Podcast Summary
Podcast: Hoy por Hoy
Host: SER Podcast
Featured Segment: La mirada | Najat el Hachmi
Episode Title: "La igualdad y la libertad de todas es justamente lo contrario a la extrema derecha"
Date: November 13, 2025
Main Theme
This episode’s commentary focuses on the challenges and contradictions facing the feminist movement in the current political climate — particularly the pressure for feminist issues to retreat in order not to “provoke” or “give ammunition” to the extreme right. Najat el Hachmi passionately argues that true equality and liberty are fundamentally opposed to far-right ideologies, and denounces the pattern of sidelining women’s rights in favor of so-called “more pressing” causes.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Silencing Feminist Voices for Political Caution
- Najat el Hachmi opens by highlighting how feminists are frequently told to remain quiet or cautious. The rationale is that expressing their opinions might provide the far-right with material to justify their racist agendas.
- She points out the irony in blaming feminists when those on the far-right already possess and express racist, anti-equality views.
"Nos dicen que nos callemos, que esperemos, que vayamos con cuidado porque nuestras opiniones y reivindicaciones pueden dar alas a la extrema derecha."
— Najat el Hachmi [00:08]
2. Sidelining Feminism for “Greater Causes”
- The commentary draws parallels from history, noting that women’s rights have often been delayed with the excuse that other revolutions or conflicts must come first, whether socialist revolutions or the ending of wars.
- This tendency, el Hachmi says, perpetuates the subordination of women and implies that their rights are perpetually negotiable or secondary.
"Siempre hay una causa más importante que hay que anteponer a las nuestras."
— Najat el Hachmi [01:24]
3. Populist Framing in Public Debate
- The discussion critiques how public debate now revolves around the binary of being “for or against” the xenophobic populists, turning the struggle for human rights into a tactical issue rather than a matter of principle.
- Feminists and especially women from marginalized backgrounds are urged to wait or mute their demands, under the pretense of not fueling reactionary rhetoric.
4. The Impact on Women — Especially Muslim Women
- El Hachmi specifically calls out how Muslim women are often told to “wait their turn” in the fight for rights, as if addressing their concerns could be detrimental to broader political strategies.
"...es a las mujeres de origen musulmán a quienes se nos pide que aplacemos sin edie nuestras demandas."
— Najat el Hachmi [00:58]
5. The Core Message: Equality and Freedom as Antidotes
- The commentary closes with a strong affirmation: genuine equality and freedom for all women are categorically opposed to the far-right’s divisive, repressive agenda.
- The struggle for these ideals is not a gift to reactionary forces but their most direct and powerful challenge.
"La igualdad y la libertad de todas es justamente lo contrario a la extrema derecha."
— Najat el Hachmi [02:22]
Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments
- On the pressure to remain silent:
“Nos dicen que nos callemos, que esperemos, que vayamos con cuidado porque nuestras opiniones y reivindicaciones pueden dar alas a la extrema derecha.” [00:08]
- On historical sidelining:
“Había que hacer la revolución socialista y luego ya vendría el momento de las mujeres. Había que acabar guerras y después ya nos ocuparemos de vosotras. En fin, siempre hay una causa más importante que hay que anteponer a las nuestras.” [01:15]
- Against the logic of postponement:
“Mientras tanto, generaciones enteras de niñas y mujeres viven unas vidas que no son las suyas, sometidas a intereses ajenos, discriminadas siempre.” [01:33]
- On the core conflict:
“La igualdad y la libertad de todas todas es justamente lo contrario a la extrema derecha.” [02:22]
Important Timestamps
- [00:08-00:40] — Introduction and critique of silencing feminist discourse for fear of empowering the far right.
- [00:40-01:24] — Historical parallels: how women’s demands are subordinated to other causes.
- [01:24-01:50] — The cost for real women and girls: forced to live lives dictated by others’ priorities.
- [02:00-02:30] — Closing argument: why true equality and freedom are inherently opposed to the extreme right.
Tone and Style
Najat el Hachmi’s intervention is incisive, urgent, and unapologetic. She draws on both personal and collective experience, employing a tone that is at once critical and resolute.
This episode stands out as an impassioned defense of prioritizing feminism and human rights, regardless of political calculations about the extreme right — a call to refuse the “postponement” of equality, and a reminder that liberating all women is the surest way to oppose reactionary movements.
