A reforma sufragista: marco inicial da igualdade de direitos entre mulheres e homens no Brasil

Abstract

This work analyzes the influence of suffragist movement on legal transformations, which led to equal rights between women and men in Brazil. Conflict, cooperation and peacemaking theories, as described by social psychology, base the analysis of suffragist tactics. Civil legislation from the beginning of the twentieth century is compared with legal modifications along the decades to identify relevant legal changes about women's rights. As result of this research, suffragist movement is described as very important for the struggle to women's rights, as its actions were successful when social traps were ignored and cooperation which different groups was chosen. Political-ideological bias adopted by feminist movement from 1960s until today underestimate the suffragist movement and erase its importance, creating a gap in history of equality of rights between men and women. In the beginning of twentieth century, Brazilian laws subordinated women to men. Social and political changes in the access to formal education and more professionalization clarify the conflict between women' stereotypes and their reality, stimulating legal changes. Suffragist movement presented itself as movement to conquer women's suffrage, but its action was bigger than that. The suffragist reform was an organized process of reviewing and modifying Brazilian laws towards the revoke of female subordination and turns women's rights equal to men, changing the paradigm about struggle for women's rights. Suffragist juridical proposals were the starting point which orientated legal struggle for equality between women and men in civil sphere, and was slowly incorporated in legal acts along the century. Suffragist movement was successful in juridical reform when social and political contacts were utilized to stimulate cooperation between groups, increasing support to its vindications and conquering the women's right to vote. Also, it defined the general guides to future generations when proposed the Women's Statute, a bill which listed the legal modifications needed to conquer equal rights. But this proposal was an isolated initiative and was not successful due to the increase of conflicts, lose of supporters, and it was interrupted by 1937 coup. Despite this, the vindications of Women's Statute survived and inspired legal modifications proposed by feminist groups over following decades until the equality between women and men, including on family, was declared in 1988's Constitution.