"We women have been looked at with short-range lights."Mamela Fiallo Flor was born in Ecuador and is barely one and a half meters tall. Small in stature but with big ideals, this history and language teacher and influencer uses her social networks, where she has tens of thousands of followers, to fill the world with positive messages about femininity, the defense of life and against the culture of cancellation.
"I am an influencer and a teacher," says Mamela, who explains how she began her career in social media: "Pope Francis told us to make a mess and that is certainly what I do most. In social networks, in the media I write and in the history classes I teach, I try to shake souls and minds to get to the truth, even if it generates tension because it alters the prevailing narrative".
Mamela grew up in a somewhat religiously cold family, as she herself relates: "Thank God, I had a very pious grandmother who has always been my guide and the most cultured and loving woman I knew. My parents were always more alternative and my re-emergence in the faith was as an adult, hand in hand with the pro-life cause".
In fact, Mamela began to participate in the pro-life cause for political and not religious reasons: "I understood the importance of not giving to Caesar what belongs to God: the power to give and take life, along with charity. I did not want to limit being pro-life to being anti-abortion. I dedicated myself fully to supporting initiatives in orphanages, children's hospitals, feeding people in street situations and the crudest thing: accompanying post-abortion retreats".
These initiatives were led by Christians, and he became more and more involved in this struggle for life. "The more I became involved in these social endeavors, the more attacks I received," he recalls. In that struggle he realized "that the 'battle' is cultural, but the war is spiritual. I got closer to the faith, and I had supernatural support in several people who have been guiding me to deepen my Catholic formation".
Now Mamela has found a loudspeaker in the social networks: "With my publications I encourage others to raise their voices in the face of injustice and if they are shy, they know that they can turn to others to do so. I try to sow the idea that we must recognize our role in this battle, according to the gifts we have received. Do not pretend to be like the other, but give the best of ourselves".
Beauty defense
Mamela is a strong advocate of Dostoevsky's maxim "the beauty will save the world. She conceives it as "the resurgence of the muses that will awaken the heroes" and points out how "in an era where art tends to decadence, it is beautiful to know that there are artists who swim against the current", highlighting values such as healthy masculinity and true femininity. Among her actions is also that of a lecturer. Recently, she was invited to give a lecture in Brazil before a prominent audience: "I was the only woman on the billboard". In front of her audience "I gave a talk on femininity as counterrevolution and it was very well received. I try to motivate, to love, to be a woman and to project it externally. It is an act of healthy rebellion".
Her work is not always a bed of roses, she also receives messages against her. When she receives these attacks, Mamela confesses: "I think of that 'blessed are the persecuted' and I try, although it is not easy, to respond to hatred with love and a good dose of humor and mischief.
Her positivity and education are some of the characteristics of her way of acting. Mamela is very clear: "It is a contrast to the prevailing vulgarity. It is important to always leave a positive mark. To externalize the world in which we want to live and to show who are the truly violent ones".
Among the anecdotes or events she remembers most are some truly surprising ones, such as the day she was physically attacked for defending a statue of Isabella the Catholic. "That was a before and after in my life," she says, "I experienced firsthand the hatred that exists against our roots, especially towards the truth that makes us free. This in turn affirmed my need to not bow down to attacks. This is what has strengthened my faith the most.
More than one legacy
When asked what legacy she would like to leave, she replies: "I would love to leave a legacy of blood, being a mother and a wife. I suspect that my tombstone will say: 'Here lies the defender of statues, while she lived none of them were toppled' because there have been several incidents of this kind. But, while in other countries they tear down these statues, in my hometown they do not".
