Ella Es El Matador Takes A Look At Female Bullfighters
2 September 2009, 2:46 PM. By Alex Alvarez
Yesterday marked the PBS premiere of Ella Es El Matador, a documentary about female bullfighters that focused primarily on the experiences of seasoned matador Mari Paz Vega and newcomer Eva Florencia.
The film shows how these two women, and the many others who participate in this sport, have to wage a daily battle against the sexism that has become inherent in bullfighting - a tradition long associated with male virility to the point that a law was passed in 1908 forbidding women from becoming matadors. Tellingly, there is no female form of the word “matador,” a fact which is apparent in the documentary’s title.
Take a look:
It would do the film a disservice to ignore the controversy surrounding bullfighting in terms of its impact on animal rights, but it does make an effort to frame this discussion in terms of these women’s own struggles within the ring:
Is bullfighting sport, dance, theater or blood ritual? Ella Es El Matador Matador (She Is the Matador) reveals bullfighting to be all of these. Through interviews shot in vérité style interspersed with archival footage illustrating the history of women in bullfighting, the film offers a fascinating window on the highly choreographed and deadly match between bull and human that remains enormously popular in Spain, even as it is reviled by many in an age of animal rights. (Outside Spain, bullfighting is popular only in Portugal and Latin America and, interestingly, in those places it is more open to women matadors.) In explaining their motives, Vega and Florencia express the mystical hold that bullfighting has over Spaniards, what Florencia calls “something beyond the cruelty . . . a connection between man and beast.”
Perhaps this is easier for us to say because we don’t, personally, view bullfighting primarily through the lens of an animal rights activist, but these women are amazing. Not only do they participate in a grueling physical activity that requires the sort of strength and agility we’ll likely never muster ourselves, but they do so while contending with machismo from male colleagues, audience members and promoters alike. Their act of defying expectations and societal norms in the name of pursuing their passion is, to us, separate from the death and suffering in the ring, inspirational.
But maybe that’s because the primary lens through which we view these women is that of someone concerned with and personally invested in women’s roles in Hispanic and Latino culture. It’s tricky to juggle this admiration and respect with the gruesome reality of what these women set out to do ever time they step into a stadium. What do you all make of this? Do you find it hard to cheer these women on or admire them based on your own convictions concerning bullfighting? Can the two ever be separated, or would that amount to eschewing one set of rights for another?
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I was one for halloween last year. Does that count? :)
IT IS DISGUSTING TO SEE THAT LATINOS ARE STILL ADMIRING THIS TYPE OF CRUEL AND SAVAGE ACT.
AND IT’S PUT ON A MOVIE? MAKES ME WANT TO VOMIT.
SLOWLY TORTURING A DEFENSELESS ANIMAL IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS IS SOMETHING GOOD?
I HAVE TO SAY I LAUGH AND REJOICE EVERYTIME I SEE A PERSON GETTING HORNED BY ONE.
FOR ONCE, THEY KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE STABED. UNFORTUNATELY, THE HUMANS DON’T ALWAYS DIE.
THIS IS THE CRAP SPANIARDS BROUGHT TO THIS CONTINENT: THEIR DISGUSTING SAVAGENESS.
US NATIVES OF THIS CONTINENT, USED TO PRAY, ASK FOR FORGIVENESS TO THE ANIMAL BEFORE
QUICKLY KILLING IT FOR SURVIVAL. WE WOULD THEN EAT AND UTILIZE ITS EVERY INCH, NOT WASTE AND KILL FOR LEISURE.
PEOPLE WHO WATCH AND PRACTICE THIS MAKE ME ILL.
ESTO SI ES UNA VERGUENZA…
HABRAN LOS OJOS…
WAIT!!!!
does this article say “these women are amazing”
OMG
They are torturing animals for god’s sake.
Defying odds my ass. Go get an education, be a CEO, be a President, then you will defy odds…
when i think of bullfighting i think of the story of ferdinand
Guanabee, you should be ashamed of yourself for putting this on here.
“Perhaps this is easier for us to say because we don’t, personally, view bullfighting primarily through the lens of an animal rights activist, but these women are amazing.”
