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The history of Brazilian women who went to fight for their rights

Brazilian "queens do lar" and "incapas", went to the struggle for their political rights. Until 1827, women could not even enroll in educational institutions. They had to wait half a century to gain access to college. Historian recounts the trajectory of the protagonists of the struggle for the recognition of the female vote in the country

In 2017, when we celebrate the 85th anniversary of the conquest of the female vote, we must remember the degrading situations that women have lived through for centuries and the persistent struggle they have waged to finally establish themselves as citizens. Of course much remains to be achieved, but looking back we see how far we have gone.

In Brazil, for example, women were only able to enroll in educational establishments in 1827. The right to attend a college was acquired only about 50 years later. Only in 1887 would the country form its first doctor. The first women who dared to take this step towards their autonomy and professionalization were socially segregated.

The first Brazilian Civil Code, approved in 1916, reaffirmed many of the discriminations against women. The teacher Maria Lygia Quartim de Moraes wrote: "With marriage, women lost their full civil capacity. It was up to her husband to authorize her to work, conduct financial transactions, and establish residency. Moreover, the Civil Code severely punished women as 'dishonest', considered the non-virginity of women as grounds for annulment of marriage (...) and allowed the daughter to suspect 'dishonesty', that is, to have sexual relations outside the Marriage, was disinherited. " Married women - or under parental power - were considered legally incapable, such as children, the mentally handicapped, the beggars and the Indians.

Since the formation of Brazilian society, women have been excluded from any and all political rights. For example, the Charter of the Empire (1824) and the first Constitution of the Republic (1891) did not give them the right to vote or to be voted. A situation that would persist until the first decades of the twentieth century. They were therefore considered second class citizens. Truth be tol😛 this was not only a problem in Brazil, because, at that time, women were excluded from their political rights in almost all countries of the world.

In this dark period they did not shut up. However, it is only very recently that the history of female resistance began to be unraveled by historiography. Women fought for access to education and for their civil and political rights. They also became involved in the great movements that helped to build the nation, such as the struggles for independence, the abolitionist campaign, the proclamation of the Republic, and so on.

The first Brazilian feminist to be known was the poet Nísia Floresta (1809-1885). She has excelled as an educator, creating and running several women's schools in the country. He considered education the first step towards the emancipation of women. Translated and published in the country the feminist manifesto of Mary Wollstonecraft - Rights of Women and Injustices of Men. After having stayed 28 years in Europe, when he returned to Brazil, he supported the abolitionist and republican movement. Nisia was a person far ahead of her time.

The female alternative press, which emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, was, however, a kind of embryo of the women's movement. In 1852 the journalist Juana Noronha founded and directed the first newspaper produced by women - Jornal das Senhoras. In the year of 1873 the teacher Francisca Motta Diniz founded the newspaper the female sex. In one of his editorials he affirme😛 "We do not know in which great republic or republiqueta the woman stops being a slave and enjoys political rights, like to vote and to be voted. What is undeniable is that all over the world, barbaric and civilized, the woman is a slave. " The newspaper would be involved in the great campaign for the abolition of slavery.

Countless other women's newspapers would emerge. Most of them were short-lived, and even though they were not revolutionaries or even feminists, they helped to make women aware of the subordinate role assigned to them by patriarchal society. This brief article will focus on women's struggle for political rights, especially the right to vote and vote.
The Old Republic and women's rights

Since the mid-nineteenth century, women sought to break the encirclement surrounding them and conquer their civil and political rights. The feminine vote was one of the subjects treated by the deputies that elaborated the first Republican Constitution (1891). However, the final text did not make the political situation of the woman clear. He did not explicitly prohibit the female vote, but also did not guarantee it clearly. The deliberate ambiguity of his writing made it possible for the great majority of legislators and the judiciary to interpret at their own pleasure what the constituents intended. This excluded women from the political-electoral process for several decades.

