Macha...

I spent this morning sitting in the Legislative Assembly in a long row of all-male Costa Rican journalists looking through a glass panel into a room where a woman was supposed to testify before the council. Needless to say, I stood out, and the press pass hanging around my neck received a lot of curious scrutiny. As I work as a photojournalist in the city, I have gradually begun to recognize familiar faces among the “prensa” (press) at the various press conferences and events I cover. There are two female photographers that I frequently see and, of course, the TV reporters always have pretty female faces along to stand in front of the camera, but the majority of journalists seem to be older men with reporters’ vests, old-fashioned notebooks, and facial hair.


In Costa Rica, journalism is still a male-dominated field. Which is why, perhaps, I am so frequently called “little blonde girl” and subject to great scrutiny.