Fresh Start and New Cycling Tour

By Anneris Ivette Leyva (taking fron Granma).

Camera photo bags tests physical capacities of men and women; even though they are a bit empty, they weigh a lot. Marisol is not afraid of loads, though. She tries to keep in good shape.

She showed enough dexterity to follow the rhythm of cyclists in the recently concluded Cuban Cycling Tour, an edition that shed so much bright in medals and sports deeds as in transgressing sexist stereotypes, usually a patriarchy favoring male photojournalism. Although she misses sometimes walking light or showing off a little, delicate, acceptable purse, she accepts without exasperation the rigors imposed by the art of photography, not wearing skirts or gowns included.

“When one is in love, like me with photography, it is unable to see shortcomings”, she explained while digging into her jam-packed briefcase, where camera accessories and lens, and toilet powder and lipsticks live together. “I was always the photographer at family and friend gatherings. The fact to capture image as a remembrance for future generations seduced me.”, she evokes.

The professional practice was a self-imposed challenge, a go against the crowd. "I felt excluded in the beginning, mostly by people off mass media milieu. They did not figure out what a woman had to do in such a job. But things changed when I was admitted in the Cuban News Agency at the correspondents' office in Matanzas. I found a lot of support among my colleagues". Having turned a deaf ear to prejudices and achieved recognition in a sector with masculine prevalence was not enough to undertake another boldness. With almost 25 years, Marisol Ruiz Soto was able to become the first woman in photographing the Cuban Cycling Tour.

"The adventure is certainly hard and dangerous, because we had to travel by motorcycle all the time, and at high speed. But if so many men can make it, why might not women? Besides, the group of reporters was very attentive to me. They welcomed me naturally and helped me very much.”

“One of the most difficult things in journalism coverage is parting, being far from home and family. But when the purpose to do what we like prevails, we overcome difficulties”, says this young enthusiastic girl that does not deny taking as an example three exemplary women to confront daily challenges.

Two of them are very special for all Cubans: Vilma Espin and Celia Sánchez. "The both achieved, with sweetness and decisiveness at the same time, to raise women’s position to their due place. The third woman is Marta Soto, my mom".

In that list of worth remembered achievements from the 14th Cycling Tour, the feminine performance, a decreasing process, Marisol has been able to implant a fresh start.