The Contemporary Woman: Women Speak (AQA A-Level Spanish): Revision Notes

The Contemporary Woman: Women Speak

Introduction

This topic explores the experiences and perspectives of contemporary women in Spanish-speaking societies. You'll learn how women today discuss issues like workplace equality, family responsibilities, discrimination, and social attitudes. Understanding these perspectives helps you engage with important social debates and express opinions using appropriate Spanish structures.

Essential vocabulary: Women and society

Spanish	English
la mujer contemporánea	the contemporary woman
la igualdad de derechos	equality of rights
la discriminación	discrimination
el machismo	sexism/male chauvinism
infravalorada/o	undervalued
la brecha salarial	the pay gap
el acoso	harassment
el/la colega	colleague
la confianza	confidence
anticuado/a	old-fashioned
moralista	judgemental/moralising
condescendiente	condescending
el comportamiento	behaviour
valorar	to value
criticar	to criticise

Example sentences:

• Muchas mujeres se sienten infravaloradas en el trabajo. (Many women feel undervalued at work.)
• La brecha salarial sigue siendo un problema grave en España. (The pay gap continues to be a serious problem in Spain.)
• Mis amigas más anticuadas me critican por trabajar. (My more old-fashioned friends criticise me for working.)
• El comportamiento condescendiente de algunos hombres es inaceptable. (The condescending behaviour of some men is unacceptable.)

Workplace and domestic vocabulary

Spanish	English
el sueldo	salary/wage
el puesto	position/job
la jefa de personal	head of personnel (f)
la investigadora	researcher (f)
la limpiadora	cleaner (f)
la policía	police officer (f)
el paro	unemployment
desempleado/a	unemployed
los quehaceres	household chores
planchar la ropa	to iron clothes
pasar la aspiradora	to vacuum
hacer la cena	to make dinner
cuidar	to look after
el/la sirviente	servant

Example sentences:

• Mi marido está en el paro y cuida de nuestro bebé. (My husband is unemployed and looks after our baby.)
• Cuando llego a casa tengo todos los quehaceres por hacer. (When I get home I have all the housework to do.)
• Me tratan como la sirvienta de la casa. (They treat me like the house servant.)
• Trabajo de limpiadora en un instituto. (I work as a cleaner in a school.)

Women's voices: Four perspectives

The experiences of contemporary Spanish women vary greatly depending on their profession, family situation, and social environment. Here are four distinct perspectives that highlight different challenges women face today.

Suhaila: Breaking traditional moulds

Suhaila represents a young professional who has recently completed her degree in physics and chemistry. She works as a researcher focusing on rare diseases at the University of Sevilla. Her situation challenges traditional gender roles because her husband stays at home looking after their baby whilst she pursues her career. Although she finds this arrangement positive, she faces criticism from more traditional friends who label her a bad mother for not staying at home. This reflects ongoing tensions between modern career women and outdated social expectations about motherhood and women's roles.

Luna: The invisible labour of care

Luna is a 47-year-old woman who works as a cleaner in an educational institute. Despite working outside the home, she returns each evening to face all the domestic responsibilities alone. She must prepare meals, do laundry, iron clothes, vacuum, and cook dinner without any help from her husband or three adult sons. Luna's experience highlights the 'double shift' that many women face - working outside the home whilst still bearing sole responsibility for domestic labour. She feels unvalued and invisible, treated as a servant rather than an equal family member. Her situation demonstrates that despite progress in women's leadership positions, inequality in domestic labour distribution remains a significant problem.

Merche: Corporate discrimination

As head of personnel in a bank, Merche has achieved a senior professional position. However, she faces multiple forms of workplace discrimination. She discovered that her male colleague Luis Carlos earns significantly more than her for identical work - a clear example of the gender pay gap. Additionally, some male colleagues fail to take her seriously, dismissing her well-founded opinions and making inappropriate comments about her appearance. The threat of salary reduction during maternity leave adds another layer of discrimination. Merche's experience shows how sexism persists even at senior professional levels.

Virginia: Challenging stereotypes in policing

Virginia works as a national police officer, a traditionally male-dominated profession. Although she excels at her job and thrives in high-pressure situations, male colleagues often display condescending attitudes. Some ask her to handle dangerous tasks like using firearms so they don't have to, or request her help in ways that undermine her authority. This patronising behaviour represents what she calls 'silent social sexism' - subtle but persistent discrimination that suggests women don't truly belong in these roles. Her call for women to unite against this machismo highlights the need for collective action.

Common issues faced by contemporary women

These testimonies reveal several recurring themes in contemporary women's experiences:

The gender pay gap remains a reality even when men and women perform identical work in the same positions. This economic inequality affects women's financial independence and career progression.

