Hello,
I always like ‘Little Women’, but I think at Christmas even more. A few days ago I put it on again, the Greta Gerwig version, it must be the fifth time I’ve seen it. This time he had a companion. I explained to her that when I was little I wanted to be like one of those ‘little women’, Jo March, the second of the sisters. And why? he asked me. Because I liked that book-crazy rebellious girl who wanted to be a writer and rebelled against what was expected of her for being a girl. I think he understood me.
The film begins with Jo taking one of her stories to an editor. She pretends to be doing the paperwork for a friend and asks that the text be published under a name different from hers. Why? my companion asked me. Because before many women had to sign their books with boys’ names to be taken into account, people thought that it was not right for a woman to write or that, if she did, her texts would not be worth it.
When Jo March finishes her first novel and goes to the same publisher, he sets a condition for publishing it: her protagonist has to get married; If a woman stars in a story, she only has two possible endings, either getting married or dying. But why? Mmmm, how difficult to summarize for a little one. Well, this is what we have talked about other times, for a long time in many places women were not allowed to lead the life they wanted, if they did not get married it was a problem, it was like they were not considered people with all the rights and People thought it bad if they kissed with whoever they wanted or if they left home on their own.
What also happened to me with ‘Little Women’ is that I had a hatred for Amy, Jo’s next oldest sister. Her jealousy of Jo and her more repellent character, let’s say, made her a less pleasant girl in my eyes. I think the same thing happened to many, including Greta Gerwig, who, however, decided to do justice to the character. Because no one is so Jo or so Amy, because envy or jealousy are human, because surely that vision of Amy that was so stereotyped and in opposition to Jo was also somewhat sexist.
So this Amy teaches us a lesson. When her ex-neighbor reproaches her for wanting to marry a rich man, she jumps out: “As a woman, I have no way to earn my own money. Not enough to live on or help my family. If I had money, which I don’t, that money would belong to my husband as soon as we got married. If we had children, they would be his, not mine. They would be his property, so don’t tell me that marriage isn’t an economic proposition because it is.” Boom.
It pisses me off that ‘Little Women’ or the books by Jaen Austen or the Bronte sisters are often considered something light, without weight or background, because they have it, and a loteither. No, they are not books or movies for girls, they are books and movies for everyone. Because stories are worth it and because they also talk about important things and because, incidentally, they allow many of those whys to emerge that give rise to conversations or reflections.
What a photo, right? It makes your hair stand on end. After hearing the sentence in her case, Gisèle Pelicot thanked those who applauded and cheered her every day in court for giving her “the strength to return every day to face these long days in court.” She also had words for her lawyer and the women’s association that has accompanied her. Those words and that photo undoubtedly speak of the courage of this 71-year-old woman, but also of how a woman takes another step because others took it before, because others created the story, the context, the fight. From ‘The rapist is you’ by Lastesis to ‘Not one less’ by the Argentinian girls or the story of the French Gisèle Halimi and the perseverance of the survivor of ‘the pack’. Gisele she didn’t go to the trial alone.
Surely you have read/seen/heard a lot about the case and the sentence but I leave you here another analysisthat of the writer Rebecca Solnit about addressing men. We also did this piece with the names and sentences of all those convicted, although in this article from The Guardian you even have a short profile of each man with the intention of showing that they were not monsters or abnormal beings but rather ordinary guys.
You may be interested
- Today, in the “things that happen in an androcentric world” section: seat belts have been designed without prior studies on how gender differences can influence road safety. And some researchers from the Carlos III University of Madrid They have set out to solve it.
- What about mothers-in-law? The mother-in-law as a demonized figure within a patriarchal imaginary, although, okay, it is not that easy. And Rocío Niebla, who is an ingenious journalist with whom I assure you that you will have a laugh, has written this in Pikara Magazine about mothers-in-law.
- Two years – repeat after me – the autonomous communities had two years to launch comprehensive centers for victims of sexual violence. And they had the money. And the mandate of a law. January 1st is the deadline and only half are open.
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This newsletter will arrive to you on Christmas Day. Maybe you miss someone, maybe there is some pain that stands out these days, maybe you miss a date without your children and that costs youor you have someone close to you in a hospital or having a bad time. If that is the case, I wish you calm and warmth. Happiness is not an obligation, although it often seems that way to us.
A big hug and see you in 2025, in a couple of weeks.
Ann
#Dear #March
