QMAGAZINE – Machismo in Costa Rica is alive and well. But television news anchor and journalist Natalia Suárez would have none of it on her news segment, “Café Política”, while interviewing Claudio Alpizar, a candidate seeking the nomination from the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) in the 2022 presidential elections.
It wasn’t a question of what she said, but her facial expressions to Alpizar’s reply as to why there are almost no women participating in the election process.
The video clip of the interview will certainly remain in the memory of many, again not for the issues discussed, but the pezeteña’s (native of Perez Zeledon) unspoken reaction.
During the Tuesday interview, Alpízar explained that “it is because many women do not want to enter the dirty games of politics because they are more sensitive and emotional”.
“That opinion of yours seems macho to me, it seems to me that there are positions that have already been overcome, such as that woman are more sensitive than men, that we are riskier or that we are more fearful, that is a macho opinion,” she told Alpízar without conniption.
In the middle of the explanation given by the candidate, who became more entangled than an octopus in a fight, Natalia made different facial gestures that became viral in ‘dos toques’ (immediately), and was the reason for the creation of a lot of memes.
Showing class, Natalia told the media hungry for more that she prefers to leave it all that.
“As it is a political issue and the convention is on top, I don’t think it is correct to refer to the case. The interview with Don Claudio was what it was. It is available in full on teletica.com,” she said.
Nothing to be done
However, the interview went beyond the annoyance that we suppose Natalia (Naty as she is known to her friends) felt, as the issue went viral and gave rise to a lot of comments on social networks.
It did not take long for memes and the publications of several men who compared the gestures of the communicator. In addition, the topic became a trend on Twitter on Tuesday and Wednesday.
One woman who has overcome machismo spoke out and none other than Carolina Hidalgo, a lawyer and politician, current legislator for the sixth place in the province of Alajuela, and between May 2018 and 2019, assumed the presidency of the Legislative Assembly, becoming the third woman in the history of Costa Rica to hold this position, only after Rina Contreras López, in 2000, and Rosmery Karspinsky Dodero, in 1986.
Currently, the presidency of the Legislative Assembly (2021-2022) is held by a woman, Silvia Hernandez.
Las mujeres no le huímos a los golpes de la política. Al contrario: nos involucramos a pesar de que hombres machistas hasta nos expliquen lo que vivimos o cómo somos, como le pasó hoy a @natisuarez. Necesitamos más mujeres en estos espacios para, justamente, cambiarlos. https://t.co/orzzy2JQpv
— Carolina Hidalgo H. (@carohidalgoh) June 1, 2021
“If a woman makes such a face at you, take a minute of silence for the fallen soldier. She probably already knows everything, it is best to accept it and lower your head,” said imitator and comedian Fabián Murillo.
In this case, the creator of Doña Genia, thinks that it would have been best for Alpizar to have taken back his comments.
“Better to make a U-turn and retract because he screwed up. I have always believed that rather women are stronger, I see my grandmother and my mother who are braver than me. One (a man) with a simple cold is really to call the undertaker, while they (women) continue as if nothing, one must be humble to retract and offer apologies,” assured Fabián.
