Women's Suffrage in Brazil - timeline

1. Women's Suffrage
Women’s Studies - Prof. Tracey Nicholls
PAOLA BELLUCCI ORTOLAN - E19M3511
in Brazil
June 9, 2019

2. "Then I felt the
awakening of the spirit
of revolt; I understood
that a persistent and
tenacious campaign
was necessary to
destroy the terrible
prejudice."
2
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Ramirez, Soysal and Shanahan (1997, p. 735) maintains
that "Between 1890 and 1994, women in 96 percent of
all nation-states acquired the right to vote and seek
public office.” My criteria is focusing on Brazil; that is the
reason I am opting for a voting historical chronology of the
women that impact and influence in the Brazilian scenario.
The courageous women that faced the truculent reality in
Brazil was an inspiration not only in the country but for
other nations. I expect to present this pioneering spirit
through a visual timeline.
Criteria:
Leolinda de Figueiredo Daltro (1859 – 1935)
Educator, feminist, activist and politics in Brazil.

3. 3
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Ramirez, Soysal and Shanahan (1997, p.
738) points out the cumulative percentages
of women’s and men’s suffrage acquisition
from 1890 to 1990. Women were first
allowed to vote in Brazil in 1932 signed
by President Vargas, but their political rights
only became equal to men’s in 1945, when
the vote became mandatory for both sexes.
Brasil in a
World Context

4. Engagement with the issue
In September 2018, a week before the first round of the Brazil
general elections, Women United Against Bolsonaro called for
street protests. I was there with other hundreds of thousands
of people turned out in cities across the country. It was
reportedly the largest women-led march in Brazil’s history.
I was inspired by powerful women shouting #elenão "not
him", an anti-Bolsonaro hashtag and campaign slogan. In
order to improve my arguments to fight against this right wing
extremist, I started an in-depth study about politics and
women's rights in Brazil. I am utterly interested to understand
the importance and impact of women in democratic elections.
Also, I aim to comprehend how women achieved the right to
vote in Brazil.
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
4
Sao Paulo, Brazil
September, 2019.

5. 5
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
As you will see from the timeline, women’s right to vote is often
described as a choice made by men who spontaneously decided to
allow it to women as a favour.
The feminist movement played a crucial role in securing the vote
and overcoming the barriers that kept women inside the home. The
Brazilian feminist movement was strongly influenced by the
United States and Europe. The problems faced by women in all of
those countries were very similar in regard to the division between
the public and private spheres. The idea that a woman’s role was
only domestic, while the public sphere belonged to men, had
serious political implications. Women were not considered a political
subject, therefore enabling them to vote would make no sense: they
would only duplicate their father’s or husband’s votes. In other
words, women were understood as political subjects only insofar as
they were a part of the family, which was represented by men.
The fight for suffrage is
repeatedly neglected in
Brazilian history.

6. 6
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
The Brazilian suffragist movement is often considered by the literature
as extremely conservative when compared to the other countries. It
was composed mainly of elite women. Suffragism in Brazil is
frequently opposed to the “mass movement” observed in the United
States and England. It is characterized as “well behaved” feminism.
But why did the Brazilian feminists take this path?
In Brazil, there was no prohibition in the constitution on women voting.
Thus, when arguing for the right to vote, the default answer was that
women were not legally deprived of this right. However, most of
women who tried to register to vote had their efforts frustrated. The
main difficulty was that the word “citizen” employed in Brazilian
electoral laws at that time implicitly designated a male citizen.
In the beginning of the 1930’s Brazilian politicians understood that
there would be no more space to exclude women. Once women’s
suffrage was achieved in the United Kingdom and United States, the
demand for the vote was met with less objection.
Aconservative movement.

7. 1934
1927
1922
1910
1928
She organized the First
Feminist Congress of
Brazil.
BERTHA LUTZ
2011
Atimeline of Women's
Suffrage in Brazil
MIETTA SANTIAGO
She challenged the
constitutionality of the
ban on women voting
in Brazil.
First woman to be
elected president.
DILMA ROUSSEFF
She was one of the
founders of the Feminine
Republican Party.
LEOLINDA DALTRO
She was the first women
to vote in Brazil.
CELINA G. VIANA
She was the only woman
took part in writing the
constitution of 1934.
CARLOTA P. QUEIRÓS

8. LEOLINDADALTRO
8
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Leolinda was a Brazilian feminist teacher, suffragist and
indigenous rights activist. In 1910, she was one of the
founders of the Feminine Republican Party, which
advocated for the Brazilian women's right to vote. The
party was inspired by the British suffragettes. In 1917 her
party led a march for women's suffrage in Rio de Janeiro,
of which 90 women participated.
Leolinda's sense of justice made her known as "the
woman of the devil" in 1909. I believe it is because Brazil
is the largest Catholic country in the world, so it is not
difficult to imagine that a politically active woman who
circulated in a masculine environment, who believed in
transformation through education and struggled to secure
women's right to vote, could not be considered anything
other than "devilish."
1859 1935

