ESSA Madrid: Concepción Arenal

 

Concepción Arenal, whose very long full name is María de la Concepción Jesusa Luisa Petra Vicenta del Arenal y Ponte, was born on the 31th of January in the year of our Lord 1820 in the ity of Ferrol, Spain. She was a prolific writer, poet, thinker, law graduate, feminist, and overall influencer. When she began studying law, she had to dress as a man, enter through a different entrance, and attend lectures from behind a screen. After she graduated, she continued dressing like a man because she felt it led people to treat her more seriously. Her career then took her into prison reform. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concepci%C3%B3n_Arenal)

She was interested mostly in how female prisoners in the country of Spain were being treated, however, her service to these forgotten communities had ripples throughout the whole prison community and beyond. She was a prison inspector and would ensure that prisoners in the jails she visited were being treated humanely and that, rather controversially, they had access to education during and after their incarceration. Ultimately, her attempts to better the long-term lives of these inmates cost her her job. She was also a successful playwright, anti bull fighting, pro-women’s rights, wrote an essay under her son’s name (women weren’t allowed to enter) and won, and many other things.

As far as I understand, her commemoration comes down largely to the statue we visited in Madrid. It is a large installation with Arenal sitting on a throne of sorts in larger-than-life proportions. She holds a book in her hand and looks up and away as if lost in thought. These elements speak to what she did, and perhaps that’s all one can expect from a statue, but I’ve realized on this trip the women who seem to be truly commemorated well have monuments not only to what they did but who they were. Statues, however well-intentioned, on their own might just contribute to another allegorical representation of a woman. With this in mind, I think Concepción Arenal’s commemoration is good but could be better.