The Role of Women in the Social Formation of Brazil and the Various Expressions of Violence

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to reflect on gender inequality suffered by women throughout history and to problematize patriarchy and the characteristics attributed to women in the reproduction of the family structure in contemporary capitalist society. This is a bibliographical review based on the content of the first section of a final thesis for the Social Work course titled “Violence Rooted Against Women: A Portrait of Reality,” presented in 2018 at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). The bibliographical review utilized historical bases of Brazil's colonization, highlighting references from authors such as Sergio Buarque de Holanda, Gilberto Freyre, and Darcy Ribeiro, complemented by authors who discuss gender issues and the role of women in society. In this sense, the review rescues elements related to the historical origins of violence against women, as well as its impacts on contemporary capitalist society. The main results reaffirm patriarchy as a system that naturalized the inferior role of women in society, subordinating them hierarchically to men, alongside the articulation of capitalism with the oppression of women. Although frequent struggles for legislation aimed at ensuring women's rights are recorded, it is evident that the old hierarchical structures governing family structures have not undergone significant ruptures. The old concepts of domination and possession still operate in relations between men and women. Social and civil transformations and achievements have ensured, albeit incompletely, a greater insertion and participation of women, but patriarchy still persists today, with different faces, but the same essence.