Here in Spain, the Women’s Caucus hosted a ‘Let’s Talk’ Zoom session a few weeks ago. We had a very interesting discussion that included our reactions to the midterm elections, the lack of accountability in US politics these days, and how we attempt to explain the Spanish lifestyle to our family and friends back in the States. 

At the end of January, I attended the DA Spain leadership retreat in Madrid. It was an informative and energizing event, as well as a great way to get to know other DA members. Many thanks to the organizers. 

February is Black History Month and in honor of this month I plan to read ‘Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom’, by Ilyon Woo. It’s the story of a light skinned black woman who dressed as a man and together with her husband, who acted as her ‘slave,’ escaped to the north. While I can’t personally vouch for it–I still need to read it!–the book has gotten rave reviews, including this one on Goodreads.

March is Women’s History Month and the 8th of March is International Women's Day. How would you like to celebrate? What issues are important to you? What can we as a Caucus do to celebrate? 

I’d love to hear from you! Write to me at [email protected].

All the best, Doris

Greetings from the other side of November 8th. Aren’t we all breathing a sigh of relief? Besides keeping the Senate and the feared ‘Red Wave’ turning out to be only a red trickle, the results of the measures in the five states where abortion was on the ballot have given me a sense of hope. If we count the Kansas amendment in August, that’s six states that have put abortion or abortion-related legislation on the ballet since the fall of Roe v Wade, and all six have sided with keeping politicians and the state out of peoples’ personal and very private decisions. 

Here is detailed information as found in MS. magazine:

• In California, Proposition 1 passed, guaranteeing the constitutional right to reproductive freedom “in their most intimate decisions,” including the right to abortion and contraceptives.

• In Kentucky, Constitutional Amendment 2 failed. This confusingly worded amendment would have changed the state constitution to say there is no right to abortion, or any requirement to fund abortion. Voters didn’t fall for it.

• Michigan‘s Proposal 3 passed, which will create a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom, including decisions “about all matters relating to pregnancy,” including abortion and contraception.

• In Montana, voters rejected Legislative Referendum 131, which would have subjected healthcare providers who do not make every effort to save the life of an infant “born during an attempted abortion,” to civil penalties and up to 20 years of jail time.

• In Vermont, Proposal 5 passed, which creates a constitutional right to personal reproductive autonomy.

• In Kansas‘ primary elections in August, 59% of voters cast ballots against a proposed amendment explicitly stating that nothing in the state constitution creates a right to abortion or requires government funding for abortion, and that the legislature has the authority to restrict abortion.

So please join me in celebrating and working toward a future where the right of women to control their own lives and destinies is no longer a discussion because it is an accepted and unalienable right. 

Would you like to join the Women’s Caucus? We are always looking for volunteers. Get in touch by sending an email to [email protected].

We are all aware of the leaked Supreme Court draft that would reverse Roe v. Wade and–for the first time in the history of the United States–legally take away a basic human right: the right for women to make decisions about their own bodies. Words fail to express the outrage and frustration. Fifty years on and the battle continues.

The moment that this decision is officially issued in June or July of this year, between 13 to 26 states will immediately reduce or completely revoke the right to abort, many making no exceptions in any circumstances. 

The Senate just voted on the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) , which would have codified abortion protection. As expected, the WHPA lost in a vote of 49 to 51. Every single Republican member of Congress, including those who claim to be in favor of the right for a woman to choose, voted No, along with one Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia. 

For abortion rights to be protected in the United States of America, WHPA must pass. For this to happen under the existing filibuster rules, 60 of 100 Senators would have to vote Yes. Democrats must win in all possible races and not only keep the majority in the midterm elections, but improve their numbers. Perhaps a remote possibility, but what are the other choices? Especially in light of Senate minority leader McConnell’s remarks in a recent interview, in which he suggested that if Republicans retake the Senate majority, they may pursue a law banning abortion nationwide. 

I urge you to join the Spain Women’s Caucus and help get the word out and get active! We need volunteers to brainstorm ideas, to contact our representatives, to come together and ‘hacer piña’, and to turn out the vote for equal rights in 2022 and 2024! 

I hope to hear from you soon!

[email protected]

In solidarity, 

Doris

Living in Spain isn’t all fun in the sun, siestas and fiestas.

For our next webinar, we welcome Mr. Roland Sabates from the firm Expat Legal Services Group. This webinar will be held on May 18th at 7:30 pm (CET) on the topic of US citizen tax obligations while living abroad. Roland will cover important tax issues for Americans in Spain. 

