ABSTRACT
The evolution of Brazilian feminism was inextricably linked to the unfolding dynamics of the larger opposition to military authoritarian rule. The political and institutional transformation of the Brazilian Catholic Church proved a critical factor in the genesis of contemporary feminism. Feminist groups together with other strands of the women's movement organized citywide women's congresses that drew thousands of women of all social classes and political affiliations. Gender "sameness" in revolutionary theory led revolutionaries to ignore or deny the very real differences between men and women, with profound implications for the women in the resistance movement. The new women's institutions proved sources of disappointment for Brazilian feminists, even for some of the founding mothers of the councils and delegacias. Pressure-group-oriented feminist politics is now also being pursued through "professionalized" feminist nongovernmental organizations that seek to influence public policy. However, in democratizing Brazil, new modalities of feminist organizing, new forms of articulating strategies, and new strands of feminism have multiplied.
