Synnbolic Violence:male lore women who would find in her "the source of their best actions. " and female representations He then stressed the useless nature of concernsoversuperiorityorequalitybetween RACHEL SOIHET men and women, underlining lhe greater Translation by CAROLYN BRISSETT importanceof studying the social functions for which they show lhe greatest aptitude. And in the case of women, he noted "like The word of faith men, they need lhe scope of the world to In modem society, permeated by the exercisetheirfaculties, orsimply the narrow Christian spirit, are women in a real state of confines of lhe home, whose duties are inferiority relative to men ? Are th e y difficult to fulfill ", basing these argumentson condemned to a status of permanent an explicit induction to the last solution. wardship? Single, do they lack freedom to This was confirmed by emphasizing that run their own lives and manage their own women have a special function which fortunes? Have marriage and above ali corresponds to the laws of the sex, "sublime maternity not perchance emancipated in both the pains which are inherenttothem, them? In the heartof the family of which they as well as in the outcome: having children." are the mainstay, do they not exercise a Their basic activities within lhe family more moral force over ali thosearound themwhich than at work constitute "a science which raises them above the physical weakness absorbs ai the days, hours and minutes..." which is innate to them? Is it not within the Failure to comply with this norm due to conjugal and maternal spheres that they misleading publicity urging women's exercise their incontestable rights and participation in the public sphere would mitiga ted duties, enshrined by general result in a reduction in "honest women, respect?' increasing lhe cynical phalanxes of those who are not. "In closing, iturgesthat 'Women This comment was published in 1880 by O should beleft within lhe family, from whence Apóstolo, a periodical representing lhe official theyshould notsallyforth, with women happy positionof the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil, and proud, adorned with the double crown challenging those who called for greater of the love of husband and children." participation by women insocial and political Published by lhe Roman Catholic Church, life. In lhe midst of a long and contradictory this discourse caused no surprise, as it argumenton what Èf consideredappropriatein was already positioned as a traditional, terms of women's behavior, the writer then conservative and hierarchical institution alluded tolhe importance of the Virgin Mary. celebrated for its support of feminine Through her sacrif ice and resignation, the Virgin submission. What is surprising is that Mary offered "the mostcomplete example of intellectuals calling for the overwhelming ali virtues, heroism and grandeur " for ali "new truths "of reason, freedom and equality took an approach similar to this institution ' Conselhos Prudentes àsSenhoros(Prudent Advice to with regard to the status of women. During Wives). ()Apóstolo, 07.04.1880. the previous century, equal rights were

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 25 SI./99 claimed for ali men, while at the same time Changes taking place during lhe XVIII and excluding women who "already enjoy so XIX centuries in traditional beliefs about lhe many other natural advantages "that they body and human sexuality were used to would never have aspired to equality, asthis ratify the presuppositions of inequality was unnecessary for them. between lhe sexes at the social levei. The concept of structural differences between The truth of lhe Enlightenment lhe mole and female body became Emblematic of man s access to majority and outdated, based on the genital organs freedom, Reason is lhe qualitydistinguishing whose difference was once thought to resi- man from animal, as animais can do nothing de only in those of women being hidden, otherthan obey, while man mayvoluntarily while those of men were apparent. Now, consent or resist, although - paradoxically new differences acknowledged in lhe enough - this is not extended to half lhe genitais served as indicators for lhe various human species. Considered the most occupations of each sex: lhe private sphere democratic of these intellectuals, Rousseau for women and the public arena for men. suggested an education leading to The female body was used to deny ali autonomy. However, with regard to women possibility of comparison between men and (symbolized by Sophie, lhe future wife of women in terms of common criteria of Emil), their education should be different. In citizenship.3 women, male qualities should not be Female inferiority whose roots lie in sexual cultivated, as 'Woman is mede specially to differences extendsthroughouttheir being, please man "and "ais° to obey him ", which particularly with regard to intellectual to a certain extent made them equivalent faculties. According to most of lhe Illuminist to the animais, according to the above philosophers, women were ranked as beings statement. On lhe other hand, these of passion and imagination, rather than positions ran counter to the Spirit of concept. Incapableof invention, even when Enlightenment, which was opposed to ali offered access to literature and cerfain views not founded on reason. sciences, they were excluded from genius. And lhe contradictions multiplied. According Beauty - lhe attribute of this sex - was to Diderot, the Encyclopédieshould "throw incompatible with lhe higher faculties, with off the yoke of authority and example in praise of lhe character of a woman figuring orderto foliow the lawsof reason ". However, as proof of her lack of beauty. Sentiment with regard to the position of women with and reason are presented as supplements in marriage, the key seems to te "In lhe to beauty. For most of lhe Illuminists, the purest source - the Scriptures themselves", limited possibilitiesof women were patent for acknowledging that women should obey both abstract and general thought, their husbands, to whom they belong by meaning thinking. Thus, lhe genetic process divine decree. Still according to this work, of knowledge leading to abstract thought inequality between the sexes was an had been halted in women, with lhe process imperative of nature, with power and completed only in lhe mole sex. Women majesty, courage and reason on lhe one remained frozen at the imaginative stage. hand, and grace, beauty, delicacy and And it is not that kind of imagination that sentiment on the other. Education should genetically contributes to knowledge, but foster lhe development of the specific characteristicsof each sexos 'What is called Occidente. 3. DelRenacimiento ala Edad Moderna. charm and virtue in one sex is a flaw or Madrid: Taurus. 1992. p.335-369. BURKE, Maria Lucia G. Palhares. Ousadia Feminina e a Ordem Burguesa. Estu- deformity in the other ".2 dosFeministas, v.1, n°2. RiodeJoneiro. CIEC/ECO/UFRJ, 1993. p. 247-248. 2 CRAMPE-CASNABET, Michelle. Las Mujeresen lasObras 3 LAQUEUR, Thomas. La Fabrique du Sexe. Essai sur le Filosóficas dei Siglo XV111.1n DUBY, Georges y PERRO-F. coros ene genre en Occident. Paris: Gallimard, 1990, Michelle (dirección). Historia de Ias Mujeres en el p.38.

