Welcome,
The RAE says that vulnerable people are “those who could be injured or suffer physical or mental injury”. And so we go through life weak, because life, in the end, is exposure to good and evil, to what moves us, to what excites us, to what hurts us. There are, of course, circumstances that make us more or less vulnerable to violence, for example.
This week I was able to share space with some women who describe themselves as vulnerable: women who have experienced violence during childbirth and who share In a project specifically called “The Vulnerable”By visual artist Silvia Marti. She collects their images and stories to create a striking and necessary collective story about their reach and reach in Spain. Obstetric violence. The photo at the top of the newsletter is of you, and it’s part of the project.
I met Eva: the gynecologist was rushing her into labor because she had eaten a family meal and her birth ended with a cleft that almost caused her death. After weeks of searching for answers and diagnoses, a surgeon discovered that not only was her vagina torn, but her digestive system was as well. She had to undergo a massive surgery that included a complete reconstruction of her pelvic floor. The consequences of all this on his life are, in short, a new life in which the courts did not agree with him. He lost his home due to the economic consequences, and its harsh impact on his health and emotional life.
They shocked Elena: the Kristeller maneuver was not recommended at all, but the person who attended her birth didn’t care. Elena told us she ran out of air and thought she was dying there. But the worst part went to his daughter, who suffered from brachial paralysis at birth, leaving her with a lifelong disability.
Belen is a deaf woman and this caused her to be practically ignored during part of her birth. No one explained anything to her, no one looked at her face or tried to communicate with her. Not even when they started manually extracting the placenta or when they brought her into the operating room.
Speaking up, when they were able to do so, and sharing their story brought them compensation. They and the rest of the women Who participate in the projectThey feel vulnerable, but also violated. Pregnancy and childbirth make you particularly vulnerable in a system in which these conditions are considered dangerous, something that must be controlled, in which birth times are radically at odds with sacred productivity, and in which human resources or delivery rooms are scarce.
In short, we are vulnerable because being human means being exposed, but undoubtedly also because in the world we live in there are specific threats and risks that make us more vulnerable.
You might be interested
- This episode From “We Will Come Out Better” where Inés Hernand and Neria Pérez de las Heras talk with trainer Claudia Mahikis who puts a gender perspective on gyms, fitness and muscle.
- Guatemalan Women’s Association I have submitted a report In it, he denounced the enormous difficulties faced by thousands of asylum seekers in Spain in obtaining an appointment with the administration. Actual discrimination has serious consequences, and is even more profound when it comes to refugees. I highly recommend both the report and This piece In it we talk about the black dating market that exists and we talk about cases like that of Maria Callego, who worked during the pandemic in a residence exposed to the virus.
- Remedios Zafra wins the 2025 National Essay Prize. Zafra is an intellectual who is always worth listening and reading: “There is a common link between the anti-feminist point of view and the anti-intellectual point of view,” He says in this interview.
discovery
This week I found out Hiromi Sonic Wondera Japanese jazz artist and pianist that I got to see live and he blew my mind. I have been alternating with the new Rosalía. I admit that I am saturated with the analysis of her latest album and I devote myself, above all, to listening to it carefully, even though, clearly, I am the first to fall into over-analysis. Without any analysis I can say that This song You got me for a loop, it’s beautiful.
There are important days coming next week 🙂 I will tell you about them in the next newsletter.
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