sábado, 9 de fevereiro de 2019
574 - A VIDA É UM PALCO... By Maria Luísa Baião*
sexta-feira, 8 de fevereiro de 2019
573 - AMADEU ... - LUÍSA BAIÃO texto inédito *
quarta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2019
572 A MULHER NO SÉCULO XXI por Luísa Baião *
WOMAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY by
Luísa Baião *
Someone very recently put me
before the sensitive question of knowing what a woman is or should be at the
beginning of this century.
Touchy, I said, not because the
issue is politically or socially incorrect, quite the contrary, perhaps it has
never been so pertinent, touchy simply because, as women's presence is
irreplaceable on the social stage, their protagonism is simultaneously seen as
a necessity and a threat. It
threatens because her participation comes into conflict with long-established
male interests, a necessity since being the majority woman in our society, her
representation is far from the proportionality that is due to her.
However, this is not where the real issue lies,
if on the one hand about two or three years ago the controversy revolved around
the “quotas” that were intended to be attributed by law to female
representation in the political area, today, the issue of parity in nothing
differs except in the designation given to it. The old controversy is
reigniting again, on the one hand the measure is seen by some as an imposition,
not in line with the freedom that a democracy should reflect and reducing the
capacity of women, on the other hand their presence in the political area is
considered necessary and the imposition of quotas or parity, simply a temporary
means of accelerating the process of “entry” of women into political life,
where their presence is seen as essential, perhaps necessary, to improve the
image of politicians, which is so worn out. she walks.
But let's leave these details behind and focus
on what is important, the role of women in this new century, after a hundred
years of the suffragettes' struggle for their dignity, and when a few thousand
years separate us from the matriarchal era in which things will have been very
different on earth.
There will be no point in raining on the wet,
we all know the social historical reasons that dictated the primacy and
supremacy that the male has achieved in our days, a supremacy that however did
not provide him with the care and sensitivity that politics demands, a
sensitivity that perhaps for innate reasons belongs to women.
This is not about falling to the opposite
extreme, the taking of power by the feminine, but simply about accepting the
positive aspects of sharing this power, which, judging by the capabilities
already demonstrated by women, today occupying with unquestionable mastery and
knowledge places of responsibility in society, will certainly bring unequivocal
benefits to everyone.
However, I would say that not only does the new
century require another sensitivity, capacity and responsibility from women, it
also demands that they assume these values and recognize that they must be
placed at the service of the community.
It will not only be at home that your care as a
“home fairy” is imperative, your civic participation is essential so that, like
a wave of a magic wand, the policies adopted reflect a sensitivity that is so
ours, feminine, and society May you feel as a whole, sweetly welcomed into a
mother's lap whose memory is so dear to us, so dear.
In vain is it said that a great woman is always
at the back of a great man, I don't believe in this or its opposite, I know how
much encouragement the maternal gesture with which a woman holds a man against
her chest contains, I know how much strength this symbolic act conveys, how
much forgiveness and protection he can have, I know because I feel that desire,
that strength that comes from my chest to my arms.
Women have achieved the highest and most
responsible positions at a professional and cultural level, they have known
through work and example to impose themselves and be respected, it has been
hard, painful work, to which we must add the overcoming of prejudiced barriers,
these much more difficult than any other difficulties.
The path has been paved, you are left with the
awareness that your civic participation is not only necessary but essential,
the awareness that it is your turn to play the social roles that belong to you
in this time that, like never before, finds it prepared, exceptionally well
prepared, and above all they demand it for the good of all.
This is the portrait that I draw of women in
the 21st Century, a role that I hope to play voluntarily because, since they
are already present in all aspects of our society, for the most part, let us
not forget it, I don't see why it shouldn't or can't climb into positions where
the touch of your magic wand spreads a happy spell over us all.
* Published in Diário do Sul by Maria Luísa
Baião on 16-03-2001, under the heading “KOTA DE MULHER”. Extract from a speech
given at the Women and Democracy Days in the 21st Century, promoted under the
auspices of a political party and which took place at the Hotel da Cartuxa at
the end of the last millennium.