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Two Styles, Two
Ways of Being
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
In 1951, Princess Elizabeth, heiress of
the throne of England, and Eva D. Peron, wife of Gerald
Peron, president of the Argentine Republic, were indisputably
the two most outstanding feminine figures in international
political life.
While very much a woman of the time from
every point of view, Princess Elizabeth represented in an
outstanding way a lady of the twentieth century formed under
the influence of the tradition still alive above all in
England.
The English people saw in her the symbol
of their glory, the expression of the refinement, grace,
the simple and the noble superiority of the gentry of the
land, and the visible and sensible representation of the
most ideal figure the nation could produce of their “race."
Her very authentic superiority is highlighted
by the charms of her attractive and communicative affability.
Her popularity was immense, rather unanimous, in England.
There was opposition to the government of the time but not
to the monarchy, and even much less against the smiling
and enchanting heiress to the throne.
Eva D. Peron also incarnated a style that
was characteristic of her times, but entirely different
from Princess Elizabeth.
Unabashedly involved in political life,
she exhibits an ardor and steadiness uncommon even among
men. The former actress, and lively and resourceful popular
orator, was regarded very coldly by the traditional families
that cultivated the distinction and manners that made Buenos
Aires society famous. Eva D. Peron was the idol of the organized
labor movement of the “shirtless” masses with
whom she was identified by all and in everything.
One and the other, the Princess and the
“leader” of the “shirtless," represent
ideas, principles, and different worlds, which at times
clashed consciously and violently, sometimes imperceptibly
but permanently in every country.
Comparing then these two feminine figures
considered, not personally but as types, is not comparing
two nations, but two ways of being that exist in all countries.
Would it be comparing two social classes?
Not necessarily, because both “styles” can be
found from the top to the bottom of the social ladder.
For example, consider how Blessed Anna
Maria Taigi, a simple cook employed by the Colonna princes
in Rome in the nineteenth century, attracted the attention
of passersby, not only by her piety but by her venerable
bearing. One might also consider how all know poor rough
inhabitants in the hinterland of our country presiding over
the lives of their families with the nobility of the patriarchs
of old.
We insist: what stands out in this
comparison is the difference between two “styles”-
two ways of being.
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