Did you already know that Spain is not all that perfect and has some problems if we look at the male/female differences?!

The male/female differences

There is a big difference between men and women in Spain. This applies to income, employment and pensions. There are major differences in the field of work and therefore also in the social field. What is still a major problem in Spain is partner abuse.   if we look at how this came, history has had a big influence. Therefore this still has a major influence in the present tense and how people treat each other.

Workspace

The men earn more in Spain than the women. On average, women earn 5,982.42 euros less than men, this was in 2016. Studies have shown that the pay gap will continue to exist in the next coming years. It is said that it can take another 170 years before women and men start earning the same.

Even when we look at the pensions, the gap is even between 37.95%. According to the UGT trade union in Spain, a woman receives around 742.81 euros. While the man receives 1,197.19 euros.

Many women are unemployed,  about 2.3 million. Of these unemployed woman, 42.8% have been looking for a job for the last two years. There are 1.4 million women in Spain who have reached working age. Women between the ages of 16 and 29 are at high risk of becoming poor even though they work.

Social

• Household

If we look at the household, a study by Fedea has shown that 70% of the households are doing by women.

• Polictics

If we look at politics and politicians. In the EU they have the objective that the female politicians must be 40%. Spain has a female politicians percentage of only 39.1%. This has improved in recent years. But Spain is still below the recommended percentage.

• Partner violence

In 2017 counted till only March, there were already 17 women that were killed by male friends or their (former) husband. Partner violence in Spain is a major problem. The authority are doing their best to reduce this and disappear, only it seems that more women are being murdered right now. In 2016, 44 women were murdered by their (ex) husband or boyfriend. 16 of the killed women had previously reported domestic violence.

The history of the Spanish culture

The machismo culture is deeply rooted. In 1975 under the Franco regime, the women had little to say. Men appropriated certain rights. Now it’s much less, depending on the type and size of a company. So many companies are strongly hierarchical with a leader who enforces power. Based on fear instead of respect. This therefore has consequences for the way in which colleagues deal with each other. You must learn to read the Spaniards if you come from a different culture. This is especially for Dutch and Germans, because they are used to communicate directly with each other.

My experience on this topic

• How can I deal with this culture?

How am I treated and how do I respond? I try to approach people not directly here in Spain. Unless it is indicated that you can approach people directly. I try to formulate questions as neatly and politely as possible. I have to try to be careful when giving orders or if it want to tell something that really doesn’t suit me. I am very open myself. I sometimes don’t like criticism / feedback, but I see it as something useful to get. I treat everyone equally. I prefer to talk with everyone and ask all my questions. So I have to be careful with this in Spain and adjust myself. To avoid conflicts. I didn’t experienced a lot of problems yet. I also try to talk a lot in Spanish and a little bit of English, because I noticed that the treat your nicer then.

• Did I experience an awkward situation and what have I noticed of this country?

Coincidentally already the first weekend haha. I wanted to visit my grandfather and grandmother in Santa Pola. So I took the bus on Thursday evening. I told the driver that I had to go to adv. de Europa in Benidorm. He ignored me a bit, he made a sign language that it was okay and that I had to sit. He gave back me my change. It was a party week, so it was busy on the bus and everyone was dressed up. I was supposed to be there by the bus station in 20 minutes. But I was already on the bus for 40 minutes and did not see where I was. I saw the same stops passing by… so I asked an old man next to me if I was driving well. I could not understand him well. So an English woman responded to me. She said I was going the wrong way. I got out quickly when the bus stopped. I told the driver that I didn’t come by the stop at all. He yelled things back angry in Spanish and another old man in the busy line laughed a little. I was super irritated because I had to catch my bus ride from 8:00 PM. I ran to the taxi that was the most closed by. That taxi driver was young and he helped me well and took me to another big bus station (here you can take special bus that drive to other big cities like Alicante, Calpe etc). Here I bought a ticket from an older man. I laughed with him. Later the bus picked me up. The driver was very strict. He looked a bit angry and did very serious when he checked my ticket. After the previous ride I didn’t think it was bad or weird anymore. Then I sat quietly alone in a kind of school bus. I told my family this story. My grandmother, who lives in Spain, said that this was normal and that this happened a lot when you ask or talk to some men. It is okay because I experienced this and learned from it.

On my way back to Alfaz del pi (where I live). I had also a experience with a bus driver. I was asking him where I could take the bus to Alfaz del Pi. He reacted bothered and angry. And said IN English: “pfff don’t ask me! Look and ask it somewhere else, I can’t speak English (he was reacting in English but yeah…) ”. I didn’t take it personally, because I knew how is goes in Spain. I only said: “oke thank you”.  20 minutes later I finally found an older couple that wanted to help me. The husband was just making jokes and only asked me about what languages I could speak. Later he talked German to me (not even Dutch haha). The older woman said angry to her husband: “SHE WANTED TO KNOW THE WAY”. She said in Spanish: “come don’t listen to him”. She walked me without her husband with to the normal bus station (that was literally 10 minutes long walking). Till I had my bus, she was waiting with me. Later we said goodbye and I was her soooo tankful. I will never ever forget her. Know I finally know all the bus stops haha.

Furthermore, I notice a difference between everyone. The one is very angry, raised and present. The other is more nice and happy. Same for women, the one said nothing and just looked mad if you say something. The other laughs nicely and talks nicely. So… that is my experience of the male/female differences in Spain so far.

Literature

• Coeli, R. (2017, March 26). Het machismo van het Spaanse bedrijfsleven. Retrieved from https://www.reginacoeli.nl/blog/het-machismo-van-het-spaanse-bedrijfsleven.html

• Stoffer, R. (2017, March 08). Radiografie van de vrouwen in Spanje. Retrieved from https://www.spanjevandaag.com/08/03/2017/radiografie-van-de-vrouwen-in-spanje/