In Spain, an Unwanted Kiss Propels a Feminist Wave
workplaces, said San Segundo. The women’s soccer team “are heroes not only because they won the World Cup, but because they are paving the way for all women toward equality." A rapidly changing country has become one of the world’s most socially liberal societies, survey evidence shows. Successive governments have passed laws to strengthen women’s rights, from advancing gender equality in the workplace to toughening penalties for violence against women.
But powerful counter currents remain. An antifeminist backlash has helped fuel the rise of the far right in Spain. A recent campaign poster by Vox, a party whose supporters include sympathizers of the Franco regime, showed a hand dropping a feminist symbol in a trash can, along with symbols for gay rights and other causes it rejects.
Spain’s male-dominated soccer officialdom at first showed solidarity with Rubiales. The national soccer federation challenged Hermoso’s assertion that the kiss wasn’t consensual and threatened legal action against her. Top national soccer officials applauded Rubiales last week when he gave a speech refusing to resign.
But support for Rubiales is crumbling. World soccer’s governing body, FIFA, has suspended Rubiales from all soccer activities for three months and started an investigation that could lead to his expulsion. A Spanish prosecutor opened an investigation into potential sexual assault over the kiss at the World Cup.
On Monday, regional officials within Spain’s soccer federation called on Rubiales to resign. “Sport is the last bastion of patriarchy, where it still plays by its own rules," said Mar Mas, head of Spain’s professional sports association for women. “But there is no space for machismo in the 21st century." Write to
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