has taken root without our knowing it. to which we belong Regardless of sex and condition. AND In her, unrepeatable daughters were born of whom everyone can be proud and on whom it is worth stopping and reliving their exciting lives with them.”
This preface to the essay constantly leaves the reader with honey on their lips because, in order to explain our author’s vision of the feminine in Hispanicity, he lists different theories and recalls our most prominent women, but without going into the history of women in depth. those mentioned. In this sense, Santamarta could well publish a second volume of they were always there just from this very interesting chapter zero. Although perhaps this is where the charm of the book lies: the women mentioned at the beginning are more or less known by the public with an acceptable level of general culture, while the rest of the chapters are dedicated to female characters who have unfairly gone unnoticed. In fact, with the exception of Doña Marina (Malinche), I did not know any of them before reading the essay. For all of the above, I highly recommend this work, which is very easy to read and from which we can celebrate our homeland through these female characters with lives that are as outstanding as they are interesting. Enjoy.
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