YEAR 7 1 26 1"SEMESTER 99 that misleading impression which makes us Domination through knowledge, consent take desire as reality, and which can lead to and resistance madness and even death if in excess. Thesetheorieswere built up and imposed by Thus, the inferiority of reason in women was men who established a double discourse - an indisputable fact, which they only man about man and man about woman - needed to cultivate insofar as this was which imposed constraints on women's necessary to fulfilling their natural duties: autonomy and freedom, converting a obeying their husbands and being faithful, relationshipof difference into a hierarchy of while taking core of their children. Related inequality, constituting a form of violence. only to the world at lhe concrete levei, Women are treated not as subjects but women remained perpetually in childhood, rather as things, imposing gags on their unable to move beyond the world of speech and hobbling their activities. From domesticity bequeathed them by Nature. thisstandpoint, violence is limited not only to Contradictory conclusionsthese, as at that actsof physical aggression, but also derives timetheexistenceofwomenwhoconducted from cultural standardization of female the salons through which the spirit of submission and discrimination. In fact, philosophy spread, burnishing the brilliance advances in the processof civilization from of literature and fostering the dissemination lhe XVI through to the XVIII centuries of the sciences. correspond to a dropincrude violence, with These presuppositions spread and gained physical clashes replaced by symbolic force during lhe XIX century, acquiring scientific struggles. During this period, construction of backing. Social medicine guaranteed that the female Identity wasbased on absorption biological reasons made a number of by women of lhe norms given in male characteristicsfeminine: fragility, modesty, discourses; a fact corresponding to symbolic the predominance of the affective faculties violence which assumed lhe adherence of over lhe intellect, and subordination of those dominated tolhe categoriesonwhich sexuality to the maternal vocation. In their dominationwas based. A major subject contrast, man blended his physicalstrength for study under lhe history of women at the with an authoritarian, enterprising, rational moment is an analysis of the discourses and nature, in parallel to unbridied sexuality practices reflected in multiple records Paradoxically, lhe fidelity of thesediscourses seeking to guarantee women's consent to to Christian principies was olear, despite lhe dominant representations of the difference anticierical tone they assumed on behalf between the sexes: division of attributions of science - the idol of the times. On lhe and spaces, legal inferiority, inculcation of other hand, the feminine characteristics social roles in lhe classroom, exclusion from (particularly lower intelligence and lesssexu- lhe public sphere etc. Thus, defining the al sensitivity) prompted Cesare Lombroso - submission imposed onwomen asa symbolic an Italian physician famed for his advances violence fosters understanding of how lhe in criminology during the late XIX century -to relationship of domination - which is built up justifylawsagainst adultery applying only to on historical, cultural and linguistic bases- is women, whose nature did not predispose always affirmed to be a difference of a them to this type of transgression. Those natural arder, radical, irreducible, and uni- endowed with strong intelligence and versa1.5 intense eroticism were devoidof lhe mater- The effects of 'hese discourses were nal sentiment, an innate characteristic of normal women, and were thus extremely FemmeCriminelle eth Prostituée (translated from the dangerous. He ranked them asborn criminais, Italian). 1896. prostitutes and madwomen whoshould be 5 CHARTIER, Roger. Diferenças entre os Sexos e Domi- banned from contact with society.4 nação Simbólica (criticai note). InCademosPogu(4) Campinas. GenderStudiesCenter/UNICAMP. 1995. p. LOMBROSO. Cesare and FERRERO. Guglielmo. La 40-44.

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 27 s /99 devastating. lhe French Revolution - whose remained latent, appearing only when great merit lies in its contribution to the conditions were considered propitious. acknowledgment of human rights - With the consolidation of lhe power of lhe contradictorily represented backsliding for bourgeoisie during lhe XIX century, lhe women at various leveis. Despite lhe leading division of roles and a rigid separation of role played by women in lhe revolutionary spheres of action appeared between lhe movement, helping institutionalize the new genders: men in lhe public arena, and order, theyfound themselvesexcluded from women in lhe private field. This division was political and civil citizenship. lhe arguments even more stringent among lhe better-off of those responsible for introducing lhe New segmentsof lhe population, as poorwomen Order once again made use of nature as continued to have lhe streets as their their justification of lhe different types of preferential space due to their social occupation imposed on lhe two genders. condition, forced lodo their own shopping After ali, men and women have different as well as to work outside lhe home, in physiologies, which impose different social addition to taking on countlessdutieswhich roles on them. For this particular aspect, left- offered them g reater independence; wing positions in termsof social organization however, this did not prevent the presence did not mean more advanced altitudes of contradictions between lhe genders and with regard tolhe participation of women. lhe incorporation of this knowledge.' An example is congressman Amar da Mon- On lhe other hand, lhe incorporation of tanha: "lhe social order derives from lhe domination did not exclude lhe presence of difference between men and women. Each variations and manipulations by lhe sex is induced by nature to lhe type of dominated. This meansthatthe acceptance occupation appropriate to them. " by most women of certain canons did not in A specific type of citizenship was reserved fact mean merely bowing to unpleasant for women, to be exercised within the home, submission, but also developing resources as lhe mothers of future Republicans, allowing them to shift or subvert lhe responsible for protecting family interests. relationship of domination. This involved a Th ese formulations were firmed up by tactic which mobilized for iIs own purposes Congressman Chaumette, whowasopposed representation that was both imposed and to women participating In the Assembly, accepted, turned against lhe order which stressingthese differencesbetween men and produced it. Thus, defining female powers women. luitated, hejustified: "On whom did permitted by a situation of subjection and nature confer domestic cores? On us, inferiority means understanding them as a perchance? Do we have breasts? Are our reallocation and skewing of symbolic tools muscles weakened, enabling us to handle instituting mele domination, turnedagainst housework?"6 lhe dominator.8 There were many protests against these decisions, with women claiming lhe right to ' PERROT, Michelle. OsExclukios da História. São Paulo: political participation, education, work - in Paz e Terra. 1988. p. 200. fact, fui citizenship. There was no lack of 8 CHARTIER, Roger. Op.cit.Otherhistoriansalsodiscard martyrs in this cause. In fact, Olympe de the vision of unilateral action of power over passive, Gouges proposed lhe Declaration of lhe powerless, dominated women. As stressed by Michel Rights of Woman - a nalogous to lhe de Certeau, 8 was necessary to unveil the sublieties creatively engendered by the dominated in order to Declaration of lhe Rights of Man, and was react against the oppressioncrushing them. Although sentenced to death, accusedof attempting he did not nome women as a specific object, E. P. to subvertthe natural arder. Women's claims Thompson dedicotes special attention to daily for equalitarian participation in society manifestationsof resistancebysubordinates. Themotion of resistancethusbecomesfundamentalinapproaches to women, and countless historians have based their 6 VARIKAS, Eleni. Les Antinomies de 'Emancipation efforts to reconstruct female activities on this juifs, mulâtres et femmes). p. 4 (mimeo). benchmark. CERTEA1J. Michel de. Artes de Fazer. A

