“We fight to be subjects, and we are achieving it”

2023-06-13 08:06:35

Edicions 62 republishes the diary that Carme Riera (Palma de Mallorca, 1948) wrote in 1986 when she found out she was pregnant. The renowned writer, academician of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and former professor at the University of Girona, achieves with Temps d’una espera a global reflection on the female condition related to motherhood throughout history.

She becomes pregnant in 1986. So many years later, the newspaper does not lose its validity.

Yes, because being pregnant is a valid act and the relationship you establish with the child you carry inside is the same as it was at that time. I’m glad that it can be of use to other women who are going through the same situation that will happen to me already so many years ago.

There were no pregnancy diaries back then. I was looking for bibliography without success.

It’s true, there was nothing. I found things like these to help pregnant women, but not newspapers.

Pregnancy was a common and ordinary thing. But something has changed.

Many things have changed, including the possibility of having four months, yours and your husband’s, to devote to your child. When I was pregnant you had to go back to work forty days later. I taught in Barcelona and Girona, without the possibility of staying at home.

Before pregnancy was mandatory for women?

This has changed a lot. It used to be believed that women were only used to give birth. Now they are also used for other things (laughs).

The change from object to subject of the woman, happened recently?

We fight to be subjects, and we are achieving it. But there are many women who still haven’t made it.

Freud said that women envy the penis. You, that man envies pregnancy.

I think you envy us, and not the other way around. The ability to give birth is actually kind of wonderful, even if it’s painful. Which you cannot do at the moment.

Is motherhood no longer rosy?

No, not at all. It’s not just a wonderful thing. Motherhood can be very hard.

Has motherhood come out of the closet?

He has come out of the closet a lot. And many times there are women who refuse motherhood. It is an absolutely beautiful case of a Girona woman from l’Escala, named Caterina Albert, who wrote about infanticide. We have a history.

Will pregnancy in the future be more similar to the case of Ana Obregón?

I think that, as far as rental winds are concerned, each case is a case. For me what is terrible is that the wombs for rent are always poor women. That’s the sad thing.

What opinion does today’s feminism deserve? Is inclusive language here to stay?

It goes for much more. Beyond inclusive language, there are more important things like equal pay. The language is a bit secondary to other references such as sexist crimes.