lunes, 8 de enero de 2007

La señora Miniver (Bolero)


Olga Connor

La señora Miniver despierta a las 7. Quiere ver a su esposo antes que se vaya al trabajo. La señora Miniver se vuelve a dormir a las 8. El día es largo y no tiene qué hacer. La señora Miniver se despierta de nuevo a las 10. El programa de Mickey ya empezó. Es una ventana al mundo. Ella puede encontrarse con el escritor, la estrella glamorosa y el “chef gourmet”. La señora Miniver pone la ropa sucia en la lavadora, algunos platos en el lavavajillas y corre a la TV. ¡Cuánta emoción! Se creé allí dentro del estudio. Son las 12 del mediodía. La señora Miniver cuelga la ropa lavada. Es la 1. La señora Miniver mira el reloj. Son las 2. La señora Miniver dobla la ropa. Son las 3. La señora Miniver piensa en el señor Miniver. Abre el refrigerador y saca un bistec. Adereza el bistec. Son las 4. Pronto el señor Miniver estará en casa. Comienza a preparar la cena. Riega las rosas. Son la 5. La señora Miniver pone el bistec bajo el asador. La señora Miniver espera. Son las 6. El bistec está frío. El señor Miniver no ha llegado. La señora Miniver acerca un cuchillo al vientre. Se siente morir. Son las 7. La señora Miniver se lleva el cuchillo al estómago. Tiene hambre. No se pincha. Son las 8. La señora Miniver se lleva el cuchillo al corazón. ¿Qué le ha pasado a este hombre? Son las 9. Apunta el cuchillo a la garganta. Quiere gritar. Llama a la policía. Son las 10. La señora Miniver coloca el cuchillo en la sien. No quiere pensar. Se está volviendo loca. Son las 11 y la señora Miniver piensa. Ya no se apunta con el cuchillo. Son las 12 y el señor Miniver entra por la puerta. Ahora es la 1 de la madrugada. La señora Miniver mira a su marido dormir la borrachera. Entonces agarra el cuchillo, le corta los huevos, la pinga y la lengua. Y le espeta así: “Ahora no tienes nada que decir, no tienes pinga, no tienes huevos y no tienes lengua: ¡Sé mujer!”. (de Palabras de mujer, editado por tumiami).

13 comentarios:

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

Olguita,
Fuera de la pobrecita Miniver no darse respetar (cortar una pinga es un problema Freudano), debe de tomarse una botella de Paxil, por su obvia locura. Hecharle la culpa por todas sus "tragedias", las cuales defina su existencia dentro de su locura, a su marido, es un acto de cobardia y debilidad. En vez de un cuchillo debia haber cojido la puerta de la casa y salir a la calle para vivir independiente como muchisimas damas la hacen diariamente, como tu lo bien sabes. Me parece que es mas facil culpar a los hombres, que a las mujeres, pero en este caso, la pobrecita Sra. Miniver, ira a la carcel, donde sera abusada por otras mujeres.
Note: I would imagine that the name Mrs. Miniver bares no relationship with the 1942 film which won 6 oscars.

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

About the illustration, This exhibit on "Designing Modernity" showed american design in a 1920's bungalow style home (in which I live in). This was a modern kitchen at the time, and portrayed women as domestic workers. All this changed in the US when the domestic work force for the War in Europe became the power of women. The post WWII american woman and her portrayal in the film industry (which served as an example to many cuban women prior to the revolution) changed her roles and continues to do so in a capitalistic society, work place and home. This is even more evident in today's generation and in the ambiquity in defining sex roles in the modern socio-economic strata. Olga, while I'm aware of the double standard toward women, most evident in Latin countries, today's American standards require both sexes to toil the line in order to achieve a unified goal.

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

Erratum; exhibit name is Designing Domesticity, not Modernity.

jr dijo...

La codependencia es una enfermedad como lo es la adicción con su origen, su evolución y su desenlace. En el caso de la señora Miniver el comportamiento es típico del codependiente (que igual se da en los hombres). Se fundamenta en fallas de la estructura de la personalidad que hace al codependiente sentirse sometido a su propia indefensión. Voluntad, capacidad de decisión y mecanismos de adaptación se hallan disminuidos por sabe Dios que circunstancia adversa en la biografía psicológica del enfermo. La conducta del codependiente desemboca en acontecimientos irracionales y autodestructivos con tal de evitarse el sufrimiento, el dolor y la accidentalidad de decisiones más razonables. La actitud del codependiente se mueve desde la abulia y la conformidad hasta reacciones extremas siempre bajo la presión de sus miedos y su vulnerabilidad. Buen retrato de un drama doméstico que se repite en nuestras culturas. Felicitaciones, Olga! Y bienvenida.

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

As Ziggy Freud would say "A typical case of hysteria brought about by penis envy"!

Alfredo Triff dijo...

Me recuerda la Babbitt.

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

Yes tumiami, Leonora was deported and John Wayne Bobbit became a porno-star, after a successful re-attachment of his penis. The irony is evident.

Alfredo Triff dijo...

La senyora M. supone que si ella vive dedicada a su casa y a su marido el deberia (en un mundo justo) serle reciproco. O sea, llegar a la casa directamnete del trabajo y atenderla o dejarse atender, apreciar su domesticidad, etc.

Pero el marido de esta historia esta fundido tambien. El panorama es sombrio...gracias a ambos personajes.

Decia Marguerite Yourcenar que no hay peor enganyo que el de la tranquilidad...esa abulia domestica puede ser criadero de acto desesperados, y otras locuras. Tambien puede convertirse en el ocio necesario para la creacion. RI

Alfredo Triff dijo...

