Are men and women equal?

In Granada in Southern Spain, there are some new advertisements. They ask men to help their wives with jobs in the home. These jobs include cooking, washing-up, cleaning and ironing clothes. In Spain, like in many other countries, many men think that jobs in the home are women’s work, and they never do anything in the home. Many women, especially older women, like serving the rest of the family. They work very hard to make the rest of the family feel comfortable.

Maria Guerra is nearly 60 years old and works full time at a large school. She does the cleaning and also works in the cafeteria. Her husband works there, too. However, his job is not so difficult. When Maria arrives home, she feels very tired after a long day. Unfortunately, her work starts again. The rest of the family can relax, but she has a lot of work. She cooks a meal and then does the ironing. Most of the clothes she irons belong to her five adult children. They still live at home with their parents.

‘It’s not fair,’ Maria says, ‘but what can I do? When I ask them to help, they always have something more important to do – going out with friends, making phone calls.’ Men are men, and women don’t know the recipe for equality. Are men and women equal? Do they have the same rights?

However, it is not true to say that all Spanish men are lazy at home. They also have their duties. For instance, Pablo is retired and does a lot of work at home, but his wife never asks him to buy food from the market. Pablo and his wife share the jobs in the home. Pablo carries the washing to the terrace, and Emilia hangs it on the washing line. Pablo waters the garden, and Emilia cleans the house.

Younger people are beginning to change, but it is a slow process. For example, the men in my class don’t know how to cook. They never cook anything in their free time. One of my students said, ‘My mother always cooks.’

Here in Southern Spain, men are men, and women are women. There is no unisex fashion. Boys and girls do not wear the same clothes. In the summer, on warm evenings, the people of the town meet to talk together. The men stand on one side of the square, and the women stand on the other. This is the tradition. In Spain, there is a special celebration on April 23. It is called the Day of the Book. On this day, women give books to male friends as presents, and men give flowers to their female friends as presents.