Monday, April 9, 2007

Spanish Chauvenism

It's raining today in the Costa del Sol and we're getting a much needed steady rainfall after the drought from two years ago. Last year wasn't too bad, but it didn't rain quite enough to fill our reservoirs to full capacity again so it's very important that it rains a lot this spring.

So, today I want to write about Spanish male chauvinism, which incidentally has nothing to do with the lovely weather we're having here today.

Anyway, I kind of had this sneaking suspicion that Spanish males might be a tad more chauvenist than other men I've encountered. I realized I underestimated the degree of their chauvenism when a Japanese male over 50 years of age - himself a chauvinist clearly from the way he was talking to me said:

"Spanish men are such male chauvinists. You should see the way they treat women!"

When I told this story to another female Italian friend of mine she said:

"They are really terrible chauvinists. When I first moved to Spain I worked in the stables because I didn't have any contacts here. A week into my work I noticed all these men were flirting with me and wondered why. Then I found out they had set up a betting system to see who would sleep with me first! That's why I stay away from Spanish men and try to date Japanese men."

She was having fun scaring Japanese men on the Internet with her muscles and her skill in Karate at the time.

"Spanish men have no respect for women and they will always try to see if they can get the better of you. Physically they are either stronger, or if they are not that strong they are so fat you can't really win."

The reality is that she was pretty strong.

One night after going out with her friends, a Spanish man stalked her back to her car and tried to assault her. Apparently her Karate reflexes kicked in and before she knew it the man was on the ground groaning and she quickly got into her car and drove away as fast as she could.

"I didn't bother to ask him whether he was OK, but my hands were trembling as I drove away I was so frightened..."

Being quite weak even compared to the rest of my gender, I just hardened my resolve not to go out late at night after hearing this, but did contemplate going to Karate classes.

Never been into clubbing because I don't enjoy dancing, drinking or man hunting - so leaving these options out there has never been much for me to do when clubbing anyway. In essence when people try to tell me I'm missing out on life if I don't go out and stay in a place I don't want to be until 7 a.m. in the morning so that I can feel shitty all day next day, they're wrong. I'd rather stay home at night and play an online game. Much safer because you can only die a virtual death here...and I can go to bed before dawn.

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