Micromachismos, give it that I hit you | Society News in Heraldo.es

Martin Solveig is a French disc jockey, singer and producer of electronic music. His name is actually Martin Picandet and last summer he was one of those who danced at the Starlite Festival in Marbella, a charity gala promoted by Antonio Banderas. But we are not interested in how Martin Solveig handles himself in the world of music in which, according to the lists of the specialized magazine DJmag, he is in position 98. Because Martin was, once again, the clearest exposition of those small gestures, comments and prejudices that we have so internalized that we do not perceive them as sexist even though we hate sexism. They are things like using the word 'provocative' to describe a woman's attire; that in a conversation about politicians it seems normal to comment on their appearance and not on theirs; ask a woman when to have children when they never do it to a man; say or ask a woman if "she's on her period" when she has responded with reluctance or snub... For this reason, Martin had the idea of ​​making a bad joke on Ada Hegerber, the first woman to win a Ballon d'Or sixty-six three years after Stanley Mattews received the men's trophy. A footballer who wants to be like Messi (or Cristiano) and with incredible data: 31 goals in the last French league, a record scorer in the Champions League (15 goals). Since he landed at Olympique de Lyon in 2014, from German side Kolbotn Potsdam, he has scored 185 goals in 149 games; and, thanks to her, the abysmal inequality that exists regarding men's football has been minimally shortened: Olympique has raised her salary to 500,000 euros per year, a historic figure for female soccer players. Think of what Messi, Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos earn...

Ada Hegerberg had to endure that, after pronouncing some exciting words about what this new award represents for women's sports and sending a message to girls not to stop believing in themselves, the DJ asked her if she could do 'twerking ', 'twerk'. The answer was a resounding 'no' and a face of disbelief and few friends. The DJ later apologized, but there it is: she wins the first Ballon d'Or in women's football and they ask her about her talent for doing suggestive dances. The same to Luka Modric, at the same gala, it did not even occur to him to ask.

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Unfortunately it is not the first, nor will it be the last time that an outstanding woman in an important professional moment is asked about something that has nothing to do with her work or her achievements or her new projects. Isabel García-Zaeza recalled these days how, already in 1975, the actress Hellen Mirren was asked if she could be considered a good actress with "those physical attributes", and since she was not aware of it, the interviewer explained that "it is already known that Serious actresses can't have big breasts." Scarlett Johanson was asked during the promotion of the movie 'The Avengers' if she was able to wear underwear under the tight black widow costume. To the singer Ariana Grande if she would prefer to keep her makeup or her mobile if she could choose only one. "Do you think that choosing between one or the other is what worries the girls?" She replied, with a mixture of surprise and indignation. And our Pablo Motos has also shown off, like when he told the journalist and writer Mónica Carrillo : "Do you think that men are attracted to you and that's why they like to read to you?", and not content with that, he asked her if she was wearing a bikini or a swimsuit. And Elsa Pataky if she prefers comfortable or sexy underwear to sleep in. Although there have been who have managed to respond by giving a smack, like the actress Lauren Conrad, also a successful businesswoman with her own fashion business, who when asked about her favorite position, replied: "The one I have when I sit at the CEO table ".

A short time ago, a hypermarket chain put up for sale two baby t-shirts, one in blue and the other in pink. On the blue one, you could read "Smart as dad", and on the pink ones, "Pretty as mom". And a department store offered vacuum cleaners under the slogan: "Mom, you are the best." As if vacuum cleaners were exclusively for women.

And in the same Heraldo.es these days unfortunate comments have been exchanged about women in the special in which, under the title 'Aragonese of present and future', 25 women explain their professional career, which is marking a path, and in which it can be read: "The current Western woman and specifically the Spanish woman is the most privileged and overprotected being that there is currently in the world". "With women my age, the only discrimination I have seen is that I did the military, and those of my class did not. And among friends, the most prominent discrimination is that a judge gave his women custody of their children by decree , the apartment, the pension and even the Christmas tree". Phrases that generate controversy among the readers themselves: "Any topic about women as a group comes up and twenty or thirty give them the typical outbreak of rampant misogyny. And then they say that education campaigns are not necessary"...

Because micromachismos are daily tyrannies, soft and invisible violence, of low intensity, that cover reality in an imperceptible way and it is precisely the ease with which they are camouflaged where their danger lies, because it generates invisible damage towards the female sex and towards everything one that does not fit the gender role that has been assigned.