As I am writing this column on the eve of the day in favour of women’s rights, I have some thoughts. There is no doubt that there has been progress (the latter may be the decision of the French Government to introduce abortion into the Constitution), but we also have to worry, as Simone de Beauvoir said, that in times of crisis it is the dretxos of women who are first attacked. In children's classes, it is obvious that students have internalized a discourse of politically correct equality. In Bizkitarte, along with the churches, the behaviors have not changed radically in the air intake time: the children occupy two-thirds of the area, with football or ball, while the girls are dedicated to jumping the rope in the shelter. It is true, however, that there are girls who dare to walk with the boys, the opposite is more difficult. In an experimental session, a teacher I know, a child wrote, "It's harder to be a child than before." This report can be considered in two ways: it is increasingly expensive to show men their oppressive masculinity, which is a good sign; or it is not easy to accept a trajectory outside the virility clichés, when you are a child or a man. In fact, I find it more troubling than a girl who is going to jump the rope, who is going to spread the churiquettes, than crying, than a girl who is cutting wood or changing the clutch, than a woman who is not going to show sensitivity.

The latest general data point to an increase in sexism, especially in young people. According to the report of the French Higher Commission on Equality of Women and Men of 22 January 2024, machismo is being strengthened: passivity, hatred and denial of women’s freedom are on the rise. What to do? The report responds to the need to better educate families, regulate the presence of women and punish unsustainable behaviour. A challenge, of course, for public structures and for each of us.

I find it exemplary, for example, a queer novel awarded by Germany with the prestigious Deutscher Buchpreis prize of 2022, Kim de l’Horizonen Blutbuch. In this work, the author performs the female genealogy of his family, exalting his grandmother, continuously comparing it with the marine fluid. The writer invents a surprising language, using a code to mark the neutral genre, in a striking innovative style. We are moving away from the usual debate on inclusive writing: literature allows Kim de l’Horizon to imagine the solution. “Nehoiz will not give the Goncourt Prize to such a brave man!”, said the French critic, who had worked to pay tribute to Annie Ernaux, Nobel Laureate. That not all institutions assume their responsibilities…

On the other hand, individual responsibility in the defense of wives has encouraged the writer Bea Salaberri to publish her novel Mesfida zaitez, in the editorial Txalaparta. In this domestica epopeya, which has matured for about ten years, it gives prominence to wives who have not had visibility, that is, who committed themselves to helping ETA, in Iparralde, to bring out the partner organizations, in the greatest silence. As the book came out on 6 March in the official presentation at the Mint library of Ortzaiz, I have not read it, and in any case, the good dialogues I could say about my friend’s work would be suspicious – because my friend’s work can be criticised…. I do not doubt, however, that you are going to read that novel, and that you will enjoy it even if you are not friends with the author, because it sets our nearest story in a collective memory beyond genres.