Machismo and Citizenship in Brazil LAS 280 Brazilian Identity

Machismo and Citizenship in Brazil 

Emma Gillette 

LAS 280 Brazilian Identity 

Thesis 

From before the time of colonialism until today Brazil has struggled with what it means to be a citizen, especially in the face of social differences and inequality. One such inequality that particularly effects Latin America are the deeply ingrained differences in societal expectations of men and women. These societal expectations manifest themselves in the concept of machismo—the idea that men are supposed to be hyper masculine figures with the responsibility to provide for and protect their families. Machismo benefits nobody; it enslaves men in a violent and deprecating cycle and prevents women from obtaining full rights, citizenship, and social equality.  

The disparity between men and women affect women’s citizenship in combination with issues such as economics, class, ethnicity, culture, law, and sexuality. While Brazil has taken steps towards improvements involving these issues, such as creating women’s police stations and electing a female president, there remains much room for progress. Even the solutions to these issues may work in reinforcing the gender narrative, such as cash transfer programs for the poor like Bolsa Familia helping to feed poor families while simultaneously perpetuating women’s unpaid work, a key cause of gender inequality. The issue of machismo effecting women in Brazil is complicated and convoluted, but it’s effects are clear: women have unequal access to rights and suffer from violence and exclusion because of it. 

Argument 

Through the colonization by the Portuguese, Brazil developed a deeply hierarchal social structure which fostered a regime of inclusive membership. One such factor of this hierarchy is religion. In his article "Modelo de María and Machismo: The social construction of Gender in Brazil," (2001) Baldwin examines machismo through historic, economic, and sociocultural lenses by focusing on the influence of the Catholic church on the ideology of womanhood. He claims that machismo exists in conjunction with and unseparated from marianismo—the ideology of womanhood that is tied to the Virgin Mary, and describes "good" women as self-sacrificing, pious, dedicated, and submissive. 

 Baldwin found that while the Brazilian constitution and laws provide for equal treatment and rights, implementation is lacking both in the legal and cultural sphere. He states, “Changes in the workplace law such as paid childcare, maternity leave, and nighttime security, while clearly benefitting women, also continue to articulate them, rather than men, as primary givers in the home.” (Baldwin, 2001, p. 24) which affirms my claim that solutions to machismo may just be further enforcing it. As Baldwin concludes, while gender roles have changed dramatically and beneficially since the mid-1970s, they continue to articulate women as citizens of the subordinate private sphere rather than the masculinized public sphere of Brazil 

Another example of contributing to the expansion of women’s rights while simultaneously reinforcing a dominant culture of abuse created by machismo is represented in Celia MacDowell Santos’ Engendering Battered Women's Sense of Rights (2005). In this reading Santos discusses women’s police stations. These stations are a direct result of the violence caused by machismo, a violence that prevents women from the right to safety even in the private sphere which they are supposed to be dominant in. Through field research and interviews Santos examines how women's police stations both foster and fight against the feminist goal of criminalizing domestic violence. She also examines how different classes, races, and backgrounds of women affect their reaction to domestic violence.  

The establishment of women's police stations throughout Brazil has allowed for women to seek help free from discrimination, thus contributing to the expansion of women's rights and allowing for the implementation of laws protecting women's rights. However, battered women often depart from the central, feminist goal of criminalizing domestic violence choosing to use the stations as a weapon, thus failing to approach full autonomy and instead choosing a protection that is precarious and limited. In doing so they take advantage of the hierarchal values and ideologies that form Brazilian society to both challenge and reinforce the dominant culture that feminists are trying to change. This particularly reminded me Maria Ilma's interview in Caldwell's “Black Women, cultural citizenship, and the struggle for social justice in Brazil.” in which she urges women to value themselves and claim full citizenship, rather than falling into the more comfortable yet devaluing cultural norms.   

While the law has been increasingly in favor of women, Brazil still struggles with a male centered political sphere, as is examined in Lia Zanotta Machado’s "Brazilian Feminisms in their Relations with the State: Contexts and Uncertainties," (2016). Using her experience as a part of feminist groups, a founder of Women's Study at the University of Brasília, a member of a non-governmental organization, a feminist health network, and as a journalist to examine the feminist movement, Machado examined the dialogue occurring between feminists and the state as women struggled to claim full citizenship in the wake of toxic masculinity. She states that while these dialogues have been overall positive and successful for social and governmental incorporation, moves towards sexual and reproductive rights have faced backlash and promise future challenges. 

This struggle for sexual rights within Brazil’s current culture is intrinsically tied with the idea of marianismo, and is best demonstrated through the former female president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff. In her article, "The Machismo Paradox: Latin America's Struggles with Feminism and Patriarchy." (2014) Nikhil Kumar examines how a woman in power can make strides towards these rights while still holding onto antiquated ideals, "Last August, President Rousseff signed a bill into law requiring public hospitals to provide emergency care to victims of sexual violence, defined in this case to include “all forms of rape.” Although the bill represented a significant step towards abortion rights, its wording was altered to ensure that it did not encourage abortions. Rousseff has utilized her position to make some progress in the fight for women’s reproductive rights, but change remains slow. A recent survey of Brazilian men and women found that 65 percent of the population believes that women wearing revealing clothes deserve to be raped." (Kumar 2014). This is incredibly relevant to citizenship issues because it again represents the intrinsic right to safety as well as a set of greater societal and cultural values which prevent women from being full citizens.   

Further data suggests that while women are able to advance politically, men have continually blocked them from full participation in economic spheres. Data presented by the article claims that in Latin America woman occupy more than a quarter of parliamentary seats and that 70 million women have joined the workforce over the last 20 years, a seemingly positive set of statistics. Unfortunately, women are confined to low-paying jobs, resulting in marked gender gap in incomes. This data reflects the idea that women are confined to the private sphere of a citizen's life. 

The data presented by this article paint a picture of the advances made while reminding us of the continuing fight for true gender equality. Having been written in 2014 there are certainly updates that could be made in the data, such as the impeachment of Brazil's female president. However, the article does touch on the topic of corrupt female politicians who impede the progress of women and enforce a machismo society. 

Conclusions 

Femininity and Masculinity are a big part of identity in any country, and I believe it is therefore tied together with citizenship, especially with how women struggle to be equal citizens with men. In each reading presented in this paper, along with the readings from our class I was able to make the connection between machismo and citizenship through the repeated examples of women being unable to obtain full citizenship and rights. The inequality of women in Brazil is an entrenched aspect of Brazil’s culture, but it is clear it is an aspect that they are working to fix.  

Works Cited 

Baldwin, John. "Modelo de María and Machismo: The social construction of Gender in Brazil." Revista Interamericana de Psicología/Interamerican Journal of Psychology, Vol. 35 (2001): 9-29.   

Calwell, K.L. “Black Women, cultural citizenship, and the struggle for social justice in Brazil.” Gendered Citizenships. (2009). 

Kumar, Nikhil. "The Machismo Paradox: Latin America's Struggles with Feminism and Patriarchy." Brown Political Review. April 30, 2014. Accessed November 26, 2017.  http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2014/04/the-machismo-paradox-latin-americas-struggles-with-feminism-and-patriarchy/  

Machado, Lia Zanotta. "Brazilian Feminisms in their Relations with the State: Contexts and Uncertainties." Cadernos Pagu, no.47 (2016).  

Santos, Celia MacDowell. "Engendering battered women's sense of rights." Women's Police Stations: Gender, Violence, and Justice in São Paulo, Brazil. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. (2005): 151-176.