Representação feminina nos espaços de poder: relações de gênero no parlamento paraibano.

Abstract

The determination of differentiated and rigid social roles in which women were subjugated to the private sphere of the home, care, reproduction and self-denial, and men were privileged with the occupation of public space, knowledge, discussions and consequently, politics, ended up, for a long time, preventing their presence in this environment. Nowadays, although slowly and gradually, this reality has been modified and women have claimed their presence in power positions. However, it is also a fact that their numbers are extremely low: in the Federal Chamber, they are only about 10% of representation. Thus, the Legislative Assembly of Paraíba, which is structured in 36 seats, now has a female representation composed of only 3 names, Camila Toscano, Daniella Ribeiro and Estela Bezerra. Therefore, it was our goal, through this research, to understand how these women were inserted in politics, what access routes they used: family names (oligarchic groups) or participation in social movements, and thereby, to analyze the construction of their political mandates and their candidacy, considering whether these are based on their gender condition or not. The way in which these parliamentarians understand and experience the political surroundings and how they understand the role of women in this environment were fundamental to the construction of the arguments presented here. The gender category and the understanding of the delimitation of distinct social roles for men and for women were fundamental in this process. The analysis of their political appointments, the follow-up of their parliamentary sessions, as well as interviews with the three women deputies, the course taken by women throughout the social and political history of the country, contain the means used to structure such arguments.