`The Washington Post` proclama la "victoria de las

'The Washington Post' proclama la "victoria de las mujeres" sobre la España machista
Publicado en Mujeres en Red. El periódico feminista
https://www.mujeresenred.net/spip.php?article787
'The Washington Post' proclama
la "victoria de las mujeres" sobre
la España machista
- Mujeres y poder -
Mujeres en Red
El periódico estadounidense analiza el "final del
machismo" a partir de la trayectoria de María Teresa Fernández de la
Vega
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'The Washington Post' proclama la "victoria de las mujeres" sobre la España machista
El diario estadounidense The Washington Post destaca hoy en su portada la "victoria de las
mujeres en la España machista" y dedica un artículo a la política de paridad entre sexos
aplicada por el Gobierno y a la figura de la vicepresidenta del Ejecutivo, María Teresa
Fernández de la Vega.
El diario ilustra el "final del largo reinado del machismo" en España a partir de la
trayectoria de Fernández de la Vega, graduada en Derecho en una época en la que a las
mujeres no se les permitía convertirse en juez, declarar como testigo o abrir una cuenta
bancaria.
Según explica el rotativo estadounidense, Fernández de la Vega "está ayudando a orquestar
una revolución cultural en las salas de dirección y en los dormitorios del país que acuñó la
palabra machismo hace cinco décadas".
Por su parte, en declaraciones al diario, la vicepresidente elogia el carácter del presidente del
Gobierno, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero: "Tenemos un primer ministro que no sólo dice que
es feminista, sino que actúa como un feminista". "En dos años y medio hemos hecho más de
lo que se haya hecho jamás en tan poco tiempo en España", añade.
Seísmo en "una de las culturas más machistas"
El diario destaca, entre otras medidas de los últimos años promovidas por el Gobierno, la paridad
en el Ejecutivo entre hombres y mujeres -la mayor proporción de mujeres de toda Europa- y su
petición de que los partidos y empresas reserven el 40% de sus listas electorales y consejero de
administración a las mujeres.
Además, cita las nuevas leyes del divorcio que obligan a los hombres a asumir responsabilidades
domésticas, la incorporación de más mujeres en el Ejército y la voluntad de modificar la
preferencia de los hombres en la línea de sucesión de la monarquía.
El diario alude además a otros cambios sociales en "una de las culturas más machistas de Europa" y
habla de un "seísmo social" en la forma con la que las mujeres han tomado el control de sus vidas.
"Esperan más para casarse y tienen menos hijos", indica.
Parte de este cambio, señala, se aprecia en que los consejeros delegados en España de IBM,
Microsoft y Google son mujeres y en que los puestos de trabajo concilian cada vez más la vida
laboral con la familiar.
El artículo publicado en Washington Post también alude a los problemas que se mantienen en este
asunto, como el rechazo de la patronal a las cuotas de mujeres en los consejos y la posición de
algunos miembros de la Iglesia contra las leyes que permiten el matrimonio homosexual.
El diario concluye el artículo haciendo referencia a la violencia de género y a que la muerte de
mujeres a manos de sus parejas no ha descendido. "Pese a las nuevas leyes contra la violencia
doméstica", asegura, "el número de mujeres asesinadas por sus compañeros ha aumentado este año,
en parte porque, según algunos sociólogos, los hombres están tratando aún peor a las esposas que
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'The Washington Post' proclama la "victoria de las mujeres" sobre la España machista
se atreven a informar a la Policía de los abusos".
After Machismo's Long Reign, Women Gain in Spain
By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A01
MADRID — When Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega graduated from law school in the 1970s, Spanish law
prohibited her — and any other woman — from becoming a judge, serving as a witness in court or
opening a bank account.
Today, the angular, outspoken 57-year-old is Spain's first female vice president, helping orchestrate a cultural
revolution in the boardrooms and living rooms of the country that coined the word machismo — male
chauvinism —five centuries ago.
Spain's first female vice president, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, and the Socialist government are leading a
cultural shift toward gender equity. (By Paul White — Associated Press)
"We have a prime minister who not only says he's a feminist — he acts like a feminist," Fernandez de la Vega
said in her cavernous office of polished wood floors and cream-colored sofas. "In two and one-half years, we have
done more than has ever been done in such a short time in Spain."
Her Socialist government is requiring political parties to allot 40 percent of their candidate lists to women and is telling
big companies to give women 40 percent of the seats on corporate boards. Half of Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriquez Zapatero's cabinet members are women — the highest proportion in any government in Europe.
New divorce laws not only make it easier for couples to split but stipulate that marital obligations require men to share
the housework equally with their wives.
