Women breaking barriers in Ibiza: “You can be anything you want”

The four women participated in the round table ‘Women who break barriers’ yesterday, organized by the Club Diario de Ibiza, where they took the opportunity to share their experience in a talk moderated by Beatriz Torreblanca, representative of Dones Progressistes, and in which the councilor of Social Welfare, Carolina Escandell, also took part.

Escandell kicked off the event: “We must continue fighting to achieve equality between men and women”. Although she acknowledged that firm steps are being taken, she said that the current moment is convulsive. “We are in a polarized society where there are very radicalized positions and we know what this can mean,” so “it is important to be vigilant,” she said.

For Escandell it is essential not to go back, not even a millimeter, in the achievements made and to continue working so that, sooner rather than later, we stop pronouncing terms such as glass ceiling or wage gap. “We must always be committed to pedagogy and education. Children have to grow up with these ideals; we have to incorporate them into our DNA from an early age,” she stressed.

She said this not only as councilor of Social Welfare, but also as a former bank employee, a job to which she dedicated 28 years. “I started when I was 22, in what was then the Balearic Savings Bank Sa Nostra, and the sector was very male-dominated,” she explained. “Luckily, I entered at the time when the competitive examinations provided equality, but it is true that access to management positions was complex, especially because there were few women in positions of responsibility,” she said.

Torreblanca then took the opportunity to call for an end to sexism in certain jobs and, like Escandell, she elluded to the education that is given not only in the classroom, but also in every home. “There are many psychosocial studies that say that, from the age of three, we already have gender awareness and, from the age of six, gender stereotypes,” she pointed out. “Hence, we have to have an impact from an early age,” she added.

Experiences

“Have you noticed differences in your jobs because of your gender?” was one of the questions that Torreblanca asked during the hour and a half conference. And although the answers varied, the women all agreed that, in some specific situations, they have felt “singled out” simply because they are women.

This has happened to Mikaela Tur who, in addition to being a racecar driver, is a partner in her father’s garage. “For example, when I go out to serve a customer, they look at me funny because I am a woman,” she said. “If they come to me to have me pump up the tires on their car, they ask me to see if I can do it, and then they ask me where the boss is” using the masculine term.

Mar Pacheco, a technical architect, also recounted a similar experience. “One day I asked a man who was hanging around the office if I could help him and he explained to me what he needed until he said: “Could I speak to a partner” and I replied that I was one. He was surprised and said: “If I knew, I’d have treated you differently”. And look, no, you treat me the same because I’m the same person I was a minute ago”.

Something similar happened to Facsa’s head of service, Carmen Guasch, a few days ago, although not directly. “One of my colleagues told me that someone had called who wanted to talk to the head of service and she told her that she was not the head, but the boss. And he replied, ‘Is it a woman? Wow. Guasch, far from taking it badly, faces this type of situation as if it were a challenge. “What do you think, that I can’t? Of course I can,” she said with a laugh.

In the case of DJ Bea Martínez these types of comments do not come from the work environment, but from other scenarios. “Being a DJ and a mother (mother and father at the same time) has forced me to have to justify that I am a good mother; that I am a good mother even though I am a DJ, even though I have tattoos and even though I travel a lot.”

Life Lessons

After smoothing out some bumps along the way, it is clear to all of them that living in equality makes the journey much easier for everyone. And that is what they intend to transmit through their experience. “You can be whatever you want to be,” Martinez said emphatically. And that is what she tries to instill in her daughter, who is about to come of age, and whom she has raised by stressing that “we are all equal and have the same possibilities, rights and obligations,” she said.

She had her at the age of 19 “and it has not been easy,” she said, referring to work-life balance. “I started to be a recognized DJ and, therefore, to travel a lot, so I had to pay a person to take care of my child.” And at that point “you feel very good because you love your job and very bad because you are separating yourself from your daughter,” she acknowledged. A burden that falls mainly on women.

In fact, Mar Pacheco opened up about the countless times she has gone to work without sleep. “When my children were young I worked with four men and I felt I had to be at a certain level, so I demanded a lot from myself”. Even so, she insisted that, in her profession, she has never felt less because of her gender status; quite the opposite, in fact. “I have always been treated with a lot of respect, especially on the construction site. I am a team player and one of those who think that you have to come together because all the parts are important for the result to be good”, she reiterated.

Carmen Guasch, who has no family responsibilities, considered that “it is important to develop professionally and fight for what you want to be, despite having a family”. And perhaps the perfect combination is to balance both sides, as Tur pointed out: “Having support at home is very important. My family has often believed in me more than I have believed in myself, and that helps a lot”.

Challenges

Torreblanca asked a final question before the end of the presentation: “What goals do you still have to achieve? And none of them remained silent. These women want more and they are a clear example of the fact that settling is not an option.

Martínez’s story perhaps sums up what it means to be homeless. “When I was 12 years old I wanted to be a DJ, but I thought that being a woman I couldn’t because I only saw men. I came to Ibiza and saw a woman in a booth at Pacha. At that moment I said to myself that I could be there too. Do you know what happened 10 years later? I was there DJing with her,” she said.

And now? Well, the countdown has begun for her to get on the main stage of Tomorrowland, the biggest techno festival in the world. And to be the first Spaniard to do so. “That was my dream, but it was my dream before. Now I don’t think I’ll ever reach the finish line because I know I’m going to add more before I reach the current dream”, she quipped.

Words that Guasch identified with. “You always have a higher aspiration and when you’ve been doing the same thing for a long time, you need another incentive to motivate you. I see myself as a coordinator or in a management position, why not?

Pachecho has already achieved what she always wanted: to be a freelancer. “What I aspire to now is to continue to have clients and to respect my personal time; for me, not working on weekends is sacred”. And on the other side, still with many opportunities within reach, Tur spoke. “I have a lot left to achieve personally and professionally. And as I know it takes a lot of effort, I have to learn to enjoy it.”

The conference ended with the showing of a video from the electric violinist José Asunción, resident in Ibiza, who created a version of ‘Imagine’, by John Lennon, to launch a message of peace for the war in Ukraine.

The table was sponsored by the Consell de Ibiza, the City Council of Sant Antoni, the Policlínica Group and Facsa.

For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.