In the 18th century, we find the first of the essays on which the foundations of feminism are based, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft. In 1786, the Spanish woman Josefa Amar y Borbón published ‘Discourses in Defense of the Talent of Women’. In 1789, in the midst of the French Revolution, some revolutionaries such as Olympe de Gouges and Manon Roland at the head, made a petition for equal treatment before the Constituent Assembly, for which they were assassinated in the guillotine. From Roland we have her famous phrase: “Liberty, how many crimes are committed in your name.”
Throughout time, the most daring and brave women have used the disguise of men to protect themselves from the misogyny of the time in which they lived. Names such as that of Joan of Arc, who at the age of seventeen led the French army dressed as a man, or that of Concepción Arenal (1820 – 1893), the Spanish woman born in Galicia who disguised herself as a man to be able to attend law classes, since women were prohibited from studying at the University, are just examples that history is plagued with women who became recognized or anonymous heroines who fought for equality.
What has been related marks the point from which we start, what achievements have been achieved and what remains to be achieved. The late law, but no less important for that, has tried to legislate a Spanish society that had inequality between women and men as a model installed in the political, social and economic spheres. A society that lives influenced by the previous political system where the female role was relegated to the care of children and household chores.
It is evident that we have advanced, but the shadow of patriarchy continues to hover over the community. You only have to see the cases of gender violence, which are still very high in a country where it is and should be a priority on the political agenda of political parties. Fortunately, it already is in the vast majority of them, although there are some who continue to distance themselves from this fight.
We must also not forget that we women are the ones who are most affected by part-time contracts, the wage gap or that men are the ones who mostly occupy the positions of greatest responsibility. It is not that we have to occupy more positions because we are fewer and there must be greater female representation. No, what it is about is that we occupy those positions because we can do it just as well as them.
Equal opportunities are something that does not really exist in the day-to-day of society. For this reason, it is more than necessary to raise our voices and claim a space that continues to be stolen from us, from any sphere, public or private, between family and between friends.
We must not miss the opportunity to continue demanding that equality. Every time we do, we will be breaking the glass ceilings that hinder the role of women a little more. Let's not be mistaken, we are not looking to overcome, but simply to have the same opportunities as men. This battle is not achieved only with the involvement of one part of society, we need women and men to go in the same direction to combat inequality.
Migdalia Machín Tavío. Island Secretary of the Canarian Coalition Lanzarote