YEAR 1"SEMESTER 99 7 1 28 Mainly from the second half of the century This resulted in repeated readingsor hearings onward, transformations under way in a inwritingsorjokes, in tones both solemn and wide variety of spheres blended with the light, that men and women should occupy dissatisfaction of many women unhappy separate spheres because they had very with their exclusion from the public arena, different natures and capacities and should fostering the appearance of women's rights thuscarryoutdifferent tasks. Poets, philosophers, movement in Western Europe and the U.S.A., journalists, clerics and pedagoguesdiscoursed clamoring to change this situation. Theyset on the hidden powersof women, with oneof uptheir own press and organized associations, them recalling that 'the hand that rocks the some limited toa liberal stance, whileothers cradle is the hand that rules the world. "Itwas boundtheir proposals to the riseof socialism. thus unnecessary for women to enjoy the Womenfought for the acknowledgment of superficial paraphernalia of power such as theirrights, some even moving into the terrain better education and the right to vote for of sexuality. At the start of the XX century, the the exercise of theirsupremacy. Afterall, the first generation of women physicians vote would destroy their subtle femininity, suggested to others how to free themselves and they should acknowledge that man from fear and lack of knowledge about their "governsonlytheState, whilewomangoverns own bodies. These incursions were not both the Governors of the State aswell asthe received tranquilly. Reactions were felt not Governorsof the People". " only by Governments, which repressedthese Despite this bombardment, buttressed by movements, but also by society asa whole, stories and messages in women's magazi- particularly the masculine portion, and not nes, as well as novelsforgirlswritten largely by a few women as wel1.9 women, more and more women reacted In the Anglo-Saxonworld during theVictorian against thissophistry, against "theirdubious era, suffragettes and their supporters were royalty and their very real domestic presented as challenging the wise and submission. " Some rebelled openly, whilstmost untouchable laws of Nature. In the nome of had recourse to more subtle means in their these universal truths, the response attempted attempts to subvert their situation. They to demolish them, hoping to demoralize all wieldedtacticsallowing them to reshape the those who struggled to ensure the rights of signsof domination, marking theirresistance. womentoownproperty, topracticeaprofession, In Brazil, identical attempts aiming at and to vote. "Cackling hens", "hommes- women's liberation took place. Right from femmes", "homesses", and "hermaphrodites" the first protest by Nisia Floresta during the 1830s, were some of lhe weighty sexual epithets women'sdissatisfactionwasmanifestedwith launched by anti-feminists against these increasingstrength. A women's presswasset women, while the men who backed them up, whose first periodical -Jorna/ das Senho- were called "old maidsin pants. "They were ras - dates back to 1852. Some of the more made se nervous by the idoa of a possible moderateof its claims stress the importance confusion of social roles, fearing even of educating woman, recalling her role asa unconsciously the lossoftheirpredominance mother, oras "a matterof spiritualrefinement." in the relationships of power between the Other more incisive demands urged genders, that they used a wide variety of education as a mean of achieving strategies to maintain the stafus quo.'° economic independence, alsostressing the importance of civil and political rights, with some even defending divorce.12 invenção do cotidiano. Petropolis: Vozes, 1994. p. 41; THOMPSON, E. P. Tradición, Revuelta yConsciencia de Clase. Estudiossobre lacrisisdelasociedadpreindustriol. Barcelona: Critica. 1979, p. 51. ria a Freud. 0 cultivo do ódio. São Paulo: Companhia

9 KAPPE LI, Anne-Marie, Escenarios dei Feminismo. In das Letras, 1995, p. 299-300. DUBY, Georges and PERROT. Michelle. Op. cit., p. 513. " Idem, ibidem. 1°GAY, Peter.A Experiência Burguesa da Rainha Vitd- 12 HAHNER, June E.. A Mulher Brasileira e suas Lutas

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 29 S.I /99 During the XX century, namessuch as those as preceptors, helpingthemstudy and laying of Maria Lacerda de Moura, a pioneer in down the rudiments of Latin. Following many fields, began to appear, although her Parisian fashions - lhe mode' for Brazil at ideas did notfind lhe necessary response at that time - the concept of lhe mother- that time. Othersclustered intoassociations, teacher was pre-eminent, for women who with lhe activities of Bertha Lutz being were in a position to attempt to carry outthis particularly noteworthy, as her movement function. There was no lack of concern on has formed the subject for various studies. this topic in Brazil over lhe need for schools This groundswell targeted the access of that would offer girls an "intellectual and women to full citizenship and despite moral education" that would allow them limitations common to ali other women's "to teach their own children the elements of rights movements of iIs time, some of its education and their duties to God and proposals - such as those focused on civil man." According tolhe visitors, such schools rights- have only recentlybeen implemented. were starting to appear, some of them These claimstriggered solid resistance, with excellent, but parents withdrew their women's right to lhe vote being denied daughtersat lhe age of 13 or 14, considering throughoutthe entire First Republic. Violence them as properly prepared for life and eager in symbolic form appeared through a wide to marry them off quickly.13 variety of channels, backed by ali sorts of This must have prompted Maria Clementina arguments. da Cruz, at the age of only 14, to write tolhe Jornal das Senhoras in 1852, questioning lhe Pedagogy as a tool depreciation of women's intellectual Education is a basic element in awakening faculties. She demanded a '`frank, comple- lhe awarenessof womentotheirsubordinate te and liberal" education for women, and condition, at the same time as it offers them claimed that she was unable to understand a tool to escape from thiscondition. However, how "once a woman knows music, can play in dialectic terms it is one of the principal lhe piano, sew, embroider, mark and write, vehicles of lhe dissemination of symbolic she has compieted her education".14 violence, making a marked contribution to Mixed schooling was banned, due not only bonding representations of women's to rigid Roman Catholic morais but also to inferiority in lhe lhoughts and bodiesof men lhe certainly of hegemonic science at that and women." It is thus important to assessthe time on lhe different aptitudes found situation of women's education from lhe between men and women. This gave rise to mid-XIX century onwards. very differentcurricula foreach sex, resulting At that time, there were no Brazilian women in flagrant differences in teaching. While with a broad base of varied knowledge to men studied at secondary school with a make their conversation pleasant and view to continuing anta university courses, instructive, although they could weave most girlswere sent to the "Normal Schools ", trivialities in a constantly agreeablemanner, which trained them in teaching and/or as noted by travelers Kidder and Fletcher in household tasks. At lhe Normal School 1851. The educational situation of these training college in Niterói, founded in 1835 women was limited to concerns over their and lhe first of its kind in South America, lhe maternal function, as they were largely students did not study algebra and responsiblefortheeducation oftheirchildren. geometry, but were limited "to lhe most They had to teach the earliest and most fundamental lessonsintheir mother-tongue, "KIDDER, Daniel P. and FLETCHER, J.C.. O Brasil e os as well as geography and history. Before their Brasileiros. São Paulo: Cio Editora Nacional. 1941, p. children went to school, theyalso had to act 121 T'BERNARDES. Maria Thereza Cayubi C.. Mulheres de Sociais e Políticas:7850 -1937.São Paulo: Brasiliense, Ontem? Rio de Janeiro-Século XIX. São Paulo: T.A. 1981, p.85. EditorQueiroz. 1989, p.138.

