There are many stories of women who knew how to challenge the limitations imposed by society as a way of classifying which jobs, trades or professions should be masculine and which should be feminine. As the adorable character of Mafalda said in one of the memorable dialogues with her father: “Dad, why are it always the men who go to work and the women who stay at home?”
Miriam Zulema Romero (63), from La Gomera by profession For many years, she knew from a very young age how to answer that question: “This is a cultural issue, submission comes from culture, women had to give birth and raise children and the fault lies more with the woman than with the man because “He allowed himself to be subdued.” At only 8 years old he discovered his true calling. Her father worked in a tire shop a few blocks from where they lived and she sneaked out every afternoon to visit him. At just 12 years old he was already repairing truck tires. But he had to face uncomfortable moments. Every day he heard sexist comments about his work and his sexuality. “People in the neighborhood said I was a lesbian,” she says. She defines herself as a woman with determination, who breaks stereotypes, and says that the more they say no to her, the more she wants to achieve her goal. “I would tell women to cheer up, you incorporate the ‘no’, that is your barrier,” she advises.
Maira Karina Grondona (33) has been a gendarme for 14 years. He relates that in 2010, when he watched the parades, they were all men who carried long weapons and all dressed the same. They had a different temperament than other people and he wanted to see himself in those ranks too. Negative comments were the order of the day, Maira recalls: “If you don’t put up with the exercise, or the strength you have to do, go home, go cook, women are for something else, this is a strength to men”. Firm in his convictions, he continued forward, making his way. “Women who want to join the security forces must be respected from the first moment. They should not be carried away by comments from people who do not adapt to the new world. “Women have to have an authentic role within the forces,” she says proudly.
Debts. The feminist and graduate in psychology Gabriela Raimundo comments: “Post-pandemic, the UN did a study on the matter and the gap between women and men today is 135 percent, which is why we continue fighting and on alert. And above all, we must continue to be aware of our place.”
María Belén Bramajo (34) has been a barbecue griller for 9 years. It all started by chance: one day the official griller left work and the business was full of people to serve. Until then I only washed the dishes and cleaned the tables. The owner, desperate, asked him for help to save the day and he gladly accepted. “The men sometimes looked at me badly, others were surprised that a woman made the barbecue and they didn’t trust me, they left, but now it’s different, they already know me,” she remembers.
Érica Fernanda Borda (54) is a bus driverwas the first woman to start working on line 130 25 years ago. He started in the trade out of economic necessity. In 1999 she lost her job. She was a laboratory technician but could not find employment in her area. Her ex-husband was a driver and had seen women driving on line 140. Erica says that in the beginning she had to face the typical sexist comments such as “go wash the dishes” or the disqualifying “you had to be a woman.” . Although times seem to have changed. “The new generation has a more open mind, there is a bit of resistance with the management because there are people who still have a closed mind, the problem comes with older people,” he says.
Psychologist Raimundo concludes: “Gender is a category that classifies. That is why within militancy we are always trying for a post-gender society, where gender is not a category, that does not determine you, no matter what genital you are born with.”
Written by Karina Neumann.
