Brazilian Feminist Research Articles

A violência física nas relações conjugais no município de Vitória: uma análise das denúncias da delegacia especializada em atendimento à mulher em 2015

Gender violence is the result of the social relations of male domination and female submission, built, millenary, by a patriarchal system. From 1980, however, in the fervor of brazilian feminist movements, the Delegacia Especializada em Atendimento à Mulher (DEAMs) were created with the objective of combating this violence, which can occur in different ways and has become the object of study of research. aimed at improving public policies in the country. Using as a primary source the police reports registered in the DEAM of the city of Vitória in 2015, this article aimed to investigate the relation between the permanence of physical and conjugal violence and a capixaba society molded from patriarchal principles.

Video, Feminism and Television: A Trajectory of the Brazilian Feminist Collective Lilith Video, 1983–1988

This article examines the television work made by Lilith Video (1983–1988), active in the city of São Paulo, and one of the first feminist video collectives in Brazil. Lilith was founded by Jacira Melo, Márcia Meireles, and Silvana Afram, producing documentaries and the unprecedented Feminino Plural, a series of five episodes, each one focused on an aspect of the everyday life of Brazilian women. In 1987, TV Cultura public television broadcast the series twice. Feminino Plural still remains perhaps the only feminist programme ever made by an independent collective to go on air. We start by situating the works of the group within Brazilian and international literature; we highlight the ways in which its history interweaves video art, television production, and feminist social movements in immediate Brazilian post-dictatorship. As we move to the analysis of the series, we discuss how the combination of testimony, dramatization, archive, and voice over allowed for a sensible approach to private issues in the virtual public space. By mapping Feminino Plural’s intersectional connections, this article suggests the ways in which the series helped to expand the scope of what was possible for women, understood as plural, opened to colour, class, age, and geographic regions.

Como gênero e raça estruturam o sistema prisional: Diálogos com Angela Davis sobre racismo e sexismo no controle punitivo brasileiro

Abstract We present an analysis of the phenomenon of female incarceration in Brazil, placing it as a concrete determination of the capitalist mode of production. We start from the issue of how the categories of gender and race act as structural elements of Brazilian penal control, based on the reading proposed by Angela Davis, in dialogue with authors of Brazilian feminist. For this reason, initially, we will promote initial debates about oppression as structures of social relations in capitalism. Subsequently, it will be necessary to discuss the oppression of gender and race in the Brazilian context, especially considering the overload of reproductive, invisible, and precarious work. Finally, we will analyze the consolidation of Brazilian punitive control as an instrument for the management of disposable bodies and the constant production and reproduction of racism and sexism in Brazilian culture. We will use materialistic analysis as a methodology, with the critical interpellation (ana-dialectical moment of the method) through the critical analytical, theoretical framework of the black feminism theory. With the formulations, we can conclude, in short, that the violent and racist management of the penal system maintains a solid Brazilian social structure, subjecting the bodies of black women to the harder process of vulnerability imposed by punitive state control.

Critical theories of law and the formation of women's labor rights

Feminism as a social movement presents countless expressions and forms of action and the same is seen in its relation to Law. The feminist critique of the Law is vast and plural, presenting different ways of interpreting it, either as a tool of struggle for women, or as a maximum expression of women's subordination in the patriarchal logic. Thus, in view of the different points of view observable in the development of feminism, from the beginning of the 20th century, we will seek to identify the forms of action of the Brazilian feminist movement in relation to the labor norms in formation at the time, bringing up women and his actions that disputed the meanings of the regulation of labor relations proposed by Getúlio Vargas from 1930 onwards.

Presenting Brazilian Feminist Judgments

Resumo Esse artigo apresenta um dos primeiros projetos de julgamentos feministas no Brasil, explicando a metodologia empregada, expondo os objetivos esperados e comentando os julgamentos que compõem o presente dossiê. Projetos de julgamentos feministas vem sendo desenvolvidos no país e mundo afora e, em comum, todos adotam a metodologia de reescrever, a partir de uma ou mais perspectivas feministas, decisões judiciais prolatadas em casos reais observando todas as limitações factuais e legais presentes na data do julgamento. Esses projetos têm por objetivo contribuir para a construção de uma nova compreensão crítica sobre o direito a partir das perspectivas de sujeitas de carne e osso inseridas em estruturas sociais hierarquizadas. Assim, expomos como a realidade das instituições que compõem os sistemas de justiça atuais ainda está marcada por estereótipos diversos, inclusive de gênero.

