Anymore

For no less than nineteen centuries, the inferiority of women to men was not questioned, and we sometimes forget this. To take just one example, at the end of the 19th century, Gustave Le Bon, a French sociologist and physicist, wrote: "There are a great many women whose brains are more like the size of a gorilla's than a man's, which is more developed. Those who have studied women's intelligence, as well as poets and novelists, recognize today that it is closer to that of a child or a savage than to that of a civilized adult man."Anthropology Review, number 2, 1879).

This was the argument put forward by Le Bon, a true scientist, and by the time he wrote it, the feminist movement had already been born. First, in France, after the French Revolution, and then in the 19th century, with the suffragist movement (advocating for women's right to vote), in the US and England. Somewhat later, the movement crossed the seas, and in New Zealand, in 1893, women were able to vote. Australia followed in 1902; Finland in 1906; Norway and Sweden several years later; Russia in 1917; the US in 1920; and Spain in 1931. After World War II, in 1945, women—who had actively participated in society during the conflict—no longer wanted to be "submissive wives," and most countries adopted universal suffrage.

However, in our country, once the Spanish Civil War ended, all the progress made during the Second Republic was reversed by the Franco regime, which relegated women back to the domestic sphere and established a new situation in which men and women were held differently by the law, as was clearly reflected in the civil and penal codes of the time. The old theories of male physical and intellectual superiority returned, with men exclusively responsible for public affairs and providing for the family. Marital permission was required for almost everything. This was enshrined in the 1958 Spanish Civil Code, which declared that women must obey their husbands; that the husband was always the administrator of the property; that women were obligated to follow their husbands wherever they established their residence; and, furthermore, that he was legally his wife's representative. Regarding children, decisions rested with the father, and until 1975, women could not even open a bank account without permission. In criminal law, adultery was a crime for women, but not for men; for it to be a crime for them, there had to be friendship.

This, which seems so distant and which I myself am amazed to write, was part of our childhood and youth. Finally, with the arrival of the 1978 Constitution, equality before the law for men and women was established, without any discrimination being permitted on the grounds of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion, or any other personal or social condition or circumstance. However, this theoretical equality would undoubtedly need a strong social push to become a reality.

And what has happened in all this time? Well, this equality has slowly been implemented in almost every area, with varying speed and in different ways, but undoubtedly with conviction. However, as with many other things, something has happened that I, at least, thought wouldn't: a shadow has reappeared over the equality movement. The loss of male patriarchy has its consequences.

Apparently, there is a significant setback in the defense of feminism, especially among young people, and more so among young men than young women; but what we are seeing is certainly worrying. The potential control over women will obviously not be the same as in the last century, but digital violence is particularly concerning: 80%According to data from the Ministry of Equality, this number of young Spanish women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four have suffered.

On Sunday, March 8th, a very dear friend, my dear Carlota, died sixteen years ago. When I look at her, when we talk, when I see her strength and her conviction, I believe it's impossible for certain things to happen again. But I also believe this isn't just a women's issue: men and women must be aware of the existing risks. That's why, time and again, I would repeat the motto: "Never again."