The way violence in soap operas is portrayed

Violence against women is a global issue that goes beyond cultures and socioeconomic contexts, and it exists despite laws and science. Even where it has been condemned by decree, it remains installed as a kind of Trojan horse that feeds on machismo, which, in turn, subsists under the cover of patriarchy. In short, it is a regrettable part of reality and fiction reproduces it, with more or less commitment.

The Cuban soap opera that is currently being broadcasted in prime time has several examples of abused women. The most obvious are, of course, Aitana and Lilian. The first, beaten and humiliated by her husband, and the second, sexually abused by her ex-convict cousin.

They correspond to the image most commonly associated with this phenomenon, which is physical violence. Therefore, they receive solidarity and support within the plot, and their abusers are condemned, although perhaps not with the force they deserve, but this often happens in "real life", where domestic violence is not always reported to courts, either due to emotional pressure or lack of tools to do so.

This is not about writing another audiovisual, but I cannot help but wonder: is the solution for a young mother abused by her husband to go to another province, call herself by another name and try to rebuild her life? I always recognize that the soap opera is not an educational product, but I am not sure this justifies the superficial handling of such complex issues. At least in Aitana's case, there is already a divorce process underway, I suppose that the plot will also straighten out Lilian's.

However, up to this point we have only made visible the most obvious forms of violence, but the issue is much more complex, covering a wide range of aggressions that affect the physical, psychological, sexual and economic integrity of women. The relationship between Aitana and Luis Manuel has moved into the symbolic field of attempting to control, manipulate, threat, blackmailing emotionally, which are no less lacerating than the hardest physical blow.

Of this type, there is much more violence in Renacer. Little is known about the story of the teacher Rosa, but we can already guess that some blackmail kept her away from her son in the past and, in the present, she must endure the constant contempt of her nephew.

And what can we say about the girls of Mamonal, constantly pressured by their aunt to find "a good husband," forced to fulfill her wishes in the name of a moral debt because she welcomed them into her home. It is sad, but it is true: we sometimes become the executioners of our own gender. Ultimately, Iris's philosophy has turned against her, as she has found herself the worst possible husband and is now herself the victim of similar violence: she must be at the service of her "biscuit" so as not to lose him.

In the unhealthy relationship between Belkis and her cousin Roxana there is a lot of disguised violence, double it in their plots against Aitana, Sofía and Magda. The last two, apparently empowered in their own way, fight over the duty of making and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in the family home they share, a home where the need for a woman is insisted upon from the beginning, as if three adult men were not enough to do the housework, that is, the script assumes that "these are women's things."

Although it does not always do so from a critical and profound perspective, it can be useful for a television program as popular as the soap opera to show this scourge and allow us to observe and think about it. At the same time, frivolity carries with it the danger of normalizing or reinforcing violence, especially that which occurs on a symbolic level, especially that happening in front of our eyes without us having the time to confront it.

One truth should be memorized: there is no minor violence, nor is there any acceptable violence.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff