Portugal, 1968. Sindy, 1968

Once Upon a Time...

In 1968 we were living under a dictatorship. The dictator's name - Salazar - would later become one of those written in the Guinness Book Of World Records: he had ruled for forty two years, and no general strike, no opposition movement, no military insubordination had ever diminished his power. As a result of this, we had a tight censorship that would cut scenes from films, forbid books on certain themes, avoid the diffusion of such things as rock festivals or pop fashions. Couples kissing In the middle of the street were often arrested for interrogation and women rarely entered cafes or bars, even if accompanied by men.

I was little aware of this, being eight by that time. But one thing drove me mad: that girls and boys were not allowed to play together. Even when the schools were next to one another, even when those next-to-each-other schools were supposed to be English. Because my school was named "Princess Anne" and the next-door school was "Prince Charles". We knew little about the British royal family, being Portuguese. But our idols certainly were English too: they were called Sindy and Action Man. So we invented our own little "transgression" and enjoyed every minute of it: the boys would bring their Action Men to the fences near the playground. We, the girls, were waiting there with all our Sindy’s. Then, we would pick them up and take them to kiss all the "Men" through the wires. Sindy's small head could pass where our hands couldn't reach. She was the free girl we all wanted to be.