The Emergence of the Democratic Brazilian Middle-Class Family: A Mosaic of Contrasts with the American Family (1960-1994)

Abstract

The American and Brazilian democratic families are largely a product of several trends in each country: the emergence (especially since the 1960’s) for educated women of opportunities for a professional life, the existence of a feminist movement demanding sexual and economic equality between men and women, a sexual revolution that has changed traditional attitudes towards marriage, and demands of women to fulfill new roles beyond mothers and traditional wives. In addition the right to divorce has been very actively pursued in the USA, and to a lesser degree in Brazil. In both countries the right of women to share in decision making in marriage has become a very important trait in dual career marriages. Brazilian married and unmarried women with children are fortunate in having a kin system, domestic servants, and public day care centers that permit women to work and take care of their families without stress; this has yet to be realized in America. Economic independence has been realized by women in both countries, women need not depend on a male for their identity, and women have new life styles that were not as common previously; they can be single parents, live with a lover--male or female- or live alone without children. Marriage may no longer be the supreme achievement of a woman’s life--becoming competent as a professional is an alternate objective. The kinship system in Brazil plays a significant role; it may help to support divorced women with children; it provides economic and emotional support for all its members for a lifetime; it offers a refuge for men and women in times of difficulty. Children owe allegiance to their families by birth in Brazil, and are expected to help support their elderly parents in the twilight of their lives. The American family may be seen as more democratic in that young people leave home earlier than in Brazil, and the new families’ they create by marriage are more important than families they are born into. Apparently in the USA total freedom of each individual is highly prized--he or she depends on his/her own resourcefulness, where as in Brazil being interdependent with the family of origin is highly valued.