When we talk about sexual abuse or harassment in our Ethics class, my students often bring man/man and woman/woman abuse -as if they discovered something new. I always tell them that athough that is true, the statistics are clear: 1- 85-95% of all domestic violence victims are female. 2- Over 500,00 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year. 3- 5.3 million women are abused each year. 4- 1,232 women are killed each year by an intimate partner. 5- Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women. 6- Finally, women are more likely to be attacked by someone they know rather than by a stranger.

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

Mailmo,
I refered to Freud, yet I do admit that men suffer from Vagina envy. Still to this day, I always enjoy a good vagina.

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

Statistics About Domestic Abuse And Violence Against Men

Very little in known about the actual number of men who are in a domestic relationship in which they are abused or treated violently by women. In 100 domestic violence situations approximately 40 cases involve violence by women against men. An estimated 400,000 women per year are abused or treated violently in the United States by their spouse or intimate partner. This means that roughly 300,000 to 400,000 men are treated violently by their wife or girl friend.

Why Do We Know So Little About Domestic Abuse And Violence Against Men?

There are many reasons why we don't know more about domestic abuse and violence against men. First of all, the incidence of domestic violence reported men appears to be so low that it is hard to get reliable estimates. In addition, it has taken years of advocacy and support to encourage women to report domestic violence. Virtually nothing has been done to encourage men to report abuse. The idea that men could be victims of domestic abuse and violence is so unthinkable that many men will not even attempt to report the situation.

The dynamic of domestic abuse and violence is also different between men and women. The reasons, purposes and motivations are often very different between sexes. Although the counseling and psychological community have responded to domestic abuse and violence against women, there has been very little investment in resources to address and understand the issues of domestic abuse and violence against men. In most cases, the actual physical damage inflicted by men is so much greater than the actual physical harm inflected by women. The impact of domestic violence is less apparent and less likely to come to the attention of others when men are abused. For example, it is assumed than a man with a bruise or black eye was in a fight with another man or was injured on the job or playing contact sports. Even when men do report domestic abuse and violence, most people are so astonished men usually end up feeling like nobody believes them.

The Problem With Assumptions About Domestic Abuse And Violence

It is a widely held assumption that women are always the victims and men are always the perpetrators. Between 50 and 60% of all domestic abuse and violence is against women. There are many reasons why people assume men are never victims and why women often ignore the possibility. For one thing, domestic abuse and violence has been minimized, justified and ignored for a very long time. Women are now more organized, supportive and outspoken about the epidemic of domestic abuse and violence against women. Very little attention has been paid to the issue of domestic abuse and violence against men - especially because violence against women has been so obvious and was ignored for so long.

What Is Domestic Abuse And Violence Against Men?

There are no absolute rules for understanding the emotional differences between men and women. There are principles and dynamics that allow interpretation of individual situations. Domestic abuse and violence against men and women have some similarities and difference. For men or women, domestic violence includes pushing, slapping, hitting, throwing objects, forcing or slamming a door or striking the other person with an object, or using a weapon. Domestic abuse can also be mental or emotional. However, what will hurt a man mentally and emotionally, can in some cases be very different from what hurts a woman. For some men, being called a coward, impotent or a failure can have a very different psychological impact than it would on a women. Unkind and cruel words hurt, but they can hurt in different ways and linger in different ways. In most cases, men are more deeply affected by emotional abuse than physical abuse.

For example, the ability to tolerate and "brush off" a physical assault by women in front of other men can in some cases reassure a man that he is strong and communicate to other men that he can live up to the code of never hitting a woman. A significant number of of men are overly sensitive to emotional and psychological abuse. In some cases, humiliating a man emotionally in front of other men can be more devastating than physical abuse. Some professionals have observed that mental and emotional abuse can be an area where women are often "brutal" than men. Men on the other hand are quicker to resort to physical abuse and they are more capable of physical assaults that are more brutal - even deadly!.

Why Does Domestic Abuse Against Men Go Unrecognized?

Domestic violence against men goes unrecognized for the following reasons:

The incidence of domestic violence against men appears to be so low that it is hard to get reliable estimates.
It has taken years of advocacy and support to encourage women to report domestic violence. Virtually nothing has been done to encourage men to report abuse.
The idea that men could be victims of domestic abuse and violence is so unthinkable to most people that many men will not even attempt to report the situation.
The counseling and psychological community have responded to domestic abuse and violence against women. Not enough has been done to stop abuse against women. There has been very little investment in resources to address the issues of domestic abuse and violence against men.
In most cases, the actual physical damage inflicted by men is so much greater than the actual physical harm inflected by women. The impact of domestic violence is less apparent and less likely to come to the attention of others.
Even when men do report domestic abuse and violence, most people are so astonished, men usually end up feeling like nobody would believe them. It is widely assumed than a man with a bruise or black eye was in a fight with another man or was injured on the job or while playing contact sports. Women generally don't do those things.

Alfredo Triff dijo...

Well, surely there's woman/man abuse, but I don't think they stand the propinquity and seriousness of the man/woman abuse, which is endemic. Let me put it this way: How many times do you hear of a woman who killed her husband and children and then committed suicide?

La Mano Poderosa dijo...

AT, versus, How many times do you hear of a woman killing her children? Does society tend to look the other way if a man is abused by a woman? Do police laugh or ignore it? Are men shamed by social norms into submission? We are brought up with "A man must never strike a woman", yet I have never heard of the rule, "A woman must never strike a man". Both are wrong, it would best serve to say "A person should never strike another", yet in a society that tries to be gender equal, in the case of abuse, the law and society favors women.