Are you kidding me? You dont view bullfighting through the lens of animal rights activist? So you see it through the eyes of a anti animal rights person - WOW.
You should really be ashamed of yourself.
I should be ashamed because I don’t believe in the same causes you do?
I didn’t know that being for animal torture is something to be proud of…
Seriously, it’s not about believing the same things I do…
It’s about accepting that something is wrong… period…
Would you like to see your pets get stabbed slowly, until they bleed to death while everyone is praising the killer?
With the best intentions, I share with you a link from the International Movement Against Bullfights…
http://www.iwab.org
The following is extracted from Bullfightbloodbath.com
A cowardly picador slams a spear into a bull from relative safety on top of a horse. The bull attacks the horse, believing it be the source of his torment. The horse is used as a living shield by a thug who doesn’t know the meaning of integrity, bravery, or a fair fight.
A bull in obvious physical distress can do nothing but stand and bleed, with several decorative tags still hanging from his mutilated body. During it all, sickeningly festive band music plays for the crowds.
Crowds cheer as a mutilated bull named Bright Eyes falls to the ground once he’s too weak to stand. Several matadors stand around waving their capes trying to look useful while the bull collapses.
A matador approaches the fallen bull Bright Eyes from behind and knifes the animal in the back of the neck. The bull falls over with eyes bulging in shock and terror. The matador continues to cut the still conscious animal, while children run over to see the gore and blood close up.
After being tortured beyond imagination, the fallen bull Bright Eyes has to endure one more atrocity as his ear is cut off for a trophy. Blood runs down the skull and pools under the animal’s head. Bright Eyes is somehow still alive and conscious, feeling every cut and jab. The crowd continues to cheer and whistle, fully aware of what has just happened.
A matador drives a sword between the shoulders of a bull. As usual, the sword does not kill the victim, and the thugs run around the bull to make him move, so the sword will cut up his insides.
Stabbed in the lungs, and spewing blood from his nose and mouth, a bull is run in circles by the killer thugs. This causes the sword to cut up the victim’s insides.
Bulls are rarely killed by the thrust of the sword, and this victim was no exception. As he lowers in agony and complete submission, a coward approaches him from behind. Even now the “bullfighter” has no courage!
Still conscious, but paralyzed from being stabbed in the back of the neck to mutilate his spinal cord, the bull is dragged from the bullring by ropes tied around his back legs. He was butchered alive.
I totally agree that bullfighting is problematic and violent and unfortunate. You don’t have to convince me of these things. However, I don’t think that reality, for me, personally and not speaking for others, takes away from what these women have been able to accomplish in a typically machista and misogynistic setting. I find them admirable. It’s fine if you don’t.
The animal rights / animal liberation movement has very precise, set aims and beliefs that I don’t necessarily aim for or believe in. So I don’t, as I mentioned, view bullfighting through that particular lens. Maybe that’s a result of apathy, maybe it’s a result of relativism. I’m not saying the movement itself is wrong or misguided, I’m saying I don’t follow it and wondered “aloud” whether this colored my ability to admire these women. I’ve noticed that discussions on Feminism and the animal rights movement often intersect, so it’s interesting to me to try and figure out why that might be and what happens when one movement is at odds with the other.
In case you want to know how Mexicans think…
visit the following link to see that over 84% of Mexicans oppose this.
http://www.sharkonline.org/?P=0000000425
Just saying…if your site is supposed to be representing “Latinos”… understand why you are getting these reactions.
I don’t claim to speak for all Latinos. I made sure to mention that this issue is controversial because I’d be remiss to ignore that and, after stating my piece, opened the topic up for discussion because I’m genuinely interested in how others articulate their take. I’m not sure why this discussion is being framed in terms of my thinking I’m “right” versus others being “wrong.”
I saw this show, and by the end I was weeping, it was so beautiful. I finally understand bullfighting. It isn’t about how to be a man. It’s about how to be alive.
As for the bull, dying is his part. He was born to fight and die. But he’s not going to lie down and die. You have to make him.