Women and education: Normalization and professionalization

Abstract

In this article, in a historical perspective, the authors discuss the symbolization of the female figure in the social imaginary in relation to a teaching career, based on the practices of teacher training, professionalization and co-education,. Since colonial times, the education of females in Brazil has always been permeated with expectations about domestic duties being women’s main role. The opening of the possibility of entering a paid profession that was in harmony with this role made the teaching profession the vocational path of women in education from the outset. The subordination of the female sex to the male sex is another mechanism of social control between the sexes, which also means a relation of power. Power aims, above all, to regulate habits and customs and to sanitize and moralize behaviours. As a consequence, it induces full compliance with the legal, social and religious precepts. This ideal retains the privileges of the minority group, whether in terms of social class or sex.