SEX
You once said,“I was a feminist before the word was invented.” What did you mean by that?
That I was a feminist before the word reached my family. In Chile,I lived in a very backward,authoritarian,Catholic,conservative society. My mother married “the wrong man”,was abandoned with three babies and had to go back to live with her father. She had no money,no privileges,no job. She was totally dependent,a charity case for her father and her brothers. I became enraged about her situation.
What’s your brand of feminism?The feminist movement is a revolution. Like every revolution,it starts with anger:you don’t know where you’re going. There’s no map. You just stumble along,making mistakes,finding yourself at crossroads and suffering a lot of backlash. So the movement evolves and changes. Until the patriarchy is replaced by a world in which men and women have equal[power] and masculine and feminine values have the same weight in society,we have a lot of work to do.
In 2016,you met your third and current husband,Roger Cukras. What makes Roger sexy?
He’s kind. But you know what? If I think of a sexy man,I would think of a man like … you![Laughs]
Oh gosh,Isabel. Thank you! You can stay!Young. And,if possible,not white.
So Roger’s not your type,necessarily?There comes a point in life when sexual attraction becomes a blend of humour,companionship and kindness. He likes me,he thinks I’m beautiful and he says it. That’s sexy for me. I’ve always said that the G-spot is in your ear.
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Fitting,given that Roger fell in love with you when he heard you being interviewed on the radio.Yes,then he emailed me,morning and evening,for five months. I went to New York for a conference – I live in California – and he invited me out. Over the first course,I said,“Well,what are your intentions? Because I don’t have any time to waste.” Poor guy choked on his ravioli. Three days later,he proposed. I said,“I don’t want to get married,but we can be lovers.” But eventually there was a point where[long distance] became impossible. So he sold his house,gave away everything he had and moved in with me. He said to his son,“Am I crazy?” And he said,“Dad,what do you have to lose?” I thought the same thing. How can you live if you don’t take risks? Are you going to stand on the margins of life because you want to be safe? That’s no life.