Abstract
In Portugal and elsewhere in the world, the movement promoting gender equality has known advances and setbacks over the past century. While acknowledging and outlining the major favourable developments, this paper discusses mainly some tendencies in the opposite direction, in particular those that highlight and encourage, from an early age, differences between men and women, usually to the detriment of the latter. Examples in Portugal include the growing genderization of children's toys and books (which in one case has triggered a widely-mediatized polemic in September 2017) and the importance of the colours pink and blue. After childhood, differences persist regarding choice of study, professional activities, salary and domestic responsibilities. In this respect, sociological research in Portugal has observed a backlash in the position of women, in particular as an effect of the financial and economic crisis in the period 2010-2014.
Highlights
Since the 18th century, the hope for a time when men and women can live in an equal society has permeated progressive and feminist movements
Speaking in 1905, Ana de Castro Osório, one of the movement’s leading figures, said, “In Portugal [feminism] is a word which still causes laughter or outrage in men, depending on their temperament, and which causes most women to blush, the poor wretches, as if it were a grave error committed by some of their fellow women, for which they are not responsible, praise the Lord!” (Osório 1905:11). The hope in this lament lies in the word “still”, which reveals the author’s belief in the dawning of a better age, in which the cause of gender equality, and the use of the word “feminism” to describe the movement advocating this fairer situation, would be accepted as normal
The fact that legal and social change alone has not succeeded in achieving firmly rooted material equality seems to demonstrate the dominance and tenacity of gendered stereotypes. This is nothing new, and is evidenced by the great focus on representations in studies of gender inequality, an approach seen in Portugal in the pioneering work of Lígia Amâncio (1994)
Summary
Since the 18th century, the hope for a time when men and women can live in an equal society has permeated progressive and feminist movements. Speaking in 1905, Ana de Castro Osório, one of the movement’s leading figures, said, “In Portugal [feminism] is a word which still causes laughter or outrage in men, depending on their temperament, and which causes most women to blush, the poor wretches, as if it were a grave error committed by some of their fellow women, for which they are not responsible, praise the Lord!” (Osório 1905:11) The hope in this lament lies in the word “still”, which reveals the author’s belief in the dawning of a better age, in which the cause of gender equality, and the use of the word “feminism” to describe the movement advocating this fairer situation, would be accepted as normal. The fact that legal and social change alone has not succeeded in achieving firmly rooted material equality seems to demonstrate the dominance and tenacity of gendered stereotypes This is nothing new, and is evidenced by the great focus on representations in studies of gender inequality, an approach seen in Portugal in the pioneering work of Lígia Amâncio (1994). We present and interpret the two aforementioned cases of advances and setbacks on the path to gender equality, focusing on childhood and practices in the families
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
