Manarán mentiras de mis labios (Lies will flow from my lips) is a proposal that aims to review the role of women and the influence of the strict education imposed by the “Women’s Section” during the Franco dictatorship.
Behind the spurious mandate to educate women by channelling them towards the mission that is more appropriate to them, “enabling them not to have to leave their homes, and to be able to help support their families through their work”, hides one of the most painful and frustrating manipulative realities of the dictatorship. In the face of the danger posed by the “increasing number of girls entering university classrooms, seeking independence in their careers”, the iron grip of the state was relentless. The widespread damage to the population was evidence of the need to control and subdue women.
The apparent kindness of the action still weighs on those of us who are granddaughters, daughters, nieces or in some way heirs of those women, who were forced to be re-educated within “a cheerful and clean framework, full of light and detail”. This false generosity makes it even harder to recognise the traces that still persist.
To reread signs, marks, narratives, imaginaries and constructions that are part of the legacy of the Women’s Section and what still remains of them, to reflect on the role and development in society of all of us as its heirs, and to raise questions, readings and poetic images, are all aims of the project to be carried out.
