Photo: Frederico Martins
What does it mean to be a woman? What does the sex of someone at birth tell us about being a woman? Does it tell us anything? Is it enough? What doors do we still have to open? Will the struggle never end? How long will we have to fight? Are we any closer to gender equality? What stories has history absorbed? Is the struggle only just beginning?
In an especially warm and symbolic year for Portugal in terms of celebrating freedom, are women’s rights cruising along or are we slowly and painfully going backwards, like a clock whose battery is running down and is silently falling behind?
When it came to filling the blank pages of this magazine, there were many questions left hanging in the air. The truth is that after more than 200 pages and dozens of hours of research, few doubts have been cleared up, and I would venture to say that we have uncovered a few new concerns. Nothing has been cleared up. The aim was never to create an issue that would dispel them, because we know that questions will always exist. That is one of the consequences of being human: to question and doubt. But our intention in calling this edition ‘Feminine Power’ was to give all women a space in which to talk and an active voice. All of them.
Because if there’s one thing we women recognise every day, it’s never to take anything for granted. We only have today, and we’d better learn how to take advantage of it and use it while we have it. It’s not about our own satisfaction; it’s about creating a path for the younger generations.
This issue is about giving women a voice. To those who already have one, to those who have never had one, and to those who may no longer have one. Who are the women of yesterday, today and tomorrow? What doors have they opened for us and, more importantly, what doors will they leave open for us in the future?
There will always be women who are left out, and never a magazine issue that celebrates them enough. There will always be a name missing, an unknown story, a perspective that isn’t ours, that our knowledge doesn’t reach. We leave you with this disclaimer: these pages are a homage to feminine power.
We know, however, that this work is constantly under construction.
— Cláudia Pinto, Editor
