Mapping women’s presence and importance in the Brazilian maritime community

Abstract

This paper aims to present the initial results of mapping women’s participation in the maritime community of Brazil. The authors reflect on persistent symbols and historical advances related to women professional roles in Brazil, analysing the theme through the lenses of gender and feminism. The maritime community is understood as a diversified and open concept, which ranges from the civilian to the military groups, including women within shipping and chartering companies, local fishing communities and naval officials. By the methods of literature review and online surveying, it is possible to detect women’s main difficulties and challenges in working and thriving in what is considered to be essentially a masculine environment. This study is especially important to Brazil, a developing country with historical gender inequality and a patriarchal society.