She is serious. Very, very serious. The sobriety of her image, with her long gray hair falling in natural waves over her shoulders, very light makeup, and black dress and sneakers, reveals a personality without great extraversion but not devoid of humor... or comebacks. Rebecca Solnit is one of those calm and composed individuals who let their thoughts flow in conversation, and when one has been carried away enough by the lull, boom, she drops a bomb.
It has been a decade since the publication of Men Explain Things to Me popularized the term mansplaining and, in passing, turned this American thinker into one of the global beacons that illuminated the new feminist wave. "Keep in mind that now my main dedication is environmental activism," she warns. A good example of her thinking is illustrated in her latest work, The Unexpected Path (Lumen), a collection of articles whose common thread is an invitation to broaden the view and slow down. Like a turtle in the midst of a swarm of ephemeral beings, Solnit is seen clamoring against inaction, defeatism, and ultimately, the selfishness of a self-absorbed society unaware of its true power. "One should never give up," she defends with a smile.
Tomorrow she will converse with the Argentine author Valeria Correa Fiz at the Madrid Book Fair about belonging, affections, and commitment, three pillars of a thought that, with exquisite education, leaves no stone unturned. Not even the New York Times
Is doing nothing the greatest privilege?
Absolutely. Pessimism is a luxury for people who are not directly affected by things like climate change. We are not on a small island in the South Pacific that will disappear under the sea, nor in an Inuit village where the ice no longer supports you when you go out hunting, but in a beautiful house in a wealthy country. Although lately, even middle-class white people have seen their homes burn in California... I constantly come across the feeling that we know everything, that it doesn't matter what we do because the future is already decided. And I suppose for the privileged, it's less bothersome because it means they are not required to do anything.
Feminism, climate, social movements, minorities... You are the living image of woke culture. How do you live with that label?
It was a beautiful term in the mouths of young black people before it became an insult in the mouths of old white people. Sometimes, words become so charged with anger, projection, and assumption that you decide to stop explaining them. Now it belongs to the right. But it's also interesting to analyze how they use it: Woke means to be awake, to be aware, and now it has been appropriated by those who boast of being enemies of diversity, equality, and inclusion. Therefore, they are in favor of homogeneity, exclusion, and inequality. Well then.
We are witnessing a strong reaction to that thinking, and it is often argued that feminism or inclusion policies have gone too far. Do you think that may have been the case in any way?
Violence against women is a global pandemic often silenced compared to what is happening, for example, in Gaza. The number of people affected by men killing women is around 4 billion. So feminism will have gone too far when these problems no longer exist. In the meantime, we will keep fighting. Men who say that basically find it difficult to live in a world where women are seen as people.
One of the main opponents of so-called wokeism is Donald Trump. How do you feel about his second term?
It's horrible, and we all know exactly how and why he has returned. But we also know that our job is not to give up until these people are defeated and disappear. They are already facing many defeats in the courts, and look at the case of Tesla. I like to say that Elon Musk has forcefully discovered that retail saying: the customer is always right.
You have been very critical of how the progressive press, especially the New York Times, has given a voice to the MAGA movement...
[Interrupts, abruptly] The New York Times is not a progressive media outlet, but let's continue with the question.
What responsibility do these media outlets have in the rise of populism?
The New York Times, in particular, is guilty of what we call sanewashing, which consists of taking the absurd and repugnant nonsense that Trump says and making it seem normal. He is a narcissist who has turned the public into his therapist's couch. The NYT headlines: Trump talked about the economy, and omits that above all, he talked about Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs or the size of the late golfer Arnold Palmer's penis... In the U.S., the press is too busy creating a sense that the political balance we once lived continues to exist by doing traditional journalism when we are in a completely different world. Republicans are anarchic, destructive, pathological liars, and absolutely corrupt. And that cannot be covered as usual. It's like demanding to treat the husband and the wife equally after he has tried to kill her. People have not understood what they were voting for because telling the truth about fascism sounds partisan. And in that, the NYT has been the worst. It has failed us.
Your book advocates for approaching the world with an open mind. Do you believe that growing older is the best vaccine against short-term thinking?
I have lived through history. The world I was born into is radically different from how we understand nature, gender, and sexuality today. I know young people who share my worldview, but also people my age who have chosen not to remember. When in 2022 women lost the right to abortion in conservative states, many saw it as a great failure of feminism. That is narrow-mindedness. The full picture is not forgetting that in the U.S. where I was born, women's reproductive rights were not even considered. Taking away the right to abortion has been terrible, but it has also raised awareness. For the first time, I have seen many men stand up in defense of the right to terminate a pregnancy after seeing their partners on the brink of death due to lack of medical attention for a miscarriage, an infection, a dangerous pregnancy...
Many men have felt excluded from the feminist movement. Do you believe that the future of women's struggle should include them?
It took me a long time to realize that feminism has always been framed as if women had to liberate themselves and men had no responsibility. And now we have this toxic masculinity that, once again, blames women. But look, that's something men have done to themselves. They need their own liberation movement, and that includes seeing a world where everyone being equal is a better world for them. Patriarchy is almost like a monastic discipline: it dictates what cannot be said, felt, worn, or done if you want to be a real man. Life would be much fuller if they also liberated themselves, but it is not women's task to save them from themselves.
When was the last time you were mansplained to?
[Laughs heartily] Oh, it happens so often... [Reflects] It was in May. In the U.S., this is the sixth book in a series with the colors of the rainbow in homage to the pride flag. Many men have come to explain to me that the rainbow has seven colors, and it's like: idiot, a book requires some effort.
Did naming it make it more bearable?
At first, the word made me uncomfortable because men's feelings are delicate. But then I realized it's like naming your illness: you finally know what's wrong with you and how to treat it.