Gran Canaria women break silence on rural life and intimacy
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Anthropologist Soraya Domínguez listened to the life stories of older women in El Hoyo, La Aldea de San Nicolás, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, revealing decades of silence surrounding their experiences with desire, marriage, and social control.
Domínguez began the project after noticing that research on older women often overlooked their past and present sexualities, instead relying on stereotypes.
Her initial conversations with her mother uncovered previously unspoken experiences, prompting her to gather more testimonies from women across Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The research shifted focus to rural environments when Domínguez discovered that even women with education and financial independence often faced limitations within their homes, remaining subject to their husbands’ authority. She chose La Aldea de San Nicolás due to a family connection and the welcoming response from the Rosa Nueva Association.
Over two years, Domínguez conducted the research independently before receiving support from the local council to create a documentary. The women shared a near-total lack of sex education, receiving warnings rooted in fear, sin, and social surveillance. Many entered marriage without understanding intimacy or even discussing menstruation and contraception. One woman, Teresita, recalled her wedding day as a transition “from purgatory to hell,” while Maribel described a lack of personal desire and pressure to comply with her husband’s wishes.
Domínguez emphasizes that the project aims to acknowledge individual experiences rather than generalize them, highlighting the resilience and “endurance” these women demonstrated in navigating a society that heavily controlled their bodies.
