“Unempowered women are more profitable for the capitalist system”
- The feminist communicator and sexologist Sonia Encinas (Madrid, 1987) has debuted in the literature with the books Wild Femininity and The Child who wanted to give hugs. In both books, her main challenge is to end the taboo of female sexuality and create multiple masculinities references for our children.
She says sex education is power. Why?
Considering that sexuality is present in our lives from birth to death, it is one of our main milestones. But sex is still a taboo, and the revenge of that barrier imposed on us by the system is inevitable to regain power. We must live informed sexuality, avoiding beliefs and limitations to ensure well-being and health.
You start your book Wild Femininity with a clear message: “To eliminate dust and prioritize our sexual well-being it is essential to dispense with centuries of silence.”
Of course. All women are able to prioritize sexual well-being, but the path to achieving it is long. Disinformation and sexual silence has been prolonged over many centuries, and to overcome time, lack of demand and mime are determinant. Furthermore, sexual well-being is part of well-being and, unfortunately, in this society we do not leave room for well-being. That is why, in order to achieve this, we need to break the structures that have placed us from the outside.
“The sexual woman upsets the system,” she says. Why?
Of course. Because the stigma of the female, the whore and the bacon continues to weigh enormous. And this stigma is, among others, the most frequent means of control against female sexuality. Not only that, the system is not interested in sex women, because an unempowered woman is much more profitable for the capitalist system.
What do you mean?
We have been sold that as women we have to be on a level. When a woman feels she's not on that level, she'll look out for what she misses. They have educated us. And sexuality is also lived in that way: if I think I'm not worth feeling pleasure, I'm going to try to be politically more correct stimuli. Finally, it is known that the exemplary woman is always left for the end, she is a caregiver…
There's more talk on social media lately about sexuality. Are things changing? .jpg)
It is clear that today we have a space where we can speak freely about sexuality and that in the last twenty years there has been development in this regard. However, discourses that clash with my way of understanding sexuality continue to prevail. Within the feminist movement, the punitive discourse against the sexual manifestations of women continues to prevail.
Do you, for example, talk about what happened to Chanel, who represented Spain at the Eurovision Festival?
Indeed. As always, women are about to hit, because we enjoy or do not enjoy, because we demonstrate the body or because we do not... But we are always pointed out, it is difficult to find discourses that capture the complexity of the sexual experience and expressions.
It also happens with motherhood. Historically it has been uncomfortable for feminism…
I don't ask feminism to think homogeneously. Personally, both in maternity and sexuality, I find interesting messages of reflection on the starting points that differ from my arguments. Given that the feminist movement brings together millions of people, it is not realistic for there to be a single opinion. We live in a context of strong political polarization and I see feminism as a reflection of what happens outside.
Well, we go back to ti.Acaba publishing the story The Child Who Wanted to Give Hugs. When and how was the project born?
I once wrote on Instagram about the challenge of educating our children in feminism. That text went viral and I received a publication proposal to write for children about feminism. Because they lack literature with a feminist point of view. I wanted to talk about my experience, as I always do. At home, my son sees an equal distribution of tasks, we have the same involvement in growth, but what he receives outside the home will give him a different perspective. Like the cartoons you see. And in all of these areas, gender stereotypes are still repeated. In the book, finally, I have referred to masculinity, because I think it is important that the child who grows as a boy knows that he does not have to be always in a given box, which may be different.
What is the main challenge for women to live a feminist sexuality?
Start enjoying sexuality without guilt through feminist gaze. Putting oneself in the center, leaving aside the heterosexual sexuality of men.
And finally, what's the key to ensuring that kids have multiple masculinities?
Embrace the sensitivity of children. And for that, education is essential, to fundamentally change things. We must focus our attention on future generations, educating them to monitor and express their emotions.
Wild femininity
“I’ve always been curious about sex. When I was Tiki, it was clear that I was taboo and that friends of my age didn't read and that I was early consuming sex issues. I somehow pioneered talking about intimate issues. At that time, I didn't know that I was going to take care of women, couples and groups in their sexual growth. But yes, in one way or another, sexuality has always been present in my life, even when I played with dolls: I remember that among them they had affective and sexual relations. When I finished journalism, I wanted to specialize in gender and I studied a master's degree in sexology and gender. That’s how sexology conquered me and I’ve stayed here.”
Zamora, late 10th century. On the banks of the Douro River and outside the city walls the church of Santiago de los Caballeros was built. The inside capitals of the church depict varied scenes with sexual content: an orgy, a naked woman holding the penis of a man… in the... [+]
