Chess player Carla Heredia criticizes in a public letter the sexist treatment of Rafael Correa

 

“A woman is not more or less if she wears makeup.” The phrase, featured in an open letter released Thursday by the Ecuadorian chess player Carla Heredia, gives a clear message to President Rafael Correa: No sexism.

The president said Tuesday in Guayaquil that if he were the adviser to the Social Christian presidential candidate Cynthia Viteri he “would recommend her not to talk about the economy, to talk about anything … maybe makeup, but not about the economy.”

The president’s comment drew criticism in social networks, among which that of Heredia stands out. After highlighting the “strong support to the sport” the government of Correa, the athlete said, “If Cynthia or anyone makes a wrong argument, you just need to debate with arguments, but not by minimizing her as a woman. A woman is no more or less if she wears makeup, but the way you said it, it was derogatory, it was sexist.”

Heredia, who participated in the Chess Olympics Baku 2016, said that “like many women,” she learned to grow and fight in society “that often sees us as inferior by the simple fact of being a woman, like many women, misogynistic comments made me stronger.”

Subsequently, she added: “Women are human beings, women have arguments, women also make mistakes, but it is no excuse for a humiliating treatment.”_

As a farewell, the chessplayer said she hoped that the president apologizes to the presidential candidate, “to the awful chubby ladies” -as Correa called a reporter,- to all Ecuadorian women.

The tweet, in which she included the two pages of the letter, has been retweeted almost 700 times, and it also generated signs of support as well as criticism from the supporters of the president.