What’s the role of women in the translation sector?

Today, 8^th March, we would like to begin this post with some hopeful news. Probably, you don’t know, but the translation sector is one of the few where the rate of women exceeds that of men. As expected, in the past, women translators had to face difficulties to be recognized as they deserve.

In Europe, the percentage of women who study Translation is almost 65%, but this figure is even better in Spain, reaching 69%. Moreover, several research says Translation is one of the few jobs that offer the same salary for men and women. That’s an important fact, which we can be proud of because the wage gap in Europe is around 16%.

Looking to the past, we discover that translation industry has always had a female presence, although they used to be women who came from influential families. Women who had received an excellent education and were able to speak several languages since their childhood, something that until a few years ago has been within the reach of very few people.

Therefore, some women began to be authorized to translate text and work as translators in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. However, it was not until the 19^th century that the number of women who, in addition to translating, also wrote increased.

Although the data on the female presence in the translation sector is positive, we still find a clear lack of references throughout history. So, we think it is necessary to mention these women who started in that industry and helped other women to work today as translators.

Margaret Tyler (1540-1590)

Margaret was the first English women who translated a Spanish book about chivalry titled: “Espejo de príncipes y caballeros”. She was also the first one that published a chivalry book in England. Precisely because translating about that topic was considered to be only for men, and Margaret was criticized for that. At that time, the topics that women translated used to be more related to religion.

Giuseppa Barbapiccola (1702-1740)

Pioneer in Italian science, she devoted herself to philosophy, poetry, and translation, translating Descartes’ play “Principles of Philosophy”. In her play, she always defended the equality between men and women. The prologue of her most famous play “From translator to reader” supports a very modern thought for that time: “Women aren’t intellectually inferior by nature, they are by lack of education”.

Isabel Oyarzábal (1878-1974)

This woman from Málaga demonstrated to be an independent woman and dismantled all kinds of stereotypes of that time. In addition to being a translator, she was also a journalist, writer, actress and diplomat. As a translator, she worked in literary translation and professional interpretation. In her most known translations, we can find “Research of sexual psychology” or “The new revelation”.