By Gabriela Fujita for the UOL portal, on 11/28/2016.
Holding a banner and wearing insignia or brooches attached to their clothes, a group of women walk towards the Government Palace. In their long dresses, they march through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, the then federal capital of Brazil. The photo above, from the beginning of the 20th century, was published in the weekly magazine “Revista da Semana”, which reflected political facts and variety.
They are all students at the Orsina da Fonseca School, led by teacher Leolinda de Figueiredo Daltro, and members of the political party founded by her in 1910 -- the PRF, or Female Republican Party.
Members of the Female Republican Party march in Rio between 1910 and 1920
Image: Brazilian Digital Hemeroteca/National Library
An activist and mother of four, Daltro wanted equal legal and political rights for women. 106 years ago, it was considered nonsense by many, but it even received support from those who already accepted that Brazilian women should be able to vote.
“She defended the education of girls for work, but not to work washing the floors, but to be a typist, which at the time was ultramodern”, says historian Teresa Cristina de Novaes Marques , professor at UnB (University of Brasília).
Researcher of the political biography of Brazilian women, the professor explains that the PRF, despite having its foundation and statute registered in the "Official Gazette of the Union", could not receive votes because it was formed exclusively by women.
The association was, in fact, an anti-party, which functioned as a daring civil law entity.
“It had a formal character due to a loophole in the law”, says Marques. “With that, Leolinda requested audiences, held demonstrations with the students. She copied the gestures of the English ' suffragettes ' [suffragettes]. The members wore a brooch, distinctive marks, a sash. It's the identity thing, belonging to the group, to the cause, she liked that.”
military training
The main demand of the PRF was that women be considered citizens, even if it was necessary to take up arms. As the law at the time determined that only a full citizen could vote, they wanted the right to be as much citizens as men.
“You being literate, having an interest in public things and being a born citizen, that made you a voter. What prevented female teachers from voting then? They were even responsible for educating the boys who would be future voters. And they used this argument a lot: 'How can we teach civic values to our students if we ourselves can't vote?'”, says the historian.
Another requirement to be considered a citizen was to defend the community, to be able to participate in armed struggle. To get around this obstacle, the PRF called its members for outdoor activities, in areas of great circulation.
“When the First World War arrives, Dona Leolinda calls the students to do military training in the middle of the public square. The press was killing it, the boys were hanging from the trees in Praça da República, right in the center of Rio, making fun of it, and the girls were on the ground practicing fencing, in 1917...”
In the center, the then President of the Republic, Marshal Hermes da Fonseca, with members of the Female Republican Party at the Catete Palace, in Rio de Janeiro
Image: Hemeroteca Digital Brasileira/Liblioteca Nacional.
Erotic poetry and divorce
Leolinda Daltro was publicly in favor of divorce, something frightening at the time, and went to the press to expose her opinions.
It is not known exactly, from the documents that remain, how many women were affiliated to the PRF, but it is estimated that there were a few dozen regulars. As a way of calling attention to the changes it wanted to bring about, the party also organized petitions.
“Leolinda's daughter was the party's secretary, the other daughter was treasurer, and there was a very interesting figure who participated in the activities, whose name was Gilka Machado”, says the researcher. “At a certain time in her life, she decided to write erotic poetry. Until today, in anthologies of Brazilian literature, Gilka Machado is considered a master of erotic poetry. Dona Leolinda managed to bring together interesting women.”
One of the last recorded actions of the activist at the head of the party occurred almost ten years after its creation, when she ran for office, in 1919, even without being able to receive votes, for the position of intendant of the Federal District (as Rio de Janeiro was called). .
Daltro died in 1935, victim of a hit-and-run, at about 65 years old. It was no longer a frequent subject in the newspapers, and the leading role in militancy ended up being with another group of women. Commanded by Bertha Lutz, the Brazilian Federation for Women's Progress emerged in 1918 and stood out in the feminist cause until 1937.
Only in 1932 did the right to vote come, with the Electoral Code.
PRF Statute
The National Archive, in Rio de Janeiro, keeps the official records of the foundation of the Female Republican Party, and Professor Marques also located documents in the collection of the Chamber of Deputies, in Brasília.Some of the demands of the PRF are mentioned in the book “Dicionário das Mulheres do Brasil: De 1500 até a Hoje”, whose research was carried out in partnership between the historian and the economist and professor Hildete Pereira de Melo. Read three examples below:
• Strive for the emancipation of Brazilian women, awakening in them a feeling of independence and patriotic solidarity, exalting them for their courage, talent and work, in the face of civilization and the progress of the century;
• Fight for the constitutional provisions of the Republic of the United States of Brazil to be considered extended to women, thus incorporating them into Brazilian society;
• Combat, through the tribune and the press, for the sake of social sanitation, seeking, in Brazil, to extinguish any and all exploitation related to sex.
More than a century after the founding of this party, the historian believes that it is still necessary to “maintain and expand the support system for domestic violence, conquer reproductive rights, participate in politics and occupy important posts”.
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Source - Article by Gabriela Fujita - Text published on UOL , on 11/28/2016 - São Paulo