The arguments of the antifeminists were the most execrable. The deputy Livy said that the women had "brains infantile" and would be carriers of "mental inferiority" and "evolutionary delay" with respect to the men
Lacerda Coutinho, for his part, said that "women had functions (biological) that men did not have and these functions were so delicate ... that only the least nervous disturbance, a fright, a moment of excitement, was sufficient for them to Pervert ". However, most opponents of the female vote argued differently. It supported the moral superiority of the woman and, precisely because of this, she would be incompatible with politics. The woman should be protected by society from this evil. God and / or nature had reserved for her another role, nobler, that of "queen of the home." This, for example, was the view of the positivists. Engaged women, however, read the constitutional text differently. If he made explicit those who were excluded (beggars, illiterates, Indians, prelates and religious monastic orders subject to a vow of obedience) and among them there was no reference to women, this was a complete proof that the constituents did not intend Ban the female vote. An irrefutable argument. Using this argument, over the years, several women in various regions have tried to enlist as voters. In 1910, before the constant refusals, some of them vanguard founded the Feminine Republican Party. Although small, it showed the degree of consciousness and organization reached by Brazilians in the early twentieth century. Among its founders were Professor Leolinda Daltro and writer Gilka Machado. This fierce party even promoted in November of 1917 a march with almost 100 women in the center of Rio de Janeiro. It was a small revolution. In the same year, the Socialist deputy Mauricio de Lacerda presented a bill establishing the female vote, which was not appreciated by the Federal Chamber. At that same time, another character came on the scene: Bertha Lutz. Daughter of one of the most renowned Brazilian scientists, Adolfo Lutz, studied at the Sorbonne and graduated in Biology. In France she came in contact with the feminist ideas that were buzzing on European soil. Back in Brazil in 1918, she immediately got involved in the fight for the female vote. In the influential Magazine of the Week, "Russian, Finnish, Danish and English women (...) already share or will briefly share the government, not only contributing to the vote but also being able to elect themselves for the exercise of the Legislative Power. Only the dark women continue, I will not say captives, but subalterns (...). Depressive appraisals of women are read every day in Rio's newspapers and magazines. There is, perhaps, no city in the world where women are least respected. " Belonging to the Brazilian economic, political and intellectual elite, Bertha Lutz had some conditions for her performance that others did not. The following year (1919), she was appointed by the Brazilian government to attend the meeting of the Women's Council of the International Labor Organization. There, the principle of equal pay for equal work was approved, without distinction of sex. She also represented the country at the First Pan American Women's Conference held in April 1922. In the United States, where the meeting was held, she met Carrie Chapman Catt. It represented a less radical current of the international feminist movement and condemned the radical methods of European, especially British, suffragists. Bertha Lutz, in an interview, said Mrs. Carrie's orientation was "very salutary, since the movement in the United States has been very dignified and completely oblivious to the violent methods employed by some European countries." These peaceful methods were better suited to the social condition of the Brazilian feminists of that time, generally belonging to the elites. Also in 1922, Bertha organized the 1st Feminist Congress and founded the Brazilian Federation for Women's Progress (FBPF). This was the first Brazilian feminist entity with a certain national and international expression. Among its objectives were "to ensure to women the political rights that our constitution confers on her" and "to strengthen the bonds of friendship with the other American countries in order to guarantee the perpetual maintenance of peace and justice in the Western Hemisphere." The reference to the "Western Hemisphere" was not casual and reflected the prevailing ideology in the movement. A legal congress held in Rio de Janeiro approved by 28 votes against only 4 resolutions that sai😛 "1º) The woman is not, morally or intellectually, unfit for the exercise of political rights; 2) Under the Federal Constitution, women are not prohibited from exercising political rights. " Rui Barbosa also defended the thesis of the constitutionality of the female vote. A girl of the noise Among the feminine names that still stands out in this troubled year of 1922 is the one of the combative student Diva Nolf Nazário. At the Faculty of Law of Largo de São Francisco, where he studied, he defended, against most of hiss pares, o simples direito de votar na eleição do diretório acadêmico XI de Agosto. Consciente da situação inferior que se encontravam as mulheres, participou ativamente da fundação da Aliança Paulista pelo Sufrágio Universal, tendo sido sua secretária-geral. Convencida da constitucionalidade do voto feminino, ela tentou se registrar como eleitora. Para isso, fez uma verdadeira peregrinação por vários órgãos públicos. Chegou mesmo, depois de muita insistência, a conseguir um registro eleitoral provisório. Contudo, o parecer do juiz eleitoral foi-lhe desfavorável. Escreveu o magistrado: “Entendem, por certo, a maioria dos nossos representantes que (…) não era ainda o momento de romper com as tradições do nosso direito, segundo as quais as palavras ‘cidadãos brasileiros’, empregadas nas leis eleitorais, designam sempre cidadãos do sexo masculino”. Para ele, as atribuições plenas da cidadania se vinculavam às “energias e veemências próprias da organização viril”. A mulher seria uma criatura “destinada a dividir harmonicamente com o homem a responsabilidade da vida em comum, ela, na tranquilidade do lar, cuidando da ordem doméstica, ele, no trabalho cotidiano, auferindo meios de prover a subsistência da família”. Diva recorreu da decisão e seu pedido foi indeferido. O caso repercutiu nacionalmente e ganhou as páginas dos principais jornais. No ano seguinte, 1923, ela publicou Voto Feminino e Feminismo, no qual apresentou sua luta e as diversas posições existentes em relação ao sufrágio feminino, através de artigos publicados na imprensa daquela época. O livro, cuja edição fac-similar foi publicada pela Imprensa Oficial do Estado de São Paulo em 2009, é uma referência obrigatória para aqueles que desejam pesquisar o movimento feminista no início do século XX. A crise do Estado Oligárquico e o avanço feminista No Congresso Nacional também crescia o número de parlamentares favoráveis ao voto feminino. Alguns projetos chegaram mesmo a ser aprovados nas comissões e em primeira votação nas duas casas legislativas. Nas eleições presidenciais de 1922, a vitória eleitoral de Arthur Bernardes – um opositor do voto feminino – representou um duro golpe para os objetivos da FBPF. Seu governo foi marcado pelas rebeliões tenentistas, o permanente estado de sítio e perseguições políticas aos seus opositores. Washington Luís, eleito presidente em 1926, incluiu em sua plataforma eleitoral o voto feminino. Sua vitória animou as militantes feministas. A luta foi retomada dentro e fora do parlamento. O estopim foi a proposta de realização de uma reforma eleitoral. S peers, the simple right to vote in the election of the August 11th academic directory. Conscious of the inferior situation that the women were, she actively participated in the foundation of the Paulista Alliance for the Universal Suffrage, and was its secretary-general. Convinced of the constitutionality of the female vote, she tried to register as an elector. For this, he made a true pilgrimage through various public agencies. It even came, after much insistence, to secure a provisional electoral register. However, the opinion of the electoral court was unfavorable. The magistrate wrote: "Most of our representatives certainly understand that ... it was not yet the moment to break with the traditions of our right, according to which the words 'Brazilian citizens', used in electoral laws, always designate Male citizens ". For him, the full attributions of citizenship were linked to the "energies and vehemence of the manly organization." The woman would be a creature "destined to divide harmoniously with the man the responsibility of the life in common, she, in the tranquility of the home, taking care of the domestic order, he, in the daily work, gaining means to provide the subsistence of the family". Diva appealed against the decision and her request was rejected. The case reverberated nationally and won the pages of the main newspapers. The following year, 1923, she published Feminine Vote and Feminism, in which she presented her struggle and the various positions existing in relation to female suffrage, through articles published in the press of that time. The book, whose facsimile edition was published by the São Paulo State Press in 2009, is a must for those who wish to research the feminist movement in the early twentieth century. The crisis of the Oligarchic State and the feminist advance In the National Congress also the number of parliamentarians favorable to the feminine vote grew. Some projects even got approved in the committees and in the first vote in the two legislative houses. In the 1922 presidential election, Arthur Bernardes' electoral victory - an opponent of the female vote - represented a blow to the FBPF's goals. His rule was marked by tenente rebellions, the permanent state of siege, and political persecution of his opponents. Washington Luis, elected president in 1926, included in his electoral platform the female vote. His victory cheered the feminist militants. The fighting was resumed in and out of parliament. The fuse was the proposal to carry out an electoral reform.

