Bobby
Porter and Rahsaan Guyon
Paula Gandara
BWS 383
12 May 2014
Betty Silberstein: A Woman of Many Words
Throughout the
semester we have been in constant contact, through e-mail, with a woman writer
from Brazil; we asked her several questions regarding her life, her writing,
and current themes present in Brazil (such as feminism, gender roles, prostitution,
political reforms, etc.). For our Brazilian writer, we chose Betty Silberstein
from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Betty was born
in the small town of Monte Santo de Minas, Minas Gerais but moved to the
crowded city of Sao Paulo when she was only three years old. Betty did not decide to be a writer at first;
her first career choice was to be a foreign language teacher. Betty got her Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign
Languages at Mackenzie University in S. Paulo where she would first teach
English as a foreign language. She
taught English in several schools throughout S. Paulo and in Europe, where she
lived for six years. Throughout Betty’s
tenure as a teacher she would occasionally do some freelance work, writing
newspaper articles and translating texts, films, and books for several writers,
including the renown Mr. Hugo Schlessinger.
Betty also attended a summer program at Harvard Graduate School called
the “Project Zero Summer Institute”. Betty has a loving husband, Buby, and three
children; one daughter, Drika, and two sons, Guili and Guto. After years of encouragement from her
mother-in-law, Betty finally dedicated herself to be a writer at the young age
of fifty.
Betty’s first
piece of published work was titled, Opus
Dei: The False Work of God, and was
published on March 12, 2011. The book attempts to act as a guide and shed
light onto the shadowy dealings of the cult like branch of the Catholic Church.
The origins of the group coincide with the Spanish inquisition, and their
methods of obtaining new members are extreme and very questionable. When
we asked Betty why she chose to write about such a controversial topic her
response rendered one explanation: “because I lost a son to Opus Dei. And
although I do know that with this book (and two others on the theme) I could
not take my son out of the sect, at least I am helping to alert families of the
dangers around the theme” (Silberstein).
When
Opus Dei takes in a new member they teach that they are their family now and
essentially severs previous bonds you had before joining them, even your
family. During the recruitment process and informational prospective recruits
are encouraged not to tell their family of Opus Dei and their decision to join
them or not. It is not hard to see why suddenly for a mother to lose her son to
such an organization is a very sorrowful experience and why she would not wish
the experience upon any other families.
When
asked if her religion had influenced her writings at all, the response was that
her writings on the Catholic Church sect of Opus Dei are meant to alert
families to this shadowy group as there is was not much literature out their on
the group and she feels that if there was at the time of her son joining Opus
Dei, maybe her and her family could have stopped him from joining such a
“horrible religious trap”. When having a discussion of the group with peers, we
asked our peers whether such a group being identified with the Catholic Church
was bad for its reputation. The universal answer was “yes” although many had no
idea the group existed much like us before getting familiar with Ms.
Silberstein’s work. For our peers it was not hard to see why Ms. Silberstein
wants to alarm people to be weary of the group. I feel that I would not be able
follow a religion that has a cult like Opus Dei that tears members away from
their families and teaches a strict regiment of blissful ignorance associated
with their name. Although not explicitly asked we infer from her response about
religious influence and the grief the group had caused Ms. Silberstein that her
relationship with Catholicism may have taken a hit as a result of the groups
existence. The book is an objection against the questionable practices
of Opus Dei, which is a controversial religious institution relating to the Catholic
Church. Apparently members are forbidden
to read certain books and are under strict control from superiors. The members never introduce themselves as
such; they do not even explain their true objectives and heir actual practices
when recruiting young children. In the
book, Betty makes readers aware of the dangerous and dubious practices of Opus
Dei, which explains why the organization is considered a sect, or cult. Her
main goal of the book is to make parents, youth, schools, and the general public
aware of the sect’s despicable and shameful practices. Another issue taking up in Opus Dei: The
False Work of God is women’s rights.
Betty bashes Opus Dei and their misogynist views on women within the
cult, which she states is an old-fashioned view on women in the current
world. Her conclusion is that the type
of life professed and the system of domination practiced by Opus Dei is much
worse for the women than for the men. With regards to current women’s rights in
Brazil, Betty wrote: “A
women's rights movement emerged fairly late compared to that in the United
States and has just started influencing legislation and the political process
at the onset of the twenty-first century” (Silberstein). It is no secret that women’s rights in Brazil
need some improvement but Betty believes that Brazil is on the right path
towards women equality and hopes to see continued improvement. Another topic of discussion that garnered a
response from Betty was the issue of prostitution in Brazil. Throughout the year, our class has had
several texts and discussions on prostitution, so we thought it would be ideal
to see what Betty had to say about the subject.
