The 16th edition of the gala 'Mijas en Femenino', once again this 8th of March, aimed to vindicate true equality between women and men and to highlight the efforts of people who are fighting to achieve this objective. This year, the slogan that heads this day reads 'Mujeres sin más' . With this phrase, the intention is not to differentiate between the sexes, nor to separate one from the other, but simply to put the focus on them, on us, on you, and on the defence of this equality, non-existent in past decades, but, fortunately, increasingly tangible in all areas of our society.
Even so, ideas, qualities and expectations that we attribute to women and men still persist in our daily lives; symbolic representations of what women and men should be and feel that are used to justify gender discrimination. This dichotomy associates femininity with certain characteristics and roles such as motherhood, domestic and care work, being loving, sensitive, weak, sentimental, intuitive, good, dependent, submissive, adaptable. And yes, we can be this, but we can also be independent, strong, competitive, rational, unexpressive, dominant and courageous. And this was shown in the video that headed the gala and with which they wanted to break stereotypes.
The documentary was produced by Mijas Comunicación with the participation of members of Teatro Mijas, Cine Mijas, the youth theatre workshop of the UP directed by Marco Morales and other independent actors.
After the screening of the film, the mayoress of Mijas and head of the Department of Family and Equal Opportunities, Ana Mata (PP), took the stage to read the manifesto for 8M. Mata stressed in her speech that "we cannot stop at what has been achieved, we must look beyond, in the long term. We must fight for a new social model where human conflicts are resolved through dialogue, negotiation and emotional intelligence. Not with domination, control and violence", in addition, with regard to her work she stressed that " The Mijas Town Hall has to be the spearhead when it comes to ending social imbalances, as the new generations must live in a fair and balanced society, for which they must be educated in respect and understanding". Finally she added that "we will continue to demand women's rights, loud and clear, educating without stereotyping".
Participation of Cine Mijas
The event also included the screening of a short film made by Pilar Nuñez, member of Cine Mijas, a project that reflects a decalogue of women, in which many of its phrases are typical of the women who are part of the Cultural Association Cine Mijas, chaired by Pedro Ortega, who has been in charge of the recording of this film.
Award winners
And then it was time for the presentation of the 'Mijas en Femenino' awards, which recognised the achievements of six women in favour of equality, both in the last year and over more than 30 years, as was the case with the first three award winners.
Rafi Cuevas. She was the first award-winner of the afternoon. She was one of the first teachers, not only of dance, to work at the UP, where she has been since 1983 (she has been there for 41 years), which means that she has been working for more than 40 years, with her heels firmly tapping. She became an enterprising woman when she was still a child, at the age of 13, when she started giving dance classes. Her speciality has been traditional, typical and flamenco dances. She has had an average of 50 students per year.
Berni Gabriel. The second prize-winner also started giving classes as a teenager. She is another woman of distinction. She has been working in the UP since she was 17 years old, since 1985 (39 years working). She has an average of 100-120 students per year. She also studied at the Conservatory of Malaga. She teaches many disciplines, from modern and classical dance to ballet, flamenco, dance, etc. Her students have received numerous national and international awards.
Reme Fernández. The next award winner was this other dance teacher who has been on stage and has been teaching girls for more than 30 years. In fact, she has taught mothers and daughters, that is, several generations. This Mijeña has been working as a teacher at the UP since 1992, that is, for 32 years. Before that, she was a student at this school. She studied Dance and Performing Arts at the Conservatory of Malaga. She has an average of 80-100 students per year. She moves in all styles: flamenco, classical, typical dances from Mijas, such as the fandango de Mijas, fandango agarrado, the tanguillos de Valtocado, and some pop for the younger ones.
Anne Bowles. This year's award also went to Anne Bowles, a woman who has championed numerous campaigns to raise awareness about diabetes prevention through the Lions Club of La Cala, founded in 2003 by herself and her late husband Frank Bowles. She has worked closely with the Foreigners Department. This British woman has been living in Mijas for 35 years, which is why she considers herself very much a "Mijeña".
Celia Salguero. Another of those recognised yesterday afternoon was this woman who has given family respite and company to many elderly people both in and out of their homes. She is from Mijas and has been the coordinator of the volunteer and companionship programme 'Mayores para Mayores' (Seniors for Seniors), which had more than 30 retired volunteers. This programme was born out of the Virgen de la Peña Association of Retirees and Pensioners, of which she is a member.
Marta Ortega. Youth and captaincy have also been rewarded today. She is the base, in all aspects, of a team that flies high. She is the base and captain of the women's basketball team Unicaja. This Mijeña, born in 2000, has been playing basketball since she was a child and has played for several teams, from Club Baloncesto Mijas to Unicaja. She started in junior category, being part of the promotion and successes in the Liga Femenina 2.
As a finishing touch, the gala ended with a performance by the students of the UP electric guitar workshop directed by Javier Herráiz, who interpreted Bebe's song, 'Ella'. Singer Paola Nieto, guitarist Antonio Cuesta, Roberto González on bass, and the 'teacher', also on guitar, were the ones who closed the event, an event that wanted to highlight that it was women's day yesterday, but it was and will be tomorrow as well.
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