Maria Mary FERREIRA
Rev. Cadernos de Campo, Araraquara, v. 23, n. esp. 2, e023015, 2023. e-ISSN: 2359-2419
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47284/cdc.v23iesp.2.17005 7
[...] Only after men learned how to enslave the women of groups that could be
defined as strangers did they learn to enslave the men of those groups and then
subordinate groups of their societies (LERNER, 2019, p. 351, our translation).
The author considers that the enslavement of women during that period was associated
with a combination of racism and sexism that preceded class society. Class differences were, at
their inception, expressed and constituted in terms of patriarchal relations. It is true to affirm that
women, like men, constitute oppressed and subordinate groups. Throughout human history, this
is visible and constitutes the essence of the social struggle for emancipation and freedom,
especially related to the struggle for survival and overcoming needs. However, it cannot be
overlooked that in the context of social changes, "[...] women fought against forms of oppression
and domination different from those of men, and their struggle, to this day, is more backward
than that of men" (LERNER, 2019, p. 353, our translation). An example of this assertion is the
struggle to insert themselves into spaces of power and decision-making, a place that, as Perrot
(2005a; 2005b), asserts, continues to be seen as a "sanctuary" dominated by men who determine
the rules of that power and define how women should act.
While patriarchy oppresses and nullifies women, capitalism, which emerged with the
constitution of new times of freedom propagated by the French Revolution, sidelines their place
in this world, invisibilizing their presence by determining their silence in history, confining them
to domestic spaces or subordinate jobs. This situation, which was fading in Europe in the 19th
century, gained more expression of struggle in Latin American countries, such as Brazil, in the
mid-20th century with the emergence of feminist movements and the fight against dictatorships.
Throughout the trajectory of democracy in Brazil, characterized by advances and
setbacks, as well as coups and counter-coups, the Revolution of 1930 stands out. This event
marked a rupture with the Old Republic, dominated by regional oligarchies that prioritized their
individual interests over the interests of the nation. Thirty-four years later, in 1964, as Brazil was
rebuilding state policies, the military staged the Military Coup of 1964 against then-President
João Goulart, destabilizing the nascent democracy and implanting an authoritarian regime that
lasted twenty-one years. The efforts undertaken by social organizations (feminist movements,
unions, political parties, and churches, among others) to restore the country became constant,
diversified, and radical, culminating in the political opening, the removal of the military from
power, and the promulgation of a new Brazilian Constitution in 1988, considered one of the most
democratic and inclusive constitutions in the world.