First novel at 64 years old.
Yes, quite an absurd commotion.
¿Why is it so important?
It’s not, when I buy a book I don’t ask myself how old the author was when he wrote it.
He had a novel rejected 98 times.
They told me it was too long. As a debut author you have to write a short book so that it is not expensive for the sector to bet on you, ha ha ha.
What was your first book about?
In reality, my unusual boom, Chemistry Lessons, translated into 39 languages!, has been my third book, because I wrote the first when I was 5 years old and the second at 12.
You portray gender inequality.
We repress ourselves by not understanding the roots of inequality, but science does know. I wanted to write a book about a scientist from the 1950s and what science knows.
Give me a chemistry lesson.
Chemistry needs balance to exist, there is no equation that is unbalanced. That concept fascinated me. When we see imbalances in the world, such as climate change, sexism, racism, inequality, they are scientific aberrations.
Social inventions.
This imbalance is destroying the world, but we could fix it because we are all chemical beings.
When were you aware of inequality in your life?
Very early. I wanted to deliver newspapers with my bike, something that children do in the US, but the newspapers wouldn’t allow me because I was a girl.
How ridiculous.
They also didn’t let me join a baseball team even though my father was a coach and I hit better than any of the kids on the team I taught how to hit.
Oh.
Very frustrating. I also saw discrimination in my mother’s life, who was a nurse and she had to abandon her career to stay home and educate us. At 50 she retrained and was nurse of the year. I’m proud.
How did your life evolve?
When I started working in advertising, men were in leadership positions and women were at the bottom and that didn’t fit me, but when I said what I thought, instead of calling me assertive, they called me aggressive.
You speak with humor about machismo.
When you write about something that matters to you, the only way to be heard is not to preach or be didactic, but you can show the ridiculousness of certain situations with humor.
Where does this lack of respect for women come from?
It is the same power imbalance as always; But we can’t wait long to solve the problems we have in the world, so we need to open the playing field for everyone, for women, people of color, people of all religions.
Tolerance and acceptance.
The global situation requires a single common goal instead of competition. I am a rower. You cannot row making a difference compared to your teammates.
We all have to row together.
And in the rowboat we are all equal; Maybe we don’t all like each other, but we are capable of working together because the boat that wins is the one that cooperates.
Have you learned to deal with sexists?
The most important thing is not to try to make your way like a man would, and when they push you, let them pass and keep moving forward.
He sounds resigned.
I decide what I am willing to accept and what I am not. It is not necessary for me to play the game that others propose to me. Saying no is an option, and if there were more women who did it, things would begin to change.
Hopefully.
Women must support other women. The difference between 1950 and 2024 is very big, but not enough. Would you tell a woman that she can’t do something because she is a woman? It’s what women of other generations did. We move forward thanks to the women who stood up and continue to stand up.
What is life about?
We are chemistry, we are made up of atoms and molecules, and our brain is capable of much more than what we ask of it, so it is up to each one of us to sign up for change and leave the rules of society behind.
And what change are you aiming for?
To balance. When we see an imbalance in the world, what we must understand is that everything works in balance. If you have a clear mind, you cannot accept the status quo. Today we have the ability to change and in a very short period of time, but we need all minds to be involved.
Like in your rowboat.
When we row equally and together, we advance very quickly and win. But that only happens when personalities don’t come into play and we accept each other.
