“De onde vem esse poder?”: protagonismo feminino em Nova Porteirinha/Mg a partir dos anos 1970

Abstract

This work aims to portray the female protagonism in the city of Nova Porteirinha, North of Minas Gerais, from the 1970s, when the formation of the city 's urban nucleus began. Nova Porteirinha presents many peculiarities when it comes to female participation in public spaces and power, especially in politics, because in 2004 it was the only chamber in Minas Gerais, mostly female. However, it was possible to note that women occupied typical male spaces not only in this field, but they were also part of the formation of the city and were pioneers in the labor market in positions that until the present day are occupied mostly by men. The sources came from interviews with the women, their personal files, the archives of the Registry of Real Estate of Porteirinha and the work carried out regarding Nova Porteirinha, even if they were not related to the social history of women. The methodology consisted in the use of Oral History and Life History to deal with interviews and qualitative analysis of the documents obtained. In order to analyze women's participation in politics, it was essential to analyze the bibliography pertinent to the electoral quotas law and the statistics of previous elections, both in Nova Porteirinha and in other cities of the same Electoral Zone. The results allow us to conclude that, even before women's participation in politics was prominent, the city was able to count on notable women who made a difference in their history, through the defense of the interests of the population that began there, the struggle for political emancipation, entry into the labor market and occupation of positions within unions. Therefore, we assert its importance within the historical studies and the social history of women, considering the experience provided in relation to female protagonism, considering that it does not occur in most cities in the region.