Lições de Justiça Reprodutiva para catalisar estratégias de incidência durante a crise do Zika no Brasil

Abstract This article aims to revisit a constellation of responses to guarantee reproductive justice for women and girls during the Zika crisis in Brazil, that were conducted by Anis - Institute of Bioethics, a Brazilian feminist NGO. We argue that intersectional feminist lenses and gender-sensitive responses are necessary to build effective efforts for women and girls during a public health emergency. As such, we present three concomitant and intersectional learned tactics we used to fight for reproductive justice during the Zika crises, but also in its aftermath: 1. To build storytelling narratives that portray the disproportional effects of the crisis on women and girls; 2. To produce evidence-based data to catalyze advocacy strategies for legal and policy review; 3. To promote movement building opportunities and sharing power through community mobilization activities. We assume the importance of providing immediate evidence and gender sensitive framings to inform real-time public health responses. Advocacy efforts should not be seen as fragmented strategies, since ensuring reproductive justice demands a comprehensive and transformative framework that include solutions for multiple aspects of real-life experiences.

Broadcast of Brazilian Feminist Videos in the 1980s

Broadcast of Brazilian Feminist Videos in the 1980s

Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Issue Beyond (Criminal) Accountability: A Brazilian Case Study

The article analyses the domestic implementation of the Maria da Penha Law, a Brazilian federal legal act to combat and prevent domestic and family violence against women. The article first introduces the trajectory of domestic violence from a private matter to a public concern as a human rights violation. Then the article contextualises the Brazilian feminist activism for legal reform and introduces the importance of the 2001 Maria da Penha case in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the enactment of the Maria da Penha Law in 2006. Thereafter, the article presents the Maria da Penha Law’s legal provisions and its success in establishing special legal protection for women in situations of domestic violence, as well as it reflects on the Maria da Penha Law’s ongoing challenges. A critical analysis of the Brazilian reality demonstrates that offender criminal accountability is the most feasible remedy to domestic violence, whereas the fragmentation and fragility of state measures to protect and assist women in situations of violence perpetuates state neglect of women in the context of gender-based violence. Therefore, the Maria da Penha Law case study demonstrates that legal reform alone is insufficient to tackle domestic violence. Women’s effective access to legal protection and integrated and gender-aware public policies is pivotal to eradicating domestic violence against women.

The Brazilian Feminist Spring: Discourse and Intersectionality in the 2018 Presidential Election

The rise of Jair Bolsonaro to power in 2018 in Brazil was considered a disruptive event characterized by the insurgence of far-right politics and their use of digital platforms to spread disinformation. This election was also marked by an unusual disparity in voting intentions between men and women for Bolsonaro, leading to the rise of the feminist movement named #EleNão (#NotHim). Despite its efforts, #EleNão was, as it is well known, unable to defeat Bolsonaro. Considering these events, in light of discourse and intersectionality theories, this paper aims to discuss the regimes of truth (Foucault, 1971) regarding the intersection of gender, race, class, and religion (Collins, 2019) in the 2018 runoff. The results show that the mobilization of controlling images (Collins, 2002) of feminism done by the far-right played a crucial role and was reinforced by the left's inability to provide a proposal that could address the needs of a wider public, especially evangelical women. A ascensão de Jair Bolsonaro ao poder em 2018 no Brasil foi considerada um evento disruptivo caracterizado pela insurgência de movimentos de extrema-direita e pelo uso de plataformas digitais para disseminar desinformação no país. Essa eleição também foi marcada por uma disparidade incomum nas intenções de voto entre homens e mulheres para Bolsonaro, levando ao surgimento do movimento feminista chamado #EleNão. Apesar dos esforços, é sabido que #EleNão não conseguiu derrotar Bolsonaro. Considerando esses acontecimentos, à luz das teorias do discurso e da interseccionalidade, este trabalho visa discutir os regimes de verdade (Foucault, 1971) em relação à interseção de gênero, raça, classe e religião (Collins, 2019) no segundo turno de 2018. Os resultados mostram que a mobilização de imagens de controle (Collins, 2002) do feminismo feita pela extrema-direita desempenhou um papel crucial e foi reforçada pela incapacidade da esquerda em apresentar uma proposta que pudesse acolher as necessidades de um público mais amplo, especialmente as mulheres evangélicas periféricas.