To tailor these webinars to your needs, we ask that you send us any questions you might have ahead of time. We will pass them on to our speaker, so that he is aware of your concerns and can plan the talk accordingly. Send your questions to [email protected] by Monday, May 16th. 

If you are unable to attend the live session but would like to see the recording, do send in an RSVP. We will send a link to the video to all who sign up.

RSVP here

I am still in contact with the Madrid Embassy about the possibility of a webinar on retirement and the agreement between the US Social Security and Spanish pension system.  Stay tuned for updates on this possible webinar. 

Are there any other topics of interest? Do you know anyone willing to be a guest on one of our webinars? Send your suggestions and ideas to [email protected].

All the best, 

Doris

Living in Spain isn’t all fun in the sun, siestas and fiestas.

For our next webinar, we welcome back Mr. Ignacio Pellicer and Mr. Pedro Heredia, from the law firm Pellicer and Heredia. This webinar will be held on April 6th at 7:00 pm on the topic of Litigation in Spain.

To tailor these webinars to your needs, we ask that you send us any questions you might have ahead of time. We will pass them on to our speakers, so that they are aware of your concerns and can plan the talk accordingly. Send your questions to [email protected] by Monday, April 4th. 

If you are unable to attend the live session but would like to see the recording, do send in an RSVP. We will send a link to the video to all who sign up.

RSVP here

And mark your calendars for the May session, which has been confirmed: 

May 18th: US citizen tax obligations while living abroad 

Still being organized: 

• Retirement and the agreement between the US Social Security and Spanish pension system 

Are there any other topics of interest? Do you know anyone willing to be a guest on one of our webinars? Send your suggestions and ideas to [email protected]

Many years ago a friend gave me a tote bag with the slogan ‘Women Who Behave Rarely Make History’. I loved this and to this day proudly carry the tote bag with the slogan side visible to all. It also led me to investigate where the slogan came from and discovered that it had been incorrectly copied from the title of an academic paper, since turned into a book called ‘Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History’. The author, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, defines how this slogan has been interpreted and her thoughts on what a ‘well-behaved’ woman is. The truth is, although not being well-behaved might bring notoriety, it’s no guarantee of marking one’s place in the world. 

I consider myself to be a well-read and well-informed feminist, so when I picked up the book ‘Daily Rituals, Women at Work’ by Mason Currey,  I expected to be familiar with most of the women featured. To my great surprise, I discovered that I had heard of less than half! What a humbling experience that was, and what great insight the book gave into how many women, who had never had–as Virgina Woolf so aptly defined in ‘A Room of One’s Own’–their own space, managed to go on and be successful and celebrated in their fields of endeavor. (And it seems that some were well behaved.)

For this month of March, officially celebrated as Women’s History Month, I decided to finally pick up a book that has been sitting on my shelf unread, I am ashamed to say, for too many years. I bought the new translation of Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘The Second Sex’ after reading the following in the New York Times:

‘In her splendid introduction to this new edition, Judith Thurman notes that Blanche Knopf, wife of Beauvoir’s American publisher, heard about the book on a scouting trip to France and was under the impression that it was a highbrow sex manual. Knopf asked for a reader’s report from a retired zoologist, Howard M. Parshley, who was then commissioned to do the translation. Knopf’s husband urged Parshley to condense it significantly, noting that Beauvoir seemed to suffer from “verbal diarrhea.” Parshley complied, providing the necessary Imodium by cutting 15 percent of the original 972 pages. And so it was this truncated text, translated by a scientist with a college undergraduate’s knowledge of French, that ushered two generations of women into the universe of feminist thought, inspiring pivotal later books like Betty Friedan’s “Feminine Mystique” and Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics.”

Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier’s new translation of “The Second Sex” is the first English-language edition in almost 60 years, and the first to restore the material Parshley excised. In this passionate, awesomely erudite work, Beauvoir examines the reasons women have been forced to accept a place in society secondary to that of men, despite the fact that women constitute half the human race.’

I could not have been more surprised or pleased to learn that Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallie are active members of the Women’s Global Caucus book club and often lead the fascinating discussions that take place there. I will soon be able to proudly say that I have read ‘The Second Sex’ in the best English-language translation available. 

In conclusion, whether or not you are well-behaved, the Spain Women’s Caucus is looking for volunteers to help build community and outreach. If you are interested in getting involved in any capacity, get in touch by email at [email protected] or fill out the Volunteer Interest Form. 