YEAR 7 1 30 1"SEMESTER 99 elementary notions and the most frequent viewpoint he stressed that "position in applications to the elementary uses in life".15 society rises in step with progress and the Amidst countless material transformations in development of civilization ". This was a Rio de Janeiro during the second half of the concept in effect at that time when the XIX century, new ideas and habits began to ideology of progresspredominated, whose spring up which helped reshape the social influence is still felt through to our days. But landscape, including within the family, and researchersshow a very different situation in the female condition. The much-aired the progressof women, contrasting with the domestic confinement of women in the shrinking female participation between the highersectorsof societystill found during the Middle Agesand the XIX century, in contrast early decades of this century was making to the postulates of the speaker." way for a new order. Recommendations of He also discussesequality betweenthesexes a religious nature weregrowing weaker with and women's abilities for the exercise of their bans on "games, soirées, meetings, political rightsin modernsociety. He praises comedies, operas and porfies, nor visits from the actions of British philosopherJohn Stuart people dominated by the worldly spirit " at Mil, whoclaimedcitizenshiprightsforwomen, home.16 which leaves one to imagine that he shared Now private porfies, and political or social this position. However, he soon shreds this solonsbecamefrequent, fostering conditions expectation, as he addresses his audience, for relationships favorable tothe economic briefly abandoning his docility and stating and political interest of the ruling elite. firmly: "in lhe current state of our civilization Receptionsgrew intoan informal vehicle in youcannot and certainly should not nurture the dispute for power, and women's wiles the aspiration to exercise political rights. " were behind the success of these events, Impregnated with Positivist ideas, he playing a decisive role in the social ascension mentions lhe sluggish nature of national of their husbands. In exchange for such transformations associated with the slow services, women received core and aftention revolutions of the human spirit, which seems that they had not warranted before - but to indicate that such discussions would be which did not mean theywere encouraged premature, specifically in the case of Brazil. to move into public activities. Among the He returns to his praise in a somewhat strategies used to keep them in the sphere bombastic manner, stressing lhe "brilliant assignedastheirown, men'sincompetence role of women in lhe future of generationsstill wasstressed in performing thehigherfunctions to come and lhe glories of our homeland " exercised by women. So they had no other stressing lhe importance of studying waysof recourse but to leave to menthe "shabby " educating women in arder to shape them professional and intellectual occupations. for "preparing the generations being born to But with these contacts with the outside take up their post of honor in the vanguard world, women needed a bettereducation. of progress, heading the crusaders of the Within this context, women's education is future." Although lhe time wasapproaching subject to discussion. In a cycle of lectureson when Brazilianwomenwould beinfullposition women, Councilor José Liberato Barroso of their faculties, aí that time, "as being stressed the importance of knowledge of endowed with sensitivity, intelligence and women's history in arder to understand her will, women had notyetfound themselves in mission in the present.Still from an evolutionary

"BARROSO. José Liberato. A Educação do Mulher. JÚDICE. Norimar. Texto. MulhereDiscurso no Virada Lecture on 15February 1874 inConferências Populares cio Século: produção e reprodução, 1994. (mimeo). n°5 Rio de Janeiro. May 1874. This speoker was an 16 COSTA. Jurandir Freire. Ordem Médica e Norma outstanding figure on the politicol and legal scenes of Familiar. Rio de Janeiro: Grad. 1979. p. 137.1n general, the Brazilian empire, and was equally interestedinissues references to medicai thinking in the course of this linked to education. His biography is given in the Gallery article are based on the reflexions of this author, of Outstanding Men-XIX century.

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 3 1 51/99 the state of evolution." A movement was the public arena and woman in the private necessary, designed to transform women sphere. On the violence of thisexclusion, it is into a being isfree and equal to man, moving appropriate to recall Hannah Arendt for towardsthesamedestiny, but sowing the truth whom private space is not defined as the through various means on the road of life." space of privacy and intimacy, but rather as Hintsabout the different forms of activities for the placeof privation. Being limited to private men and women soon become clear. This space isto be deprived of relationships with highlights the arguments postulated by ali othersthrough both the word and the action instances: religious, philosophical and in building and decisions involved with the scientific. He stresses the difference "in how commonworld, meaning politicalexistence.18 the faculties of the soul are balanced in Marriage would constitute the highest these two privileged beings of creation: if in aspirations of woman, with the author man reasons dominates, in women, sensitivity criticizing those who marry for material and imagination rule." Through to today, in interests, something which had also been western societies stamped by the seal of severely criticized by physicians. They instrumental rationality, sensitivityisconsidered challenged matrimonial practices a preparation, an anticipation or a lower predominant until then, where love was not form of rational thinking. Thus, praise for viewed asa presupposition necessary to the women's sensitivity, excluding her from conjugal link, and marriage wasseen rather rationality, reveals a type of violence. He as an economia transaction, orderiving from continued by stating that the destiny of social reasons. Age disparities between man was "to live the externai life, which spouses or consanguineous marriagesthat makeshisglory and grandeur; the woman is were very common in Brazil due to these destined to live the inner life, just as great and interests were combated, particularly glorious as the other." But a new factor because of risks to reproduction. Love is follows. The author explainsthatthiscomment elevated to the main reason for marriage, does not mean total dichotomization. Man alongside a healthy sexuality on which should not "live only the externai life, depends "the health of the children, the separated from the life of the home, any morality of the family and the populational more than woman should live the inner life, progress of the Nation." Heightened separated from social life. "This comment is appreciationof the value of sex allied to love undoubtedly linked to changes which, is intended to guarantee the pleasuresof life although minor, had been reshaping the within the family, and the stability of this forms of feminine participation, in addition institution. Support of the children and to the efforts of medicine to build the guarantees of their good treatment are "hygienic father "whose energiesshould be ensured, for the satisfaction of the State. This channeled to the well-being of his children takes a different stance from the postulations on a priority basis, as the foundation of the of the Church - hegemonicuntilthen-which wealth and power of the state. Paternity/ viewed sex with reticence, even in marriage, masculinity, and maternity/femininity were linking it mandatorily to procreation. seen as the regulatory standards of social The discourse on the ideal feminine conduct, to existence and nowalso the emotionalstatus be shaped by education is preached not of men and women. only by lectures given by worthy experts, as The introduction of family hygiene designed well as in medicai dissertations, bufaiso in a to establish physical and psychic health wide variety of ways, including literature guaranteeing healthy offspring and a solid and the press, in a joking manner through governing classforthe future is the objective, anecdotes, tales, leafiets etc.. The situation with respect for the laws and customs, rules which I will now examine is included in this and conventions. But these proposals do not reflect any weakening of the division of '8 ARENDT. Hana h.A Condição Humana. Rio deJanei- spheres, as restated in this discourse: man in ro: Forense Universitária EDUSP 1981.