Using the relational approach to explore the representation of women through Brazilian popular music: 1880 to 1970

ABSTRACT We explore representations of women in music by covering a broader symbolic and cultural spectrum. We demonstrate that musical texts engage with representations of gender and sexuality in concrete ways and that these representations can have an impact on attitudes and value systems in real life. We also investigate the relational role of composers, performers, and the media in the transition from the first to the second wave of the Brazilian feminist movement. Finally, we examine the ways in which women are represented in 132 selected compositions in relation to four Brazilian historical periods – New Republic, New State, Postwar, Military Regime – and their protagonists. As a result, it is possible to understand the driving force – both individual and collective – of the construction of relational devices that support effective strategies of discontinuity and/or new discursive agendas.

The Power of Naming Brazilian Feminist Anti-racist Intellectuals in Digital Platforms

Resumen Este artículo examina la práctica de nombrar a mujeres intelectuales antirracistas como una forma de activismo digital feminista en Brasil, en tuits que hacen referencia a Carolina Maria de Jesus y Lélia González. El análisis combina las herramientas de las humanidades digitales feministas decoloniales, la historia intelectual y lo que se ha denominado “lectura a distancia”, para estudiar el acto de nombrar como un conjunto de prácticas tecno-discursivas. Aborda la circulación transnacional de tuits, la emergencia y relevancia de los hashtags, los usuarios más mencionados y los temas con mayor tracción en las redes sociales. La principal conclusión es que las prácticas digitales de nombrar intelectuales feministas antirracistas brasileñas en Twitter son herramientas poderosas para crear y movilizar significados sociales que: (1) subvierten los cánones y jerarquías globales e intelectuales; 2) aprovechan las posibilidades técnicas de las plataformas digitales, pero en lugar de privilegiar la publicidad y la autopromoción van contra el determinismo de las plataformas y subrayan una lógica igualitaria; y (3) forman y mantienen identidades colectivas y solidifican contrapúblicos.

Love and anger: Putafeminismos/whore feminisms in Brazil

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss how love and anger have affected the political struggles of putafeministas/whore-feminists in Brazil. Love, considered to be at the centre of diverse social justice and, particularly, feminist projects, is a relevant assertion of decolonial feminism, a line of thought that has vastly disseminated during the last years in the country. In an ominous political context, marked by growing conservatism and the destablisation of rights that had been previously guaranteed, feminisms' expansion has led to the incorporation of an array of heterogeneous ideas. Putafeministas political struggles have taken place in a milieu in which the multiplicity of histories, needs and strategies of different categories of women seemed to be recognised and celebrated. Yet, far from being acknowledged by lines of decolonial thinking, putafeministas have faced a growing spiral of violence and anger from other Brazilian feminists. I explore this process, basing myself on ethnographic studies conducted since 2010 about relations between feminisms and prostitution in Brazil. My main point is that these confrontations are related to the incorporation of transnational flows of feminist ideas regarding ‘rape culture’ that associating sex work with paid rape encompass decolonial possibilities.

Should feminists be vegetarians?

This paper examines how a group of seventeen self-defined Brazilian feminists reacts to the idea of a moral link between feminism and vegetarianism, as developed by some ecofeminists in the eighties of the last century. These women argue in favour of vegetarianism as the correct ethical behaviour for feminist women, articulated as an expression of their fight against oppressions concerning themselves, nature or animals. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, we analyse the reflections of these Brazilian feminists about this moral link and their position in relation to the question: should feminists be vegetarians?

Sexual division of labour in Brazil: Interpretations of domestic and care work under COVID-19

abstract The COVID-19 pandemic brought disruption to the global economic system; however, the domestic and care world did not come to a halt. As social isolation was practised and, in many countries, institutions which aided the social reproduction of the labour force closed, the amount of unpaid work done in the household seems to have increased in a gendered and racial manner. Brazil is no exception. This article presents the contributions of three Brazilian feminists – Heleieth Saffioti, Lélia González and Sueli Carneiro – on the sexual division of labour in Brazilian society, considering racial and class issues. Their contributions enlighten the dynamics of gender roles in unpaid domestic and care work in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communication theory from Améfrica Ladina: amefricanidade, Lélia Gonzalez, and Black decolonial approaches

