This is the central part of this book/series_of_posts that I consider to be of greatest interest.
Here I explain what makes Miriam's life experience so fascinating and, in my opinion, full of social and therapeutic insights.
In short: Miriam has represented throughout her life an incredible "exception" to an entire set of social norms and conventions, which I list below point by point:
1) Despite being a woman, she has always been a leader, both in the "normal" social environment, conservative and patriarchal typical of the region, and in the criminal and drug-addicted environment.
2) She was the one who supported/managed her male partners... ALL of them, despite the strong personalities of some and even the evident danger of others, she was always the one to have the final say on important matters, and she got rid of each of them when she no longer had anything to gain.
3) She managed to create a "traditional" family, though an unfortunate one, being its only possible and true reference point.
4) She was not monogamous for most of her life, in fact imposing on her partners the simultaneous coexistence with other emotional relationships, perhaps under the fig leaf of "business."
5) She developed her own fulfilling sexuality despite having been raised with an evident and rigid sexophobic attitude.
6) She always managed her own "addictions," even managing to free herself on her own from the one recognized as the most addictive and dangerous, Heroin.
7) She lived most of her life outside the law, paying a minimal price, and only at the "beginning of her career," and she even managed to "steer" the local law enforcement for years.
...If all this seems little to you...