YEAR 7 1 32 1 s'SEMESTER 99 case, and the issue is presented from a her properly. Conflictssoon begin due tolhe negative aspect. Efforts are made to give an whims of Chiquinha. Additionally, she was example that highlights within lhe character not prepared for her new status, and does lhe attributes that are most condemned. as not fulfill any of lhe dutieswhich are inherent caricatures, highlighting the ills deriving from to hei:. Shespendsthe day in lhe parlar at the a faulty education. window, playing lhe piano, reading novels The main male character - Ernesto da Rosa or in dolce for niente while everything at - falis in love with Chiquinha, but must com- home is going wrong, thanks to the laziness pete with another suitor. lhe situation and dishonesty of lhe maids, who are the develops through to a dramatic close with absolute lords of lhe house. lhe rivais confronting each other in person. Ide, futile and frivolous, with just a gloss of This drastic solution is avoided and Chiquinha music and literature but unaware of lhe skills opts for Ernesto, whom she marries. At this needed to manage her home, these are point, lhe narrator moves away from lhe some of lhe characteristics stressed in the story-line and discourses on lhe character of behavior of lhe character. Reflecting lhe the bride. He lists a series of elements under perils of an inadequate education for challenge at that time. To begin with, he women, they prevent herfromcorrectingher states that Chiquinha did not marry for love. characterand undertaking the responsibilities In fact, running counterto lhe female model of marriage. lhe woesof Ernest culminate aí for the period whose most outstanding a bali, when he overhears the comments of characteristic was being extremely strangers on lhe light-mindedness of his wife affectionate, Chiquinha has never felt this who is called a flirt, although married. Forced sentiment in her life, not even for her parents. to leave lhe ball with him, she vents her furY "I esteemed them without a doubt, but on her husband for forcing her to leave an esteem without extremes, rather a daughter entertainment that she was enjoying. She of instinct and habit, than of lhe heart".19 claims he is far too demanding, tolhe point Chiquinha merely chooses Ernest because of trying to make her into a slave: "to please her other suitor, Manuel Moura, scares her you I have to cook, wash, starch, sweep lhe with his brutish character. "She wanted a house and dress like an old black slave. Well, gentle, prudent husband who although he wake up, because in that way I will never might not hug her, would docilely accept please you. " "I would not want that, " retorted her slightest whims, and this husband Ernesto, "what I askof you isthat you fulfill your appeared to her in Ernesto, who, she duties as a housewife and do not just doll believed. wasbeing sweptaway increasingly yourself uplikea brainlessmiss, and thatabove by passion." In this excerpt, lhe heroine ali you behave at soiréesin a manner that showed characteristics opposed to those does not give rise to scandal, as you did today." which were believed to "natural" in a Finally, after a series of argumentsthey deci- woman: docility, delicacy and submission. de to divorce, when the narrator wakes. However, she was endowed by nature with wasall nothing morethan a dream. Basically, good physical attributes and frequentpraise lhe folhetimas a literary production offers a hasresulted inseriousflawsin her.They mode single purpose that is merely pedagogia. lhe her "vain, and later a flirt, always eager to character is presented as an anti-heroine, receive large amounts of homage." Her artificially ide, aggressive, authoritarian, parents, "dominated by blind affection " mundane, futile, frivolous and vain, quivering did not have the necessary energy to take on lhe threshold of lhe supreme sin of steps to correct her. Between lhe lines, it can adultery. Through lhe resource of inversion, be understood that they did not educate it spotlights what a woman should not be, highlighting lhe opposing characteristics: I 9 SILVEIRA. Heitor da. O Melhor dos Casamentos. In diligence, domestic skills, delicacy, simplicity, Jornal das Famílias, Rio deJaneiro.Garnier Ed. March/ modesty, purity etc. The author also uses this April/May 1878. opporfunity to underlinethe male reluctance

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 33 S.1199 to get married, which is always viewed as In fact, this discourse is packed with something soughtonly bywomen, giving riso ambiguities. First itstressesthe importance of to the titio of this folhetim: O Melhor dos education for carrying out women'sdutiesin Casamentos (lhe Best of Morria g es) managing lhe home, on lhe other hand, it particularly as it is ali no morethan a dream records her leading role in guaranteeing a lhe education suggested for women thus well-balanced family and more specifically did notaim attheir autonomy or the freedom the welfare of lhe children. It also warns her to decide on their own destiny. What was to avoid "useiess expenses and untimely intended was to guarantee an education demands "1h01 could upset her husband. whichtake for grantedthese principlesgiven This takes a jab at feminine frivolity, a sin that above, in addition to equipping them is easy to incur duo tolhe limited amounts of adequately with lhe bois which would reason believed to be present in women. allow them to exercise the functions Also, by assigning her full liability for lhe acknowledged as their own: wife and happiness of the family, it exemptsthe man mother. Concern with women' s education from any responsibility In thissphere. He can as shown in an article published in a allow himself to continue on with his flaws newspaper dedicated to this reading public and faults, some of which cannot be confirrnsthis statement. II starts by stressing avoided, as medicine acknowledges his lhe importance of the issue "although so authoritarian, haughty character, that is scorned by our amiable readers ", hinting tougher and less loving. For him, lhe home that this seems to indicate a certain lack of should be a place to rebuild his energies consequence in them. II regrets that this spent on outside activities in lhe struggle to education consists only of notions of music, survive and lhe exercise of citizenship. Any singing and dance, inviewof lhe insufficiency excesses should be forgiven. of these superficial types of knowledge in However, it should not be concluded that ensuring family happiness. In fact, by lhe this campaign has been fully successful. direction of most of lhe discourses on this Despite efforts to inculcate these standards, issue, lhe allocation of this responsibility to in parallel, women have been expressing lhe woman is olear, particularly in the case theirdiscontent with lhe education offered under study which considers her lhe "only them. Sorne have even used lhe actual source of ensuring the happiness of lhe argument directed against thern. Quite family. "ittheniistsallthefeminine potential possibly they intended to develop a tactic for the success of this mission. designed to mobilize an imposed "A woman whose heart has been properly representation for their own purposes, one shaped by education and who has learnt which is accepted but turned against lhe lhe art of housekeeping is a treasure In the arder which produced it. A typical type of home, because she is not unaware of lhe presentation of women'spowersin a situation principies of housekeeping norof domestic of subjection and inferiority which is mirrored economy, and will know how to run lhe in lhe reallocation and skewing of lhe house, wisely managing lhe servants and symbolic instrumentswhich underwrite mate ensuring they do their duty, balancing domination, turned against lhe dominator. expenses with income and thus looking Even in 1855, a woman could not even ahead to any possible needs. She will not revoai heridentity, and merelysigned herself scorn hygienic means for lhe good of the as Baronesa as she stressed lhe need to family and lhe children, for less ways of demanda more varied, and solid education making good men, and avoiding any for her daughters, as shefelt that the existing unpleasantness, or upsetting her husband by schools were inadequate. She notes any uselessexpendituresoruntimely demands".23 lack of concern over cultivation of lhe spirit and intelligence in a girl "making her into a x'AEducaçãodaMulher.ln0Cherubirn.RiodeJanei- real lady." The appeal closes with lhe ro,15.11.1885. argument used by people who want to

