Brazilian Feminism
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Brazilian Feminism and Political Movements
This paper will show that the feminist movement in Brazil was an uphill struggle; women had to reinvent their position in society, resist the military regime of an authoritarian state, and organize and unify themselves as a group before they gained womens rights. After suffrage was granted women had decades more work before equal rights were established.
Male supremacy was the norm in Brazilian culture. Men and women were brought up to lead completely different lives. From childhood on women were confined to the domestic sphere while men conquered the public sphere. A girls education was just enough to allow her to function in society, focusing much more on domesticity. Boys were encouraged to complete higher courses of study as he would be the breadwinner of the family. The man was the head of the household; he had the legal right to say how his children were brought up, the means of their education, and even where the familys place of residence was. Women were denied all of these until their husbands death.
One of the greatest obstacles the womens movement faced was organization. Women were not encouraged to follow or speak their opinion of political matters. Several outspoken women used the press as an influential means to reach and inform women while helping them to organize.
Women were granted the right to vote in 1932, but womens political participation was limited. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Brazilian society was in opposition to the authoritarian rule and rallied against it. As they created a broad front political differences were overlooked such as sex, race, etc. It wasnt until the late 1970s that womens rights were heard by political leaders. The 1980s were an influential decade in womens rights. The National Council on Womens Rights was established and in 1988 a new Constitution was implemented.