Being a woman is not a sacred condition, nor is it a reason to be automatically considered a good person. On the contrary, it is a state of existence that places a permanent target on our backs. Being a woman means carrying a vast array of prejudices in your heart and being considered an object, a slave, and a possession attributed by the divine. As the man who wrote the Old Testament said: to be a woman is to exist as a dependency on a male rib. At least that is what the males, friends of Mr. Frazão of Opus Dei, believe. And some women who associate with him, unfortunately.

We are in the days following November 25, when public spaces are used annually to talk about violence against women. I usually write one or more articles on these issues, even though I believe it is a debate to be had all year round, not just on these cold days. I have already done so this year, as part of the international campaign – Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls – and here I am again, because I have just read the article in Visão on these issues, and I felt like returning to them. That’s what being a woman should be like. Doing what I want, without having angry people following me around, wishing me dead, or worse, submissive.

Of course, there are women who serve these people, too. Throughout history, there have always been many women who have sided with extremism. Sibilant smiles from women who, behind the scenes, commanded the strategies of fascists, emperors, and dictators. Later, benefiting from the struggle for emancipation, women like Thatcher, who used their status as a shield, but always used men’s weapons to oppress their sisters. Today, we see them in the parliaments of this world, defending their leaders, always male, who desire them only to objectify them and fulfill the sacrifice of the Law of Parity. Here too we find them, there in Horta, every month, proclaiming the absolutist centralism of the transformism of the three male leaders of the government, or sitting next to the man who shouts a lot, clapping blindly. In fact, it was a woman who recently called for school meals to be cut during the holidays in our archipelago, shamelessly condemning needy families to the sadness of hunger.

However, it is important to note that even these women, heirs to Thatcher, are more easily attacked by the prejudices of their mere existence. An emblematic case that will go down in history is that of Marjorie Taylor Greene. For years, she was one of the greatest defenders of Trump and his fascist lackeys, even supporting the most absurd conspiracy theories surrounding the sinister QAnnon movement. Recently, for allegedly sympathizing with the victims of the Epstein case, she turned against the regime, advocating for transparency, which is always the Achilles heel of any monster. She ended up being publicly crucified, being called everything and anything. For years, she suffered no threats or persecution from the opposition to Trump. It took her just a few weeks as an opponent of the far right to fear for her life. So much so that she has already resigned from her political position.

The United States has also issued a new directive to the grunts of this world: attack journalism. Of course, women, once again, are the ones who suffer the most from this. Standing in his private plane, clinging to a wall to support his belly and swollen ankles, his double chin trembling, Trump yelled at a journalist who asked him about sensitive issues concerning his corrupt regime. He called her a “piggy.” In other circumstances, he usually calls female journalists “stupid,” “disgusting,” “incapable,” and other such names. In front of the cameras. Behind closed doors, the names are worse. Remember when he was caught saying he liked to grab women by their genitals, even if they didn’t want him to? Maybe that’s why Ronaldo likes to praise him so much.

Here in our archipelago, how many female journalists have been threatened simply for existing? Ask them! Ask any woman in your life how many times she has felt diminished in a room simply because she is a woman. How many times has she needed to dress more conservatively to seek the minimum respect from a man, without being allowed to wear what she wants, how she wants? What phrases has she been forced to swallow so as not to be labeled hysterical, emotional, frigid, or nymphomaniac? Meanwhile, in the next room, men shout, drool over the curves of the hot girl, and refuse to express any positive feelings whatsoever.

This is how our world works. I like to believe that we are better off than we were a few decades ago. As the Visão article says, they can no longer silence us so easily. But they keep trying. In every way possible. On the street, I hear the Revolution. I see the general strike, which was also called by women, leaders, and resisters. And I see the fight against fascism, which is being waged on many fronts, with many female voices. If they will not pass, it is only because they will never silence us. The future, like the past, belongs to the women of this world. Respect us. Period.

Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives on Terceira Island in the Azores. She is a regular contributor to several Azorean newspapers, a political and cultural activist, and has served in the Azorean Parliament.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant perspectives on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).