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Saturday, April 5, 2008

Thoroughly Modern Monica











This is a tale of a country in change. Spain, a country of great complexity and a very chequered past is a country undergoing radical, and very rapid change. Monica is a very real person, who represents that change, and is in the vanguard. She is such a startling personality, even though she doesn’t intend to be. But the fact remains that she is the personification of Spain’s new woman.

Monica is a 29 year-old single professional woman, who is ambitious, competent, well educated, and is well presented. She has achieved success and respect in her chosen career, but is not afraid to take on other more challenging horizons.

From the time of the death of General Franco in 1975, the mood of the country changed away from the strict control that it had experienced during the dictatorship to one of freedom. Over the years, more or less everything that the dictatorship represented has been replaced, along with the statutes. The General’s influence was so pervasive that it extended into and throughout the home, determining, among other things what a woman’s place was supposed to be.

Normally, changes of the sort that we are describing takes place over several generations, but the new Spanish woman has emerged after only one, or at most, two generations. Since 1975 thinking has evolved from a woman’s role being in the home raising a large family, to today’s young woman for whom career is goal number one. If there is to be a place in her life for family with children, only two can be expected, or even one token child, and pregnancy will be put off until the latest it can be; and even that may be with, or without the benefit of marriage.

In this, Spain’s young women share much in common with their American cousins. What is puzzling is what drove such rapid and total change. Why, seemingly all of a sudden, a whole generation of young women took on a brand new way of thinking.

Spain is a Catholic country, where the church still wields enormous influence. What we are seeing is a breakaway group of very strong and determined young ladies who have thrown off the expectations of church, family, and society at large.

In order for this to happen, Spanish men have had to wake up and catch up in a hurry. These changes cannot happen in isolation, and without the cooperation and understanding, and support of Spanish men. But, all has not been smooth sailing. Unfortunately, as young women try to break out of the traditional mould, they sometimes meet with very strong resistance. This is reflected in the very high rate of violence against women. Many have suffered deep wounds, and many have lost their lives in the struggle for liberation. When the time for an idea has arrived, it will prevail, no matter what. The time for the Thoroughly Modern Monica (s) of Spain is here and now. There’s no stopping the movement, and that much is clear.

There will be problems ahead as the pendulum swings to the other extreme, and it will take a little time until it settles somewhere in the middle. At least there is the experience of the American young female to guide our new woman.









Copyright (c) 2008 Eugene Carmichael