6 - Prostitution, Sexual Ignorance and Sex Outside Marriage

Summary

In an interview given in 1959, Carmen Kurtz (1911−1999), emphasising the responsibility of the author and the testimonial dimension of her fiction, stated her belief that the novelist should only write about subject matter ‘de lo que pueda tener perfecta y auténtica información’ (of which she has full and genuine knowledge). Of the writers discussed in this book, Kurtz is undoubtedly the most liberal thinker and the least shackled by repressive ideology. Moreover, she is forthright in her views. In the same interview she signals the need for a change in legislation, and when asked how she would improve the situation of women in Spain, replied:

Una revisión muy completa del Código Civil. La falta de derechos acarrea como consecuencia la ausencia de deberes y responsabilidades. La mujer española, civilmente, está en perenne tutela. No se le puede, por tanto, exigir mayor interés, afán de superación, menos frivolidad, mayor esfuerzo.

[A total revision of the Civil Code (is required). The lack of rights gives rise to a lack of responsibility and obligations. According to legislation, the Spanish woman is a perennial ward. Thus it is not possible to insist on greater involvement, drive to improve, less frivolousness or greater endeavour.]