Revolution of 1930 and the conquest of the female vote

The first draft of the electoral code made by Vargas's provisional government still limited the female vote, determining that only single women and widows could vote for more than 21 years, and married women only with the consent of their husbands. There was a major unified campaign between ANM and the FBPF to overturn such restrictions. The feminist leaders met personally with Vargas and then had their claims met.

The new Electoral Code, promulgated in 1932, guaranteed them the right to vote and to be voted on. Vargas also indicated Bertha and Nathércia, as representatives of Brazilian women, to the special committee in charge of elaborating the proposal of Federal Constitution that would be appreciated by the Congress - an unprecedented fact in Brazilian political history. The 1934 Constitution would clearly establish, without ambiguity, the right to vote for women. Thus, Brazil became the fourth country in the Americas to establish the female vote. Before him, he had been granted Canada, the United States, and Ecuador.

The Paulista Carlota Pereira de Queiróz was the first woman elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Graduated in Medicine, she was also a prominent representative of the São Paulo elite. Berta Lutz, despite his effort, was unable to elect for Rio de Janeiro. She would be at the first substitution. Alagoas, Bahia, Sergipe, São Paulo and Amazonas elected state deputies. The South would have to wait a little longer. Bertha would finally take up her seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 1936.

At that juncture of crisis the influence of the left had grown among women. As a result, in 1934, the Women's Union was founded. It would be integrated with the National Liberating Alliance (ANL), which had the participation of socialists, communists and anti-imperialists. Following the annulment of this entity and the crushing of the uprising in November 1935, the main leaders of the Women's Union were arrested. Then, the FBPF and other female entities would suffer a severe blow with the Estado Novo's decree in November 1937. Without democracy, the female movement would flee.

Despite the limits mentioned above, we can say that without the decisive action of women like Berta Lutz and Diva Nolf, it would not be possible to speak about democracy and citizenship in Brazil. Therefore, their names should be a place of honor in our history books, thus breaking with the situation of invisibility that the male bourgeois world tried to condemn them.

The UK Ministry of Education reminds us of women and recognizes their efforts and we all give MoEd a happy women's day.