To draw more women into the armed forces, the government is shrinking the height requirements for women entering
the National Guard and opening child-care centers on military bases.
Not even the royal family is immune: Zapatero wants to abolish the law giving male heirs first rights to the throne.
The push for gender equality in one of Europe's most macho cultures comes as both internal and outside forces are
creating seismic social shifts: Spanish women are taking greater control of their own lives by waiting longer to marry
and having fewer children. The European Union is exerting more pressure on members to enforce equality. And the
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'The Washington Post' proclama la "victoria de las mujeres" sobre la España machista
growth of high-tech businesses with a greater sensitivity to hiring women is expanding job opportunities.
The chief executives of Spain's IBM, Microsoft and Google operations are all women. In many cases, they are not
only hiring more female employees than traditional industries, but they are attempting to make the workplace more
family-friendly.
Microsoft chief Rosa Maria Garcia, a 40-year-old mother of three, said she has mandated that no company meetings
be scheduled before 8:30 a.m. or after 5:30 p.m. — a revolutionary move in a country where workdays
routinely stretch until 9 or 10 p.m.
Despite the advances, Fernandez said, "There is resistance. We have a long way to go."
Business organizations are attacking the proposed quotas for women on corporate boards. Some Catholic Church
officials denounce decisions allowing gay couples to marry and liberalization of abortion laws as "demonic." Despite
new laws cracking down on domestic violence, the number of women murdered by their partners has escalated this
year — in part, some sociologists believe, because men are striking back even harder at spouses who dare to
report abuses to police.
Many men scoff at the law's efforts to legislate home life.
"Just because Zapatero says by law men have to do dishes, men are not going to do dishes," said Alberto Fuertes, a
stocky, square-faced 37-year-old owner of a small factory. "That's ridiculous. It's totally absurd."
A recent government-sponsored television advertisement showed a man meticulously washing his car and
admonished that if a guy can clean his auto, there's nothing unmanly in helping his wife pick up around the house.
Some women also take potshots at Zapatero's reforms and the women he has promoted to help him run the country.
After Zapatero filled eight of his 16 cabinet positions — including the vice presidency — with women,
"the first thing they did was have a picture taken dressed up in party dresses and full of furs," sniped Ana Pastor, a
member of the lower house of parliament and one of the most senior women in the opposition Popular Party. She
was referring to a controversial photo spread of the female cabinet members in the Spanish edition of Vogue two
years ago. "The vice president of the government, Fernandez de la Vega, is known as Fernandez de la Vogue."
Zapatero, elected in part on his promises to improve the station of women, has said his mission is to make up for lost
time.
"One thing that really awakens my rebellious streak is 20 centuries of one sex dominating the other," Zapatero said
shortly after his election. "We talk of slavery, feudalism, exploitation — but the most unjust domination is that
of one-half of the human race over the other."
During the height of the sexual revolution in the United States and other parts of Europe, Spain was just beginning to
emerge from decades of dictatorship under Generalissimo Francisco Franco and a legal system that did not
recognize rights for women. Domestic violence was considered a means of disciplining wives rather than a criminal
violation, and many jobs were closed to women.
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Despite advances in government opportunities for women, the Spanish private sector remains one of the most
chauvinistic in Europe. Women sit on less than 5 percent of corporate boards and overall earn 30 percent less than
their male counterparts. It remains common practice for companies to fire pregnant women, according to women's
organizations and victims.
"The culture and tradition of machista is very deeply ingrained in the mentality of everyone," said Carmen Bravo,
secretary for women's issues for Spain's largest labor union, known by the initials CCOO.
Fuertes, whose small factory makes mattress covers, said he has no problem hiring women — all 11 of his
employees are women, most between the ages of 46 and 55.
"The older generation of women are used to working hard," said Fuertes, balancing his 2 1/2 -year-old daughter on
his lap after returning home at the end of a recent workday. "If I hire a 36-year-old, the problem is that she's going to
take a lot of days off to take her child to the doctor. She knows her rights and knows I can't do anything about that."
At home, Fuertes said, it's not Zapatero's laws, but his working wife who has persuaded him to share in the cooking
and cleaning.
At his parent's home, "My father crosses his arms and says to my mother, 'Bring me my coffee,' " Fuertes said. "My
mother does everything — she irons and cooks and cleans. Women now don't want to be like their mothers."
And if Alba, his daughter, grew up to marry a man like grandpa?
"I would not be happy," said Fuertes, as his toddler nestled against his chest. "It would go against everything I've
tried to teach her."
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