A Quote by Carlos Fuentes
Contrary to the macho culture of Mexico, both my grandmothers were very brave young widows. I was always very close to these hard-working, intelligent women.
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Unfortunately we - and I'm speaking not for Latin America but for Mexico because that's where I come from - we still, I think, are a little bit macho. Not that we only live in a macho world, but we also think as a macho world; even the women, you know? The women in Mexico, because that's the way we were raised.
It was 1981. I was working on a novel. And I put that novel aside one day after I read a newspaper article. The story said there were 19 women still on the pension payroll who were Confederate war widows. They were women who very early in their lives had married very old men.
My mother and my two grandmothers, I was lucky to have three women around me growing up that were very special, very elegant women, very beautiful women. They were my first step into the beauty world, let's say, and then the fashion world, of course.
I always thought my big brother was the coolest. We were very close when I was young, and we still are in many ways! He was a very open-minded, urban guy with an outdoorsy edge. He is mostly responsible for exposing me to art and culture.
It was a very odd household, because the grandmothers were so different. Both of them had their own pianos. So it would be duelling pianos by grandmothers.
I think it's in my blood: both of my parents are very hard workers and were always working when I was growing up. I love working and what I do.
I was very lucky, my parents were very encouraging, and both my grandmothers. They had exquisite taste.
I finally, you know, moved to Mexico City, where the film industry is. I started working there as a producer, which is a very, very valid thing for women to do, because we always produce for men, right?
My mother is the one who taught me to be a lady by her actions. I observed the way that she dressed and the way that she carried herself. And both my grandmothers, they were women of very modest means. But they were also ladies.
I was very close with my mother growing up. I have four older sisters who were an important part of my life. And I've been very close to all the women I've dated. I feel most comfortable around women.
I'm trying to tell men, 'Really show yourself. Do not be macho, because the biggest turnoff for a woman is a macho guy because women, they're very sensitive. They know you're macho because you're insecure.'
It is thus that mutual cowardice keeps us in peace. Were one half of mankind brave and one cowards, the brave would be always beating the cowards. Were all brave, they would lead a very uneasy life; all would be continually fighting; but being all cowards, we go on very well.
Women need to lead the way to change our culture of burnout - both for their sake and also for the sake of successful men who desperately need a new model of success. And the still-very-macho world of STEM is a great place to start.
I assume there must be some kind of genetic thrust. My two grandmothers were very different, but both of them were frustrated musicians.
We dance with women in groups, but it is very rare that you have a partner that is a woman. The dance world is very macho - woman, boy, always couples, and it's very standardized.
A true gentleman is at a disadvantage in dealing with women. Women are realists, and their tactics are realistic, so no man should be a gentleman where women are concerned unless the women are very, very old or very, very young. Women admire gentlemen, and sleep with cads.
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