Betty expresses her thoughts on adult prostitution and says that there
are no laws against adult prostitution in Brazil; it is legal. Child prostitution, on the other hand, “is
widespread and a serious problem. Brazil
is considered to have the worst levels of child sex trafficking after Thailand
with an estimated 250,000 children involved” (Silberstein). Betty closely relates this phenomenon to the
high poverty levels in some areas of the country. She says that the Brazilian government is
working hard to stop the illegal child prostitution but that they are not doing
a very reliable job.
However, it seems another major concern is the
leadership of Brazil and the path to ruin they are creating with their
short-term vision as the host of the Olympics and World Cup. The FIFA world cup
is soccer’s biggest stage and one of the grandest in all of sports. Unlike the
NFL super bowl or NBA Finals, it is a world-class tournament that is hosted by
countries around the world every year. This year the games will be held in
Brazil. Hosting an event like the World Cup is suppose to spark a huge boom in
economic growth for the host country due to the drastically increased tourism,
the free world publicity and the caliber of the event. However, first there
must be preparations by the country to get it camera ready. In this case it
comes in the form of a $900 million dollar soccer arena although the country
itself has no major team and it's the second most expensive soccer stadium in
the world and a total output of $11.5 billion dollar budget. In business it is
a universal law that one has to spend money to make money however, there is a
difference between investing some money in an event and completely blowing it.
The political leadership in Brazil is boldly doing the ladder. The construction
of the arena has been a host of corruption and over spending. Coincidently
companies contributing to the arenas construction have also increased political
campaigns contributions, which have raised suspicions about the gains
politicians are seeing as a result of this “monument to national sadness ad
waste” says CBS news.
Brazil is a country of about 190.7
million with a poverty level of about 26%. That is about 46 million people who
live in a severely impoverished state in a nation that’s leadership has set its
eyes on their own pockets and pulling the wool over the world’s eyes to portray
Brazil as a paradise. “I am not very
enthusiastic about our government. I don’t see ANYTHING being done to “attack”
the roots of poverty: education, health, security, and transportation. NOTHING
is being done in the country. Now the only thing you hear is about the world
cup.” Said Ms. Silberstein when asked of her hopes for political reform and
improvement. She went on to speak of the billions that the country is spending
on these games and how much better use the money could have been put to much
better use.
There could have been better schools built, hospitals, and
above all beneficial infrastructure that will be of use after all this
“partying is over”. The construction of these arenas has displaced peoples in
Brazil and will do more to harm the country than mend it. Furthermore the
hosting of the World Cup is not the end to the “partying” Brazil leadership has
planned. They also intend for the country to host the 2016 summer Olympic
games. There is concern right now that the
World Cup will already deplete the nation so much that there won’t be enough to
host another lavish global event. To the world that is unknowing of Brazil’s
inner workings, the World Cup will be an amazing celebration of game of soccer
but in the words of a citizen like Ms. Silberstein it is “A pity. I can’t see
anything good being done by the politicians about all this and do not see any
light at the end of the tunnel…”.
Overall, Betty
Silberstein gave us some fantastic responses and views on many important issues
in her writing and on the country of Brazil in general. She informed us with great knowledge and gave
us some insight into many situations that occur in the country. We would again like to thank Ms. Silberstein
for all of her help and hope that we can continue to be in talks with one
another. Thanks!
Bibliography
"Brazil
Strives for Economic Equality." The Rio Times. The Contributor, 7
Feb. 2012. Web. 12 May 2014.
<http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-business/brazil-strives-for-economic-equality/#>.
"REBRA - Rede De Escritoras Brasileiras." REBRA
- Rede De Escritoras Brasileiras. REBRA, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014
Silberstein,
Betty. Opus Dei: The False Work of God.
March 12, 2011.
"World
Cup 2014 construction in Brazil marred by corruption, waste." CBSNews.
CBS Interactive, 10 May 2014. Web. 12 May 2014.
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-cup-2014-construction-in-brazil-marred-by-corruption-waste/>.
No comments:
Post a Comment