Domestic labour inequality continues despite women's participation in the workforce. Many women face a 'double burden' of paid work and unpaid domestic responsibilities, whilst male family members avoid household tasks.

Workplace harassment and discrimination manifest in various ways, from inappropriate comments to being taken less seriously than male colleagues. Women in male-dominated professions often face additional challenges to prove their competence.

Outdated social attitudes persist, particularly regarding motherhood and women's roles. Women who prioritise careers or challenge traditional family structures face criticism and judgement from more conservative social circles.

Condescending behaviour from male colleagues undermines women's authority and expertise, particularly in professional or high-status positions.

Grammar focus: Verbos del tipo gustar

These verbs function differently from regular verbs in Spanish. The thing that causes the feeling is the grammatical subject, whilst the person experiencing the feeling is the indirect object. This structure initially confuses English speakers because it translates more literally as "to me pleases" rather than "I like".

Common gustar-type verbs

Spanish	English
gustar	to like/please
encantar	to love/delight
molestar	to bother/annoy
fascinar	to fascinate
importar	to matter/care about
interesar	to interest
costar	to find difficult
convenir	to suit/be convenient
hacer falta	to need/lack
doler	to hurt

Structure and indirect object pronouns

The basic pattern is: Indirect object pronoun + verb + subject

The indirect object pronouns are:

• me (to me)
• te (to you, informal)
• le (to him/her/you formal)
• nos (to us)
• os (to you, plural informal)
• les (to them/you, plural formal)

The verb agrees with what comes after it (the thing that pleases/bothers/interests), not with the person:

• Me gusta el trabajo. (I like the job. / The job pleases me.) - singular verb, singular noun
• Me gustan los trabajos. (I like the jobs. / The jobs please me.) - plural verb, plural noun
• Nos molesta la discriminación. (Discrimination bothers us.)
• Les importa la igualdad. (Equality matters to them.)

For emphasis or clarity

Add a + pronoun/noun at the beginning:

• A mí me encanta mi profesión. (I love my profession.)
• A ella no le gusta el machismo. (She doesn't like sexism.)
• A las mujeres les molesta el acoso. (Harassment bothers women.)

Example sentences in context:

• A Carmen no le molesta ganar el mismo sueldo que su marido. (It doesn't bother Carmen to earn the same salary as her husband.)
• Me fascina el comportamiento machista de algunos hombres. (The sexist behaviour of some men fascinates me. / I'm fascinated by...)
• ¿A ti te cuesta creer que en algunos países las mujeres sufren discriminación en el trabajo? (Do you find it difficult to believe that in some countries women suffer workplace discrimination?)
• A muchas mujeres les hace falta tener más confianza en sí mismas. (Many women need to have more confidence in themselves.)
• Nos conviene abandonar el trabajo porque no nos pagan bien el horario. (It suits us to leave the job because they don't pay us well for the hours.)

Using infinitives with gustar-type verbs

When what you like/dislike is an action (verb), use the infinitive. The verb stays singular:

• Me gusta trabajar en el banco. (I like working at the bank.)
• No les importa hacer los quehaceres. (They don't care about doing the chores.)
• ¿Te molesta planchar la ropa? (Does ironing clothes bother you?)
• Nos encanta cuidar de nuestros hijos. (We love looking after our children.)

Social situations and gender expectations

Contemporary women often face different expectations than men in identical situations. Consider how reactions might differ:

When a baby cries at 3am: Traditional expectations suggest women should automatically wake up, whilst men might continue sleeping. Modern couples increasingly share night-time responsibilities, but social pressure often falls more heavily on mothers.

When a teenage daughter has her first boyfriend: Families frequently impose stricter rules on daughters than sons regarding relationships, reflecting double standards about sexuality and freedom.

Shopping with friends: Women's shopping is sometimes dismissed as frivolous, whilst men's purchasing decisions are taken more seriously, particularly for expensive items like cars or technology.

Falling in love at first sight: Women expressing romantic feelings may face judgement about being too emotional or impulsive, whilst men's romantic gestures are often celebrated.

Being unemployed but needing to work: Social stigma affects unemployed men and women differently, with men facing more pressure about breadwinner roles, whilst women may face assumptions about choosing family over career.

Professional challenges across sectors

Women face discrimination across various professions, though the nature of challenges varies:

Profession	Spanish	Potential issues
Soldier	soldado	physical stereotypes, harassment
Dressmaker	costurera	undervaluation of traditionally female work
Engineer	ingeniera	male-dominated field, credibility challenges
Lottery seller	vendedora de lotería	economic insecurity, social stigma
Bullfighter	torera	extreme gender stereotypes, tradition barriers
Firefighter	bombera	physical assumptions, team integration
Politician	política	public scrutiny, work-life balance pressure
Footballer	futbolista	pay inequality, media coverage disparity

Pronunciation tips

Common mistakes and tips