A woman turned into a man because of society. Out of necessity and not by choice. To be able to survive. A metaphorical conversion and, at the same time, very real. He has modeled his body, his language and even his sexual relations in order to be just another businessman. And it is that, as pointed out by the protagonist that Nuria Labari has created in her new book, it is not so easy to reach the highest levels of work if she is a woman. Precisely for this reason, because she was born on the wrong side, she is capable of making a monstrous personal transformation in order to achieve professional success. That is the premise from which the journalist and writer starts in The Last White Man (Random House Literature), which she has just reached bookstores.
What do you mean by the term white man? "It is easier to say who is not a white man. It is not a woman, nor is it anyone vulnerable, nor is it from the LGTBIQ community, it is not an immigrant or self-employed, it is not someone who is suffering or has been abandoned... it is a symbolic place that governs us everyone and that it gets a little into our souls", he clarifies.
In its pages, Labari makes “a trip to the imagination in the form of a novel to think about forbidden things that cannot be thought of in essays. We have a woman in charge of this story whose life has led her to think and do everything like a man. But, at the same time, precisely explaining her day-to-day life, she will take the opportunity to do an autopsy at work and bring to light everything that is not seen but is there. This is what mental prisons have and the work here works like a mental prison. We do not see the bars, nor the door, nor the cage. But just because we don't see it doesn't mean it's not there."
Reflecting on it, he acknowledges that “something is wrong at work. I hardly know anyone who is not disenchanted. Something structural is not working and it seems that there is nothing that can be done”, laments Labari in an interview with La Vanguardia. “It seems that the only thing you can improve in the workplace is the material conditions. That's why I wanted to create a protagonist who charged two hundred thousand euros and, therefore, had those needs covered. And, from here, show that something is still not working. It also had to be a woman, an insider, who comes from a lower-class family and who has seen how the road to success works.
A path that, the author points out, "is always plagued with traps and lies, but you still come across more if you are a woman." And it is that the author recalls that “the lack of equality in most companies is a reality. Women have historically been expelled from the workplace. We were separated from the care and upbringing for many years and moved to conquer their territory. This has meant that they have also had to do things at home, but there is still a long way to go”.
Also remember that many of the rights that men have acquired over the years have been, in part, thanks to women. "One of the best labor reforms in recent years is the recognition of paternity leave. And this is something that we women have achieved. They did not protest having a three-day paternity leave. It seemed normal to them. It seems normal that they are the ones who have to go to war".
Labari admits that this “is a self-diagnosed book. But as I was writing it, I realized that most people, both men and women, are going to identify with it. We put a lot of effort into work: our identity, our time, our education… The system does not work. They tell us it works but it's not true. The way we produce is destroying the planet and humanity, as well as our character. And it also leaves young people without horizons."
To conclude, the author assures that she is very clear to whom she dedicates her work: "To everyone who, when one day they went to the office, felt that they were lost. To reflect that it does not happen to one person alone and that there are many of us who once we have felt that way. And with all this I am not inviting people not to work, but to do it from another place. Break the prison from where we are working."
