Spain is still a divided country. Not only directly because of the rupture the Civil War (1936-1939) produced in Spaniards' consciousness, but also because of the consequences it brought to every single aspect of their lives. The hegemony of the Catholic Church teaching model during the forty years of Franco's regime spread a distorted image about gender, positioning females as second class citizens and creating a sensation of guiltiness related to sexuality. Almodóvar will invert this Catholic ideological pattern through irony in his films to establish a harsh criticism.
Sexual ambiguity under Francoism was unthinkable and, therefore, fought. The clash between the then considered male attitudes and the figure of a woman, for instance, was solved underlining "feminine" qualities, and vice versa. The radical separation between sexes and the rarefying of social and sexual relationships (the popular dichotomy ‘a woman is a virgin or a whore’ – love separated from sex - is especially significant) led to the materialization of anxieties and complexes also illustrated in cinema. The "sexy Spanish comedy" of the 70’s depicted the typical Iberian macho, perpetually horny and agitated with the idea of having sex at any expense. Of course, he never succeeded, in line with the deep conservatism nature of these films.
From the early 50's on, progress and material development forced a moral and mental change in Spain, but all it provoked was a superficial modernization. Flamenco idol Manolo Escobar affirmed in the hit movie Pero… ¡en qué país vivimos! (1967): ‘If you ask me, a woman who doesn’t go into the kitchen, doesn’t sew and doesn’t even pray isn’t a woman… She’s a Civil Guard.’ According to the historians Carr and Fusi, ‘by the 70’s Spain had become a curious mixture of traditional – largely Catholic - values and the behaviour thought prosper for a consumer society.’ Despite economic achievements, Spaniards were still different.
Sexual ambiguity under Francoism was unthinkable and, therefore, fought. The clash between the then considered male attitudes and the figure of a woman, for instance, was solved underlining "feminine" qualities, and vice versa. The radical separation between sexes and the rarefying of social and sexual relationships (the popular dichotomy ‘a woman is a virgin or a whore’ – love separated from sex - is especially significant) led to the materialization of anxieties and complexes also illustrated in cinema. The "sexy Spanish comedy" of the 70’s depicted the typical Iberian macho, perpetually horny and agitated with the idea of having sex at any expense. Of course, he never succeeded, in line with the deep conservatism nature of these films.
From the early 50's on, progress and material development forced a moral and mental change in Spain, but all it provoked was a superficial modernization. Flamenco idol Manolo Escobar affirmed in the hit movie Pero… ¡en qué país vivimos! (1967): ‘If you ask me, a woman who doesn’t go into the kitchen, doesn’t sew and doesn’t even pray isn’t a woman… She’s a Civil Guard.’ According to the historians Carr and Fusi, ‘by the 70’s Spain had become a curious mixture of traditional – largely Catholic - values and the behaviour thought prosper for a consumer society.’ Despite economic achievements, Spaniards were still different.
By the death of the "Caudillo", in 1975, the "sleeping" Spain became noticeable, and dual dynamics begun to rule the country. The negotiated nature of the Spanish democratic transition resulted in politicians from the dictatorship overlying with those who started working in that lapse of time. Gender roles were renovated, but the old mentality died hard: transformations were more realistic in legislation that in ordinary life. And not to mention the power Catholic Church theoretically lost but actually maintains at least in the popular imaginary. This way, altogether with its historical economic sub-development, Spain is swallowed in a cultural and social set of incongruities from which, with his unique subversive vision, Pedro Almodóvar cannot (or do not wish to) escape.
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