YEAR7 34 1"SEMESTER99 keep women subordinate, by stressing their end, and only then will she be able to take lack of preparation "on whom the future of her seat alongside man as his companion, an entire family will some day depend. "She and never as his slave. " There were alsothose closes with a phrase that well illustrates the who nevar even mentioned marriage as a period: "ali superficiality, no science. " target, stressing the importance of hard work Blocking the access of women to higher and building up strength "for the challenges education prompted protests, even from of freedom and the conflicts of life".21 women themselves. In oneof them, curiously They were not unaware that this stance enough and perhaps ironically, excuses are represented a heavy burden. And the offered to the "stronger sex "for daring to statement of one of the most active address it. Having demanded reparations suffragettes shows th is, recording that "the for errors and injustices, this lists a series of woman who studies, who thinks is subject ills imposed on women who "have been to criticism and censure of her own dignity, oppressed, mocked, and defrauded, having and forms part of the distractions, the cafés to live almost as though one were half- and the billiards..." Atter all, even physicians dead. " It closes in a manner similar to the with their mastery of scientific knowledge previous paragraph, using an artificial tactic stated that woman was shaped to feel just in an altitude frequently found among those as man was created to think and "those who are subject to symbolic violence: it re- who show higher intelligence do se at the uses the language of domination to mark its cost of the feminine qualities." Daring to resistance, invoking the traditional mission outstrip these constraints was a thorny assigned to the weaker sex: "did you not undertaking, as acknowledged in th is consider that by neglecting and humbling narrative: her, keeping her in ignorance, leaving her "itiscommentospeakiilofwomengivente without the power she needs to solve the letters, and to thus hint at the most awful most difficult of social problems - educating insinuations regarding the virtues which are her children, which are entrusted only to her, most prized in our sex. These foul mouths by God!" should be made to soe that the woman who But some people also demanded a better nurtures herspirit in pastures more substantial qualified solution, not only in the name of than gossiping about other people's liveswill family responsibility but also because they less easily occupy her imagination with considered women just as able "as manto frivolities and idle pursuits which seem se study sciences, " despite the consta nt useful at the start and se often result in sad repelitions to the contrary: they even affirmed consequences. They are not convinced and the existenceof women 'farsuperiorto many then put forward examples of the most known scientists and who wrote works cited celebrated literary womenwhosereputation by leading physicians." Professional training is not good".22 as the outcome ofeducation was highlighted With an unaffected argument, the writer as a need claimed by some, although in a reveals the stumbling-blocks facing women timid way, and merely as a supplementary whoopt for literature. This phenomena is not point as "not even a man 's work is sufficient restricted to Brazil. In Western Europe as well to offer his family ali these conveniences as the U.S.A., women writers were subject to Others, more lucid, stressed this need in arder much ill-will, attributed to their scandalous for women to achieve a symmetrical position behavior by the presence of eroticism in compared to that of men, making them some of their works. They also suffered the worthy and able to exercise free choice, effectsof rivalries with theirmale counterparts, which would lead them to scorn "the puerile adulation for which theystill show themselves 21 BERNARDES. Maria Thereza Caiuby C.. Op. cit. p.124: eager"; not having to deal with doubts otherquoteswhichfollow: p. 138/139/145/159. about their fidelity "because the need to 22 A Arte da Beleza - Artigo para ser somente lido por pretend and deal with male duplicity will senhoras. Jornal das Familias.March 1863.

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 35 S.l./99 unnerved at having to share with these of the few mattersfalling within their sphere female invaders the space which they of competence". considered as exclusively their own. It was Note the expression "intelligence that God during the XIX century that this activity really gavethem "meaning a certaintythatwomen firmedup into a profession for manywomen. were also endowed with reason, in contrast And the pressures were se great that many to many people who attempted to deny women writersdecided to hide theiridentity This or admitted it only relatively. Furthermore, behind a male pseudonym, including having received this directly trem God, GeorgesSand, George Eliot, Currer Bell and added to experienced built up in the course Otto Stern. A natural division of works soon oflifetranslatedintocompetence, itbecame sprang up here, deciding that romance was mandatory to express this through writing. theirstrong point. Literary critics and historians However, women were still to troada thorny didtheir utmostto keepwomen writersin the path. Authorities, politicians in general and sentimental sphere, weaving commentson jurists refused to turn a positive eye on any the charm, grace, purityandsensitivityfound claims to female autonomy. Theyfound their in their works. This caused enormous backing notsomuch in religiousreasons, but frustration to Louisa May Alcott in the U.S.A., rather in the science of the times, which was who was compelled by her editor and ai that period synonymous with absolute encouraged by herfatherto write "a story for truth. They sought to limitwomen intheiractions, girls "when she wanted to produce "tales of desires and emotions, assigning to nature horror exploring the somber subterranean determinations that had been established regions of aggressive sexual passions, and in historical and social terms. Through plays, even perversion ".23 literature, chronicles and articles In lhe press An identification is also noted here, with opposition was noted, which even went se regard to this aspect. The writerof the atole taras to cast ridicule on militants. They were mentioned above notes that there are represented as masculinized, ugly, despised subjects where women have a better and ai the same time amoral. However, this understanding, suggesting consequently discourse hadwide-ranging effects, with not that "it should also be they who can best a few ordinary men and women endorsing write on them." This reflects its incorporation theseopinionsthroughstatementsandletters into the signsfound in lhe variousdiscourses to newspapers. on femaletrends. However, at the same time Critics of women's rights were not limited to as it indicatesadhesion in symbolic terms to men. The monthly women's magazine male domination, on the other hand it also entitledÚnicapublishedarticleson literature, indicates how to subvert this; thus by ar', elegance and sociology. Headed by a defending the exercise of anactivity outside woman- Francisca de Vasconcellos Bastos the home for women - in this case, literary Cordeiro - it also touched on this issue. It activities. Later, a really iconoclastic attitude published a wide range of works by is taken up, to defend women's output in outstanding women of th is period, such as the terrain of the sciences, for which they poetess Cecília Meireles and even mifitants were deemed inapt almost consensually. from the feminist movement. The struggle for "1 thus believe that even those who are women'srightswasalready making progress scandalized by seeing a woman writer in Brazil. Chrysanthême was the pen-name publishing a treaty on astronomy or a of a woman who opposed the changes compendium of chemistry would not be desired by se many. A contributor to this upset if any of them make use of the magazine, she acknowledged that her intelligence that God gave them and the arficle was outof step with the others, which experience acquired to write... about some mainly called for these changes. But she felt that her "duty of a combatant to defend those who feminist and destiny have thrown 23 GAY, Peter. Op.cit., p.366. into lhe arena of combating existence."