9. BERTHALUTZ
9
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Bertha is a key figure of the feminist scene in Brazil
and is considered to have set the foundations of
feminism and equal rights movements in the country.
Not only she was an engaged feminist and activist, she
also dedicated her time to politics and science.
Bertha was a feminist activist, biologist, and Brazilian
politician. Lutz founded her own organization in
conjunction with American suffragist Carrie Chapman
Catt in 1922, the Brazilian Federation for the
Advancement of Women, which would become the
leading suffrage organization of Brazil and
was affiliated with the International Women's Suffrage
Alliance.
1894 1976

10. CELINAG. VIANA
1 0
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Celina Guimarães Viana was a Brazilian professor and
suffragist. She was the first woman to gain the right to
vote in Brazil, in the town of Mossoró, at the Rio Grande
do Norte state, in 1927.
Her initiative marked the women's suffrage. She believed
the transgressive behaviours, which were very typical of
the twentieth-century feminist movement, boosted other
important changes and achievements in Brazil.
The Senate ended up invalidating the votes of that election
for not accepting the female vote. However, Celina and the
other women were known for pioneering. Female suffrage
was adopted in the Electoral Code in 1932 and women
were also allowed to dispute in politics later.
1890 1972

11. MIETTASANTIAGO
1 1
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Maria Ernestina Carneiro Santiago de Souza
(pseudonym, Miêtta Santiago) was a Brazilian writer,
poet, lawyer, suffragist and feminist activist in support of
women's rights. She was the first woman in the
country to fully exercise her political rights: to vote
and to be voted on.
With Celina Guimarães Viana, Santiago was a pioneer
in 1927 in the struggle for women's suffrage in Brazil. In
1928, Santiago challenged the constitutionality of
the ban on women voting in Brazil, stating that it
breached Article 70 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of the United States of Brazil, dated February
24, 1891, which was then in force.
1903 1995

12. CARLOTAP. QUEIRÓS
1 2
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Carlota Pereira de Queirós was a Brazilian feminist and
politician. She made the female voice was heard in the
National Congress because she was the first federal
representative elected in Brazil. Carlota was also the
only woman took part in writing the constitution of
1934. This constitution allowed the female vote for single
women and widows who worked for paid work. Although
these restrictions and married women needed to be
authorized by their husbands to vote, this was a great
forward step in the women's suffrage movement in Brazil.
Besides that, in the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932,
she organized and led a group of 700 women to
guarantee assistance to the wounded.
1892 1982

13. 1 3
Dr. Carlota Pereira de Queirós, in the Chamber of Deputies, 1934 Dr. Carlota Pereira de Queirós signing the Constitution on 07/16/1934
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L

14. DILMAROUSSEFF
1 4
W O M E N ' S S U F F R A G E I N B R A Z I L
Dilma Vana Rousseff is a Brazilian economist and
politician, affiliated to the Workers' Party (PT) and the
36th President of Brazil, having held the position of
2011 until her removal through an impeachment process
in 2016.
Born into a family of the upper middle class, she became
interested in socialism during her youth. Shortly after the
military coup of 1964, she joined the left armed struggle:
she became a member of the National Liberation
Command (COLINA) and later the Vanguard Armada
Revolucionária Palmares (VAR-Palmares) - both
organizations defended the armed struggle against the
military regime.
1947

15. 1 5
References:
Cararo, Aryane, and Duda Porto de Souza. Extraordinárias: Mulheres que revolucionaram o Brasil. Editora Seguinte, 2018.
Ramirez, Francisco O., Yasemin Soysal, and Suzanne Shanahan. "The changing logic of political citizenship: Cross-national
acquisition of women's suffrage rights, 1890 to 1990." American sociological review, vol. 62, no. 5, Oct. 1997, pp. 735-745.
Oliveira, Amanda, and Isabella Otto. “A linha do tempo do feminismo no Brasil de 1827 a 2019.” Capricho, Abril Mídia S A., 4
March 2019, https://capricho.abril.com.br/vida-real/a-linha-do-tempo-do-feminismo-no-brasil-de-1827-a-2019/.
Hannah, Maruci. “Women’s struggle to vote in Brazil: same fight, different strategies” Oxford Human Rights Hub, Oxford Human
Rights Hub, 24 February 2018, https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/womens-struggle-to-vote-in-brazil-same-fight-different-strategies/.
Balieiro, Cris. "Heroínas do Brasil – Leolinda de Figueiredo Daltro” O Feminino e o Sagrado, 01 April 2017, https://
www.femininosagrado.com.br/2017/01/heroinas-do-brasil-leolinda-de-figueiredo-daltro/.
Mello, João. "A conquista do voto feminino, em 1932", O Jornal de Todos os Brasis, 27 February 2014, https://jornalggn.com.br/
historia/a-conquista-do-voto-feminino-em-1932/.
Cruz, Fernanda. "First women to vote in Brazil were transgressors.”, Agência Brasil, Empresa Brasil de Comunicação, 08
March 2017, http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/direitos-humanos/noticia/2017-03/first-women-vote-brazil-were-transgressors.