Or if you just want to drop a line and tell me about your favorite feminst book, I’d love to hear from you. 

All the best, 

Doris

citation: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/books/review/Gray-t.html

Living in Spain isn’t all fun in the sun, siestas and fiestas.

For our next webinar, we welcome back Mr. Ignacio Pellicer and Mr. Pedro Heredia, from the law firm Pellicer and Heredia. This webinar will be held on March 9th at 19:30 CET on the topic of Wills, Probate and Inheritance.

To tailor these webinars to your needs, we ask that you send us any questions you might have ahead of time. We will pass them on to our speakers, so that they are aware of your concerns and can plan their talk accordingly. Send your questions to [email protected] by Monday, March 7th. If you are unable to attend the live session but would like to see the recording, do send in an RSVP. We will send a link to the video to all who sign up. RSVP here.

Mark your calendars! Future topics that have been confirmed are: 

• April 6th: Litigation in Spain
• May 18th: US citizen tax obligations while living abroad 

• Still being organized: Retirement and the agreement between the US Social Security and Spanish pension system 

Are there any other topics of interest? Do you know anyone willing to be a guest speaker at one of our webinars?  Send your suggestions and ideas to [email protected]. 

Living in Spain isn’t all fun in the sun, siestas and fiestas.

For our second webinar of 2022, we welcome back Mr. Ignacio Pellicer and Mr. Pedro Heredia, from the law firm Pellicer and Heredia. This webinar will be held on February 9th at 7:30 pm on the topic of renters’ rights and buying property.

To tailor these webinars to your needs, we ask that you send us any questions you might have ahead of time. We will pass them on to our speakers, so that they are aware of your concerns and can plan the talk accordingly. Send your questions to [email protected] by Monday, February 7th. 

If you are unable to attend the live session but would like to see the recording, do send in an RSVP. We will send a link to the video to all who sign up. 

RSVP HERE https://www.democratsabroad.org/living_in_spain_renters_rights

Mark your calendars! Future topics that have been confirmed are: 

March 9th: Making a will, probate and inheritance

April 6th: Litigation in Spain

May 18th:  US citizen tax obligations while living abroad 

Still being organized: 

• Retirement and the agreement between the US Social Security and Spanish pension system 

Are there any other topics of interest? Do you know anyone willing to be a guest on one of our webinars?  Send your suggestions and ideas to [email protected]. 

Sign Up to receive ‘Living in Spain’ information directly to your mailbox. Send an email to [email protected] to request to be removed from the list.

January 21 marks the anniversary of the Women’s March of 2017, held in protest the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. Demonstrations to highlight the threat to civil, human, and reproductive rights took place not only in Washington, DC, but in cities and towns around the United States and across the world. I was heartened by the turnout and enthusiasm of the Women’s March here in my adopted hometown of Barcelona. We were upset and had to demonstrate our angst and frustration in whatever way we were able. 

Now it’s 2022 and, in some ways, it seems that things are not improving for women; in fact, in some areas, things seem to be backsliding. But to celebrate this very important date, and to keep positive, I’ve decided to dwell on the good stuff.

At the top of the list is the fact that Trump has been voted out of office, and we have a female vice president in Kamala Harris. We trust that the first woman president is not far away. 

Women can now be found in greater numbers in all areas of work and life. Television, for example, is full of crack female reporters and interviewers. The MeToo movement has brought gross injustices in the news casting and entertainment industry to the forefront.  

Nearly 60% of university students in the US are women. Here in Spain, there are more women than men studying in traditionally male-dominated fields such as law and medicine.  

Abortion rights are under attack, but there is now an abortion pill that (in part thanks to Covid) is becoming more widely available and easier to obtain. 

A new US quarter-dollar coin is coming out that features the poet Maya Angelou, and women are being remembered and honored like never before. (We are still waiting for the twenty dollar bill featuring Harriet Tubman!)

So, let’s keep fighting for our fundamental rights, but never forget where women were and how far we have come! If you would like to share your thoughts and ideas, write me at [email protected]

Would you like to become a volunteer with Women’s Caucus Spain? Fill out the Volunteer Interest Form and we will be in touch.

Don’t forget to write to your representatives about the ERA and reproductive justice. Click on the links to see what you can do!

https://www.democratsabroad.org/wc_issue_era

https://www.democratsabroad.org/wc_reproductive_justice_action_team