ABSTRACT In this article, I engage Black Brazilian feminist Lélia Gonzalez and her theory, amefricanidade (Amefricanity), to further our understandings of African communication. I argue that Gonzalez’s theory is important for communication studies to understand how Africanity culturally travels to and politically transforms in the Americas. As a Black decolonial theory, amefricanidade critiques U.S. imperialism as well as Brazilian coloniality from the vantage point of Black people in Latin America. It is also invested in Black transnational political and cultural solidarities that transcend colonial, cultural, linguistic, and material borders in the Americas that maintain white supremacy. As I explicate, amefricanidade provides a sophisticated framework to understand Black/African cultural communication through three key themes. I first focus on who is Black in the Americas, especially in Latin America. Then, I turn to Brazil to illustrate the relational meanings between Africanity/Blackness, latinidade, and whiteness. Finally, I center how Black cultures are expressed and exchanged as a political tool of Black reunification in the Western hemisphere.

Feminism(s) and anti-gender backlash: lessons from Latin America

Reflecting on contemporary feminist activism, an established Brazilian feminist summarized that “before, we fought to gain rights; now, we fight against them being taken away” (as cited in Molyneux...

Jornal das Senhoras: A female journalistic project for the emancipation of Brazilian women

Argentinian Juana Paula Manso (1819-1875) was born and lived most of her life in one of the most troubled periods in the history of Argentina, and her ideals, daring for the mentality of the time, brought her, among many problems, political persecutions by Juan Manuel de Rosas, which culminated in the family’s exile, first to Uruguay and then to Brazil. In this country, Manso founded and directed, in 1852, Jornal das Senhoras, considered the first Brazilian feminist newspaper, with the clear intention of promoting theemancipation of women. This article, dedicated to the female press, analyzes the dialogue established between the Jornal das Senhoras and the Brazilian readers, seeking to identify elements that foster their illustration and emancipation.

The iatrogenesis of obstetric racism in Brazil: beyond the body, beyond the clinic

In Brazil, Black women are disproportionately denied access to timely care and are made vulnerable to death by avoidable obstetric causes. However, they have not been at the center of recent initiatives to improve maternal health. This paper contends that the effectiveness of Brazilian maternal and infant health policy is limited by failures to robustly address racial health inequities. Multi-sited ethnographic research on the implementation of the Rede Cegonha program in Bahia, Brazil between 2012 and 2017 reveals how anti-Blackness structures iatrogenic harms for Black women as well as their kin in maternal healthcare. Building on the work of Black Brazilian feminists, the paper shows how Afro-Brazilian women experience anti-Black racism in obstetric care, which the paper argues can be better understood through Dána-Ain Davis’ concept of obstetric racism. The paper suggests that such forms of violence reveal the necropolitical facets of reproductive governance and that the framing of obstetric violence broadens the scales and temporalities of iatrogenesis.

El Jornal das Senhoras: un proyecto periodístico femenino para la emancipación de las mujeres brasileñas

La argentina Juana Paula Manso (1819-1875) nació y vivió la mayor parte de su vida en uno de los períodos más conturbados de la historia de Argentina, y sus ideales, osados para la mentalidad de la época, le trajeron, entre tantos problemas, persecuciones políticas por parte de Juan Manuel de Rosas, que culminaron en el exilio de la familia, primero en Uruguay y luego en Brasil. En este país, Manso fundó y dirigió, en 1852, el Jornal das Senhoras, considerado el primer periódico feminista brasileño, con la clara intención de promover la emancipación de las mujeres. El presente artículo, dedicado a la prensa femenina, analiza el diálogo establecido entre el Jornal das Senhoras y las lectoras brasileñas, buscando identificar elementos que fomenten su ilustración y emancipación.

Estudos feministas brasileiros: (re)conhecer e continuar

A obra resenhada é uma coletânea de textos com pesquisas iniciais para a construção de uma perspectiva epistemológica feminista. Foram compilados 19 artigos seminais, escritos por 20 pesquisadoras que atuaram ou atuam em diferentes universidades brasileiras e instituições afins. A obra visa contribuir para a elaboração de uma produção teórica feminista brasileira a partir de temáticas centrais que estão relacionadas com as questões de raça, gênero, classe e nacionalidade. Portanto, esta resenha apresenta o pensamento feminista brasileiro a partir do seu desenvolvimento social, histórico, político e cultural embasado pelas pesquisas reunidas nessa obra e que visam à expansão, à resistência e à continuidade dos estudos feministas brasileiros.