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By Tatiana Moura<\/strong><\/em> Midway through writing this article, in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s bohemian Lapa neighbourhood, we heard it: the sounds of tear gas as riot police repressed mass protests<\/a> against harsh austerity measures proposed by Brazil\u2019s three-month-old conservative government.<\/p>\n The so-called \u201cBridge to the Future<\/a>\u201d policy, if approved, would impose a 20-year spending cap<\/a>, freezing the federal budget but for inflation-based increases. From 2017 to 2037, not a centavo<\/em> more for public health, education, poverty-alleviation or childhood development, among other social programmes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Across-the-board cuts hurt everyone, but history shows they hit women particularly hard<\/a>. Tasked with feeding and caring for their families without any government support, women face double and triple burdens on their time. Austerity regimes have also been linked to increased domestic violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n This threat to women\u2019s economic, social and political wellbeing comes on the heals of significant gains made during the prosperous past decade, when Brazil was proud to put the \u201cB\u201d in the BRICS<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2006, the country passed legislation<\/a> protecting women against domestic violence, while the conditional cash transfer programme Bolsa Fam\u00edlia<\/a>, directed mainly to female heads of household, increased women\u2019s economic empowerment and decision making power.<\/p>\n In 2010, Brazil elected its first female president<\/a>, Dilma Rousseff. She was reelected four years later. From 2014 to 2015, Brazil rose from 97th to 75th in the global gender equality rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n As gender researchers, we knew that true equality was still far down the road. For example, in absolute numbers, Brazil ranks 4th in the world for child marriage<\/a>. But recently it\u2019s been possible to think that we were headed in that direction, that girls and women really do matter.<\/p>\n As social movements in Brazil and across Latin America<\/a> have forced these issues onto global agendas via street protests<\/a> et hashtags<\/a>, gender quality is increasingly the official message of the United Nations<\/a>, governments, and the business sector.<\/p>\n Threats to Brazil\u2019s improving gender equality are not just economic. They\u2019re also reflected at the highest level of politics.<\/p>\n Just as the world was stunned that Donald Trump<\/a> \u2013 a man who has bragged<\/a> about \u201cgrabbing women by the pussy\u201d \u2013 had won the United States election over the supremely qualified former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, this year Brazil, too, saw its presidency turned over to a man.<\/p>\n In August 2016, Rousseff was ousted<\/a> for incompetency and suspect accounting practices. With its obvious gender dimensions, the impeachment process was characterised by many as a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n During Rousseff\u2019s congressional trial, male legislators voted against her using patronising language<\/a> (\u201cgoodbye, my dear\u201d) and words of congratulations to the military unit that had tortured Dilma Rousseff under Brazil\u2019s dictatorship<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many of the male colleagues who forced Rousseff out were under investigation themselves for greater wrongdoing \u2013 including Speaker of the House Eduardo Cunha, who was arrested for corruption in October<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rousseff\u2019s replacement, her vice president Michel Temer, is a conservative Evangelical Christian allied with Congress\u2019s powerful religious right. After assuming power in August 2016, he appointed an all-white, all-male cabinet<\/a> \u2013 the first such government since 1979. Temer also eliminated the positions of Minister of Women and Minister of Racial Equality<\/a>, though public outcry forced him to backtrack.<\/p>\n Brazil\u2019s mayoral elections in October and November showed a similar rightward swing. Rio de Janeiro opted for<\/a> the former Pentecostal bishop Marcelo Crivella to run the famously diverse city, while S\u00e3o Paulo elected millionaire conservative businessman Jo\u00e3o Doria<\/a>.<\/p>\n The past year of political events demonstrate a clear backlash to modern gains in equality and social justice. In the media and the church, in businesses as in politics, the myth of white, male, Christian entitlement persists, and it has left many citizens feeling angry and disenfranchised over the past decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s rights and gender equality are not a priority for President Temer or mayors Crivella and Doria. Abortion, which remains illegal in Brazil except in exceptional cases<\/a>, is not up for discussion. Plans are now being made to cut paid maternity leave \u2013 and this despite the country having recently extended cong\u00e9 de paternit\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n The retrenchment extends to education. Public schools in eight states have banned curricula<\/a> that include lessons on gender, and the Ministry of Education\u2019s proposed \u201cSchools without Political Parties<\/a>\u201d policy would prohibit open political discussions in classrooms.<\/p>\n Such reforms would hurt any attempt to kindle critical reflections on equality and justice among young people at a time when it\u2019s sorely needed.<\/p>\n During the three years of mass protests in Brazil<\/a> that ultimately led to Rousseff\u2019s demise, it has been common to hear calls for a military-run government. Dictatorship is a not-too-distant memory here, having only ended in 1985.<\/p>\n Militarised models of masculinity still influence Brazil\u2019s everyday culture, promoting aggression and violence. Nearly 60,000 people are murdered each year<\/a>, the vast majority of them young black men from poor neighbourhoods. Here, as in the US, the legacy of slavery and ongoing structural inequalities mean that young black men are disproportionately incarcerated<\/a> et three times more likely to be shot by armed civilians and police<\/a> \u201cin self-defense\u201d, even when unarmed.<\/p>\n Militarised masculinity also contributes to mental health issues for boys and men<\/a>, including elevated suicide rates, increased use of violence (such as that seen every day in Rio\u2019s favelas<\/a>) and a lack of emotionally satisfying relationships.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s wellbeing hinges on changing perceptions of male identity. According to nos recherches<\/a>, men who hold more gender equitable attitudes are less prone to violence and more likely to seek preventative healthcare. They\u2019re also more likely to be engaged fathers and to have satisfying family relationships. Such positive male achievement, perhaps unsurprisingly, improves school and health outcomes for daughters and female partners.<\/p>\n Like millennials around the world<\/a>, younger Brazilians tend to hold more progressive views on gender. As we saw in 2015\u2019s \u201cFeminist Spring<\/a>\u201d protests, men are willing to take a public stand against sexism, racism and xenophobia.<\/p>\n That\u2019s critical. To counteract negative dominant narrative posed by the new era of Brazilian politics, more male bosses, colleagues, friends and family members must dispute sexist (not to mention racist and xenophobic) language and actions.<\/p>\n
\nPubli\u00e9 \u00e0 l'origine dans La conversation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nWomen at a crossroads<\/h2>\n
Out with the women, in with the white men<\/h2>\n
A time for new masculinities<\/h2>\n
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