Clean Houses': What if having a maid clashed with being a good feminist?

Sol, nan protagonist of 'Casas limpias' (Clean Houses), published by Temas de Hoy, is simply a young, progressive female who would for illustration to unrecorded arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable successful accordance pinch current feminist ideas. However, erstwhile she's fired from her occupation arsenic an artist's adjunct and discovers that she is pregnant, she hires 2 Latin American women to thief astir nan location to do what her boyfriend, who useful 12 hours a day, cannot.

This determination makes Sol consciousness ashamed and she starts to interest astir what group will say, to nan constituent of hiding truthful that her neighbour, from whose model hangs a emblem pinch a purple fist, doesn't find out.

This is really María Agúndez originates her 2nd novel, a image elaborated pinch sharpness and a dose of humour successful which nan scholar is uncomfortable to spot herself reflected because, arsenic nan writer told Euronews: "Hiring personification to cleanable nan location sometimes intends becoming a benignant of small boss, but without giving nan different personification immoderate benignant of information and, supra all, we commencement from nan presumption that we are hiring personification for not wanting to dedicate your free clip to cleaning your ain filth".

It is intolerable not to retrieve nan movie 'The Help', pinch its portrayal of these 2 parallel worlds that are truthful unjustly different from each other; aliases 'Manual for Cleaning Women', nan stories by Lucia Berlin, published 10 years aft nan author's death, which bespeak nan mundane life of these women who are pushed into precarious jobs to support their families, aliases themselves.

Racism, inequality and prejudice

Although 'The Help' is group successful nan 1960s and Berlin besides drew connected her experiences during nan 1940s and 1950s, María Agúndez takes nan bequest of each this and puts it successful a modern position successful which nan guidelines problems - racism, inequality and prejudice - are still there, but successful a different guise.

Caring for others, cleaning; these are still chiefly viewed arsenic women's domains, and though breaking pinch this destiny would beryllium nan perfect measurement to comply pinch nan overmuch repeated word of empowerment, this is still not a anticipation to beryllium contemplated for each of them.

"We criticise a batch nan ways we each person of executing our backstage lives and our feminism and I don't deliberation everyone tin spend it successful nan aforesaid way", explains María Agúndez regarding nan societal pressures that travel from various ideological spheres. "It is arsenic if only master occurrence tin beryllium a worth nowadays, and moreover if a female besides aspires to look aft her baby, it seems that it is frowned upon and that she has fallen into nan attraction trap", she adds.

Lack of societal recognition

The problem, connected nan different hand, lies successful the precariousness of nan world of work and "the incorporation of women into nan workplace is perfect, but it becomes very analyzable erstwhile location is simply a family nucleus because, who is going to springiness up? The grandparents, they besides person nan correct to person their life", declares Agúndez.

And erstwhile it comes to occupation success, not each jobs are valid, and this is very cleverly reflected successful 'Clean Houses' erstwhile nan protagonist discovers that she is obsessed pinch cleaning and wants to activity arsenic a maid, but is criticised by her fellow and her parents because she tin "aspire to thing more". "Is it cooler for your mother, for example, to beryllium a taste worker, moreover if she has unspeakable conditions, alternatively than a cleaner? It's a mobility of societal recognition, that's clear", confesses nan author.

Also very coming successful nan communicative is nan regard of a wealthy, blimpish societal sector, for whom hiring a home worker not only does not raise immoderate aforesaid doubt, aliases humility but alternatively brings pinch it condescending phrases for illustration "she's for illustration 1 of nan family, aliases if we moreover return her connected holiday".

The benignant of personification who is acrophobic that nan cleaner will steal, aliases who purposely leaves a elephantine shot of lint successful a circumstantial spot successful nan location to cheque if it is thoroughly cleaned, arsenic nan caller shows, "are nan ones who perpetuate this strategy nan astir because they don't judge location is simply a problem aliases person a captious eye", says Agúndez.

The contradictions of being a woman

Despite nan profound reflections successful nan inheritance and nan superior reside of this article, nary 1 should beryllium fooled: 'Casas limpias', published successful 5 languages other than Spanish, is neither a governmental caller nor an world essay.

Rather, it is simply a look constructed from "what I tin spot successful my surroundings, nan conversations I person pinch different mothers successful nan park", successful nan words of nan author, who maintains nan witty style of Agúndez's literate debut, 'Piscinas que nary cubren' (Uncovered Swimming Pools).

This activity is for illustration a sociological study successful a literate key; a lens that focuses connected nan contradictions of being a female because, arsenic María Agúndez says: "It is arsenic if men coming person not yet reached nan level of masculinity that springiness them support to talk astir everything and because they do not acquisition fatherhood successful nan aforesaid way, I wouldn't situation to opportunity why."