YEAR 7 1 36 1 'SEMESTER 99 She moves onto a reflection on the right to guaranteeing lhe differences between the happiness, the first of lhe human rights. sexes. Here lhe author reproduces a number Women more than men, in her opinion, are of stereotypes that are repeated tirelessly eager to be fortunate, ha qpy and peacefui, ana useci to highlight lhe excellence of lhe although they act in a manner running condition traditionally assigned to women, counter to these aspirations. She progresses justified as lhe outcome of the predisposition with her arguments, showing that lhe of her nature. Particularly outstanding here independence achieved by women does are expressions such as "goddesses of lhe not allow them to accomplish their dreams home", "sweet and sensitive soul of lhe of fortune. She then discourses on the woman", "gentle living together of yore", losses suffered through access To tnis "superb label of wife ", which are nothing independence, revealing an education well more than idealizations of a real situation above the average in this discussion. This that was largely one of constraint and does notpreventher from having recourseto oppression. The author thus opts to defend some of the slogans idealizing lhe traditional an eternal minority position for women. Efforts female condition. Her arguments are at growth represented by taking over lhe contradictory because on the one hand reins of her own destiny is described as a she claims that she does not wish to deny punishment, painted in strong colors, rather "the long-standing injustice and intolerance lhanas an encouragement for growth and which have today vanished under the full development as a human being. Her ploughof progress, releasingthem from their lack of belief in women's potential is quite former prisons." She then questions "her patent, blended with a prejudice about companions in the sex, "if lhe independence sexuality. She stresses lhe promiscuityderiving won offersthem lhe possibility of happiness from contact with other men "whose and quickly supplies the answer: appetites are alwayskeen "eager to attack "It seems to me not, because they lose their lhe defenselesscreaturewhoshefeelsought role of loving women, of goddesses of lhe to prefer lhe protection of yore, evenat lhe home, and the man easily abandons his role price of submission. In fact a perfect model of providing shelter and being the head of of symbolic violence. these same nomes. Has lhe struggle in the streets and between lhe walls of the offices Conquering new spaces perchance given them more pleasure and During lhe 1920s women 's movements more peace than their efforts In the small underwent a time of rupture, and were no heart of the family? Has she achieved with longerlimited to microscopic attitudestacitly thisnew right to unfettered freedom for poorly- put into effect by subordinates seeking to paid work, that other supreme and furtively wriggle away from oppression. Some insuperable task which made her happy women openly undertook lhe campaign to and sovereign? Does it not cost lhe sweet obtaintheir rights. Theyorganizedthemselves and sensitive soul of this woman more to into associations and mode public constantly be elbowing men like this, with a pronouncements, with amole use of lhe wide variety of backgrounds and keen press, seeking support from leaders in a wide appetite, rather than lhe gentle living varietyof fieldsandsetting uppressuregroups together of yore with a single man, to whom to win support Irem members of Parliament shewassubject, yes, but bound by hersuperb and other authorities, lhe press, public opinion label of wife, mother and daughter?"24 etc.. Despitethis, most of them attempted to As th is is a discourse written by a woman, it endowtheirdiscourse with a moderatetone. offers an excellent example of lhe Not only because they had realized that this embodimentof lhe dominant representations would be lhe best way of female expression, but equally as a political strategy. 2'CHRYSANTI-INE. Direito à Felicidade. Única women's Particularly outstanding here were lhe magazine. October 1925. activities of Bertha Lutz, whose movement

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 37 si /99 took on a hegemonia character at that substratum of symbolic violence remained time. lhe right to work, with access to present, as these tactics express the education and full political and civil rights asymmetrical relationships between the were her main claims. Despite the many genders and their meanings are rooted in activitieswhich she successfully undertook, the symbolic, the mental and the domestic. taking the fight to a numberof fronts, in step Without forgetting that lhe professions with the spirit of her times, votes for women considered as most appropriate to women took priority. She believed that access to were those with the lowest remuneration. To political rights was essential to obtain a large extent the array of representations guarantees on the basis of the law. Her and practices forcing the division of duties choice was subject to criticisms calling this and responsibilities between the genders an inglorious struggle and limited to formal remained, undermining full emancipation claims of bourgeoisie liberalismo From this for women. standpoint, this achievement would be But dialectically, the practice of these reduced to a mera concession "when of activities- teacher, nurse, social worker etc. interest to the dominant class in its clashes - was vital to expanding the horizons of with the urban massesthreatening the status women. Provingtheircompetence, plunged que of the liberal game of politics".25 into understanding the intricate network of A position of this nature thus disdained the power and knowledge, to an increasing strugglesunderfaken byseveralgenerations extent they took over the construction of of women already concerned with this issue. their own history. lhe physical move into And more particularly, for Bertha Lutz, there areas that had se long been closed to them is no way of denying her actionsat a decisive and lhe moral departure 'trem the roles that moment, in the midst of prejudice in a wide had been assigned to them, forming opinions variety of fields, starting with Congress, through and the transition from submission to lhe pages of the press, in variety theaters independence..." was to awaken an etc.. After ali, entering the public spherewas awareness of gender, offering great an old wish that had long been closed to possibilities.27 women. Achieving this opened up the This feminism also failed to question the possibilityof women assumingtheirfull human implications of allocating to women full conditions through a political action, from responsibility for domestic activities and which they had been violently excluded. socialization of the children. lhe conquest of On the other hand, similar to many new rights to participate in the public international movements of this type, it spheredid not involve any reformulation of suffered undercountlessconstraints blocking family obligations between the two genders. the way to itsobjectives: women 's liberation. lhe domestic domain continued to be lhe feminist ideais of the time fail to take into considered as inherent to women, account a number of factorshinderingthem, maintaining her unequal position in society some of which only became visible from the and the source of a process of violence 1960s onwards. lhe exercise of cerfain against her person. This resuffed in a divided activities as being more sultable to woman woman, guilty when obliged to work outside continued to be accepted as an extension the home, considering her professional of her maternal functions. She simply activities as something secondary to her continued to do what she had always main role of wife and mother, and resulting done "on a larger stage... and with more in d isc ri mination in terms of wages, professions, natural talent than any man". 26 In fact, the union membership and rights. On the otherhand, although society would " ALVES. Branca Moreira. Ideologia e Feminismo. A not be in a position to survive without the luta da mulher pelo voto no Brasil. Petrópolis: Vozes. 1980. p.181 "PERROT, Michelle. Salir. In DUBY, G. and PERROT, M.. "GAY, Peter. Op.cit.. p.366. Op. cit., v.4. p.461.

