Breathe
By Noemí Atamoros
"Israel is currently in a moment of creativity. I let myself be infected by that mystique of work. It is a people going through a historical moment with enough flexibility for its people to feel fulfilled; there is no injustice, contempt or abandonment. It is in the moment of integration".
This is Rosario Castellanos, who, for her upward trajectory as a writer and poet, for her extraordinary human qualities and her unceasing struggle for women's rights, has been appointed Mexico's ambassador to Israel.
"This series of elements of Israel's political life are interesting and many of its problems are similar to ours. It is the economic and social development of a young country trying to find its own particular way of life."
- When were you in Israel?
-In December of last year, only ten days, which were made the most of thanks to the trip carefully planned by the Mexican-Israeli Institute, which invited me through my friend Margo Glantz.
"It was a curious thing because this trip had been on my mind for two years and for one reason or another I had not been able to make it. I had a splendid impression of Israel and as if my mind had been guessed, I was appointed ambassador."
-What is your work plan?
"Of course, we will collaborate with the scholarship program for technicians that our government is so interested in, and we will carry out an intensive cultural exchange. It is not yet known what we sell to Israel, but I have been told that we have a trade of several million pesos a year.
"In Israel there is interest in Mexican painting so I will organize exhibitions and I plan to make known the authentic dances of Mexico, as well as other of our artistic manifestations.
"In the literary field there is much to achieve. I wish to promote the publishing exchange between the two countries. Israel has a great literary production, including one of its writers (Shmuel Yosef Agnon) who won the Nobel Prize (1966 ). (1966) and the reason that his book has not reached Mexico is that the production was monopolized by Argentina".
"The Israeli publishers I spoke to, in December, are interested in Mexican writers."
Freedom is a gift that must be exercised in company.
-Do you think we are at the beginning of a matriarchal era?
I do not believe it, nor do I wish it, if for centuries we have suffered the predominance of men, it would not be intelligent for women to emancipate themselves and provoke a situation equal to what they have fought against. Freedom is a gift that cannot be exercised alone but in company.
-Do you think this is the time for Mexican women to stand out and emancipate themselves?
That will depend exclusively on them. All the legal conditions are in place. All that remains is for the woman to know how to act and perform intelligently and also how everything is reflected in her personality.
"Freedom requires maturity and continuous responsibility. It is not the same to delegate responsibilities to someone else, as it is to be the one who arranges things. This produces the anguish of choosing for oneself. If women miss out on access to positions because of this, the situation will remain the same".
-Can a woman combine her home life with her work?
I will answer this with another question. What does the woman do to solve this problem...?
Nothing. Mothers educate their children without taking into account that they are educating a future husband. Maturity is needed in men, in mothers, in wives....
"That they know how to educate their children so that they have responsibilities within the home because the home belongs to everyone. A woman who works and performs very well outside the home, what does she become when she returns home?
"No more and no less than a servant for all the members of her family. This cannot be because it produces psychological and physical heartbreak. That is an absurd life.
The eternal feminine
I have collaborated with a play: El eterno femenino,(this play was the last that Rosario Castellanos wrote. Already in this 1971 interview, she spoke of it with vehemence and conviction, according to the interviewer, although it was not published until 1976, two years after her death). soon to be staged. In it, by means of entertainment and music, we will try to show a series of realities in our environment. It will be a very illustrative work.
-Does this problem exist in Israel?
-You can'tgeneralize. The law and customs are deeply rooted, but everyone tends to reach a level of equality. Israel is made up of families that migrated from old countries with old practices and also have religious taboos, but the youth is aware and pushes forward.
-Is your son Gabriel going with you?
(Gabriel Guerra Castellanos is today a prominent political analyst and graduate of the Free University of West Berlin).
-Of course, for him, who is 9 years old, it will be a great opportunity to observe different customs and get to know other points of view, although I want him to study in Mexico.
Rosario Castellanos, writer, poetess, but above all a full woman, will represent Mexico in Israel and will take time to also teach Mexican and Latin American literature (subjects of her specialty) in order to have full knowledge of what our people are and their way of expressing themselves.
*Interview conducted by Noemí Atamoros on February 11, 1971 after the official appointment of Rosario Castellanos as Mexico's ambassador to Israel and published in Section "B" of Excélsior on February 18, 1971, eight columns: "La Libertad es un don que se Debe Ejercer en Compañía": Rosario Castellanos; with the "bullets:
+Ni deseo ni creo en el matriarcado
+Muy ilustrativo El eterno femenino
+Llegará al momento creador de Israel
Underlining added to the original.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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