'Pink' tax The case of Scotland and free feminine hygiene products: "Unfortunately in Spain it is still a taboo"
News Tampons, pads, menstrual panties... What intimate hygiene items do Spanish women prefer?
Opinion Everyone talks about your period, except you
She entered that 'Operation Triumph' that revolutionized so many things on TV 23 years ago and we haven't stopped watching it since.
Chenoa is a singer, yes, but her career has not been built just from gig to gig, but rather she has branched out from 'talent' to 'talent', in front of the judges or being one of them.
Now, in the latest edition of 'OT', curiously, she has made her debut as a
presenter
, one more basket where she lays the eggs of her profession, as she says.
María Laura Corradini (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 48 years old), that's her name, is closing
concerts
, she has just released the song 'Bailar Contti', she is preparing a second 'single' and participates in 'The Challenge', a competition Antena 3 presented by Roberto Leal.
He doesn't have much time, but he embraces causes if they seem right.
For this reason, she is the godmother of an Evax campaign against
menstrual poverty
, a situation for which two out of every 10 girls in Spain have at some point missed class.
We took the opportunity to talk to her about this matter and many more.
At 48 years old you look better than ever.
How are you feeling? Now I feel more situated in the present.
They say that anxiety is looking too much into the future and depression is looking too much into the past.
The mind always wants to run forward or backward, so placing yourself in the present gives you a state of calm.
It comes from seniority.
At certain ages we have more knowledge and experience and I think we all have to do more.
As for image, what is gained and what is lost with age? Now I know what I don't like and what doesn't look good on me.
Sometimes I look at photos and think about why I was wearing that thing, but I respect myself a lot.
If I wore it, it would be for a reason. How has your dressing style evolved? I really like hats, I think they give a special touch.
25 years ago I probably wouldn't have worn them.
I also don't wear floral prints, because I'm very ethnic and it 'turns me up' too much.
It can be said that now I measure colors much more.
Years ago, it seemed like you were the only woman in Spain who appeared on TV with short hair.
And that hair now? I'm very bored and I have a great time cutting my hair and also lengthening it with the methods that exist now that I find very fun.
Or do Beyoncé and JLo have that hair?
The 'pixie' cut fascinates me.
Short hair on a woman is very, very special and I have enjoyed it very much.
When I went into the hair salon and got it cut, I started crying from the freedom I felt.
But now I'm at a point where I need it long.
My body asks for it. The world of television is very demanding with image.
Are you a slave to that? I try not to be because if not, you'll go crazy.
Being constantly aware of hair, skin, clothing... There are tricks that I resort to, such as 'microblanding' for eyebrows or products that quickly cover gray hair.
That way I don't have to be so on top.
But I also distinguish between work and my normal life of having coffee with my friends.
I know that if I go to a cafeteria or a restaurant they will look at me and that is why I try to be confident and well-groomed, but without being extravagant.
The cameras are relentless...It is true that on television the image is a very powerful bondage, but if there is nothing behind it, it remains nothing.
There will always be three thousand beautiful people, but you stay with the one who tells you something through naturalness, the way they speak, etc.
Television, although it is very cruel, little by little is beginning to make room for people who engage in another way.
Do you think that's your secret? I go very unfiltered and sometimes I've played a lot of tricks.
And sometimes I have screwed up, but it is part of who I am after more than 20 years in music and on television.
Being told that you have character was considered a bad thing and was very sexist.
Having things clear for me is a way of being.
You have conveyed an image of a strong and free woman, but at the same time non-invasive.
Do you identify with this description? At 48 years old I am the summary of the life I have had to live.
I have defended myself as best I could and with the most legal tools possible.
You may like me, bad or average, but you see me coming.
I'm not going to trick you or waste your time.
I sleep well at night.
And I am just as abrupt when saying something as when I am asking for forgiveness if I have made a mistake.
Has being a woman with character brought you inconveniences? Yes, but what woman doesn't?
We have that very clear, but not from now, but for a long time.
Women with character are not liked at all, but neither are the women themselves.
I am very flexible in that.
I have friends with all kinds of personalities, more or less sweet, who speak with more or less conviction... and they all seem to me to have something fantastic about them.
Why do we all have to be the same? Do you consider yourself a middle-aged lady?
It's a very fashionable concept...No, but I've never liked being classified.
Neither young lady, nor lady, nor anything.
I am a woman with my experience and that's it.
Are middle-aged gentlemen also said?
Age doesn't matter, it's fine.
Against menstrual poverty in Spain
Procter & Gamble
You have sponsored a campaign against period poverty.
Is everything related to periods still taboo?
How did you experience it as a child? At home you did not receive negative treatment.
In fact, my parents took me to dinner when I had my first period.
But it is true that they are topics that we did not talk much about out of shame, or if we were at school and did not have a compress on hand, we would rather resort to toilet paper than tell the teacher.
We were small and vulnerable. Thursday was World Endometriosis Day, a disease you have had. It took them about 15 years to diagnose it.
During a check-up, my gynecologist did some tests on me and she told me that she had to undergo surgery.
I have had surgery twice.
I always had a lot of period pains.
You see your friends who can go to work, but I couldn't even get up.
I have even fainted from the pain.
I don't know why exactly, but for a few years I've been doing very well.
I left the reviews crying with joy.
They say that being a mother improves it, but that wasn't my case, because I had that idea of having children.
Why have you gotten involved in this campaign against period poverty? Because I don't like taboos and I believe that much more progress can be made if we speak out.
The survey they have done reveals that there are girls who do not have hygiene products for their periods and have put on a sock.
This is happening in Spain, in 2024, but it is not talked about.
Two out of 10 girls have missed class due to menstrual poverty
MM
Although the reform of the Abortion Law last year included that educational centers had to dispense menstrual hygiene products free of charge (in addition to penitentiary centers and social centers), a survey carried out by Metroscopia for Evax reveals that the lack of these items is behind some cases of school truancy.
The study makes it clear that almost two out of every 10 girls in Spain between 14 and 25 years old have at some point missed school because they did not have adequate products for their hygiene during their period.
If we lower the age to 20, the situation is worse:
one in six
girls has stayed home for this reason, that is, 270,000 people.
As substitutes, the respondents claim to have used cellulose products such as sanitary wipes (47%) or handkerchiefs (34%), a second pair of panties (26%), cotton (23%), a piece of fabric from
old clothes
( 21%) or
socks
(11%).
In addition, more than half (60%) acknowledge that they have experienced blood leaks due to not having adequate protection, something that they themselves have described as "embarrassing", or that has made them feel "sad" or "dirty".
The feminine hygiene product brand Evax has launched the
#StopMenstrualPoverty
campaign , with which it will donate almost three and a half million pads through schools that join the initiative.
Chenoa