YEAR 7 1 38 1 'I SEMESTER 99 birth and education of new generations, excessiveindividualism which, according to lhe movement did not demand with lhe Moreira Leite, helped edge her into a necessaryforce the introduction of accessible somewhat marginal position.29 establishments restaurants, day care Women remained without lhe power to centers and laundries - which would allow dispose freely of theirsexuality. Remaining a women to share tasksthat had firmed up as virgin while single and faithful when married theirown. Even in the Soviet Union, wherean was synonymous with female honor; this equalitariansocietywasclairned ai ali leveis, extended tolhe entire family, constituting a this problem was never resolved. Although sexually located concept - violence which back in lhe XIX century Fourier called for constituted a source of many othertypes of women 's liberationthrough lhe introduction violence. While men were encouraged to of these establishments, as well as an freely exercise their sexuality as a symbol of education common to both genders, and virility, in women thisattitude is condemned, sexual freedom also for both.28 and they are supposed to repressall desires However, the difficulties must be and impulses of this nature. Single women acknowledged: at that time, women in the losing their virginity lost lhe right to any type upper middlesegments of society took on a of respect, and in lhe case of anillegitimate stance of this nature, regarding a topic relationship lhe men did not feel responsible considered as taboo. There was lhe political fortheiractions, with lhe women bearing lhe issue, then they considered other demands brunt of their "mistake ". Atter ali, "purity "was as having higher priority. Faced with concern vital for women, with a lack of knowledge of over acceptance of lhe movement bypublic lhe body signaling high value within a opinion, they did not even dare bring up this context where lhe image of lhe Virgin Mary issue, with some claiming that this was a was an example for women. Abandoned topic that was private in nature. Maria women were thus forced to risk their lives in Lacerda de Moura soon leftthismovement, furtive hurried abortions while othersgot ria and wasan exception to this situation. Minam of their new-borns in even more tragic Moreira Leite expressed her thoughts on situations. They were transformed into variousaspectsof lhe female condition. She monsters, in a culture fed on lhe stereotype stressed her advanced positionswhich were of mother love as an instinct, "because even inmanyaspectssimilartothoseofthefeminists lhe wild beasts with ali their savagery have of the 1960s. She was a severe critic of the lave." Other who dared to live their sexuality double moral standards in effect and lhe outsidemarriageweremurderedinthename hypocrisy reining in lhe organization of lhe of "Iegitimate defense of honor ".3° family with its complement, prostitution, In a situation of such violence, research also causing concern over issues that were shows lhe presence of women taking unspeakable at lhe time, such as sexuality advantage of "loopholes which private and lhe body. This wide range of positions situations leave open in lhe surveillance of revealstheflexibilityof lhe "cage"represented lhe proprietary power. Then they go out by culture, allowing social agents to wield hunting". 3 Carnivalconstituted one of these relative freedom, shaped by lhe interface "loopholes". During the first two decades of they established with lhe elements historically this century, lhe press fulminated against availabletothem. Which is highly comforting! lhe "increasing degradation of Carnival " The ideas of Maria Lacerda de Moura were trying prevent the presence ofwomen, which considered as highly radical, allied to her keen criticai spirit and particularly her "LEITE, Minam Moreira. A Outra Face do Feminismo. Maria Lacerda de Mouro. São Paulo: Ática, 1984. " Comments on the actiyities of Bertha Lutzweretaken " SOIHET. Rachel. Condição Feminina e Formas de from my Master' s dissertation. Bertho Luiz e a Ascensão Violência. Mulheres pobres e a ordem urbana. 1890- Social da Mulher. 1919-1937. Niterói, Post-Graduote 1920. Rio deJoneiro: Forense Universitária. 1989. Degree in History. 1974. 31 0ERTEAL), Michel De. Op. cit., p. 101.

ESTUDOS FEMINISTAS 1 39 s I /99 was only permitted to women of ili-repute. was to build one of lhe richest careers on However, the participation of women from Brazil's artistic and political scene - which lower-income sectors of lhe population evenhehimself could not escape. He failed expanded, as wellasthose from otherincome to realize that they also were seeking to groups.32 enjoytheirbodiesand ex-tract ali lhe pleasure Thus, despite the sexual repression hobbling they couldgive, insteadof remaining passive women and trying to impose lhe stereotype as they were taught. of female fragility on them, together with Juliet Mitchell feels that women's liberation demands for virginity and saber conduct, is dependent on lhe transformation of lhe the presupposition of Freud was confirmed four structures with which women are that sexuality isthe most powerful ingredient integrated: production, reproduction, in lhe human constitution, and cannot easily socialization and sexuality. Although she be discarded. This meant that insatiable stressesthepredominantnatureof economia erotic energiesbacked by amole resources demands, she also underlines lhe need for prompted a wide variety of inventive them to be accompanied by policies that stratagems seeking gratification.33 are coherent with lhe other three elements. There were some more courageous women In specific cases, these policies may even who were not content with half-measures, play a leading role in immediate actions. seeking to assume their sexuality in a fuller According to this author, referring to lhe manner. This can be noted in lhe narrative 1960s, at which time she was writing, in the by Mário Lago, mentioning 'lhe Carnival of Western world, lhe sexual aspect was lhe the perfume-spray duels, which launched weakest link in lhe structures, whose many brief affairsandeven more long-lasting simultaneoustransformation dependedon activities. "II is obvious that these activities lhe liberation of women.35 referred to a more intimate relationship Accepting such presuppositions, lhe between the two sexes. He then speaks of anonymous women who operate in lhe an initiative that he feels is audacious by a intersticesof lhe system are daring to express grou p of "erotic fops "who "sought targets their sexuality to an increasing extent, with theirjets from therodosmetálicos(ether revealing lhe presence of desire which was flasks) aimed to lhe nipple". For them, this only permissible in lhe marriage bed, and perfume-spray game acted asa kind of test: were also lhe precursors of women 's If lhe girl pulled a face and withdrew under emancipation. They made creative use of this fine, icyspray, they werealready aware loopholestofurtivelyoreven openlylivetheir that there would be no rabbit to hunt in that lives and sexuality, despite ali bons and wood, and we would move off to a different threats. Carnival represented one of these neighbourhood. But there was no lack of loopholes, acting asa trial balloonforthefull girls who were more receptive to these assumption by women of their body and experiences, anda nervousgigglewasoften theirsexuality intheirdaily lives as well. These lhe forerunner of surprising victories.34 women aliso contributed tolhe feminist cla- The memorialist was unable to mask his mor of lhe 1960s, packed with demo nds in misogyny In viewing such girls as easy prey. the field of sexuality, whose victoriesdid not He did not see in this gesture an attempt to spring only from lhe actionsof a small group flee lhe standards of their times - where he of intellectuals in lhe mid-field of society.

"Gazeta de Notícias. 15.02.191 5:A Noite.] 6.02.1922. 33 GAY, Peter. A Experiência Burguesa da Rainha Vitó- ria a Freud. A paixão terna .São Paulo: Companhia das Letras. 1990, p. 25. 35 MITCHELLJuliet. Mulheres-A Revolução Mais Longa, LAGO, Mário. Na Rolança do Tempo. São Paulo: Revista Civilizaçào Brasileira. N° 14. Rio de Janeiro, Círculo do Livro, no date, p. 136. 1967, p. 5.

YEAR 7 1 40 1 ''SEMESTER 99