Feminist studies is a research topic of particular relevance for understanding women’s issues and their achievements, and for building an increasingly egalitarian society. It is true that discrimination, gender inequality and misogyny are still present in Portuguese society in the 21st century, demanding a continued struggle to enhance the value and dignity of all people, regardless of gender. Thus, the study of feminist movements is one of the key topics for clarifying and clarifying Portuguese feminism, contributing to the value of women and the creation of a meritocratic society in which there is no place for discrimination.
The first feminist movement began, albeit timidly, in the late 19th century and essentially developed in the early 20th century, when some women, more intellectual and educated, realized their disadvantaged and subordinate position from a legal, economic and legal point of view. Politicians in Portuguese society have sought to combat their position of inferiority and fight for the emancipation, value, recognition and dignity of women.
The early feminists acted in the form of associativism, were associated with international feminist organizations and sought to internationalize Portuguese feminism by contacting foreign feminists and promoting events, congresses and petitions; some sought support from republicanism.
However, they also stand out for using the press as an important tool for spreading women’s voices. In this context, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women’s and feminist press developed significantly when several newspapers created and directed by women and aimed at a female audience were created, where they published articles on women’s issues. fortune, articles from claims, excerpts from women’s creations such as poetry, and even women’s biographies aimed at recognizing and intellectually and culturally enhancing the value of women. Magazines stand out as an example. Future society (1902-1904), woman and child (1909-1911), Portuguese woman (1912-1913) e seeder (1915-1918). Thus, the press became an important field for feminists and, in the words of Isabel Lusada, “an amplifier of the female voice.”
Among the main demands of feminists is the education of women, who are considered critical to emancipation. This demand has been present in various forms of feminist action throughout the movement, in legislative changes and divorce laws that are critical to the liberation of women. from male supremacy, female suffrage, and the right to professional work and adequate wages. However, the suffrage in the feminist movement was highly fragmented, as not all feminists advocated women’s suffrage, essentially singling out Ana de Castro Osorio and Carolina Beatrice Angelo in the struggle for women’s suffrage.
Feminists who integrated Portuguese feminism made up the elite of writers, doctors, pharmacists, teachers, educators and journalists. From this range of fearless women, the following can be distinguished: Ana de Castro Osorio, writer, editor, educator, Republican and feminist, who is one of the most prominent figures in the first wave of the feminist movement. published a book Portuguese women, an important work on Portuguese feminism, created the Portuguese Group for Feminist Studies (1907), Liga Republicana das Mulheres Portuguesas (1908) and collaborated with several periodicals, including: female soul, Woman and child, Portuguese woman e At dawn, also gave several lectures and participated in several meetings. He was one of the main contenders for women’s suffrage and divorce law and was consulted by Afonso Costa when he enacted it on November 3, 1911; Maria Olga de Moraesh Sarmento da Silveira, a feminist monarchist, has written several books about women, including: Illustrious women: the Marquise of Alorna… She was president of the feminist section of the Liga Portuguesa da Paz and has held several conferences abroad and in Portugal on feminist topics, including, for example, a conference on feminist issues at the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa on May 18, 1906. Virginia Sophia Guerra Quaresma, feminist and journalist, the first woman to enter the profession of journalism in Portugal, has written several feminist articles. These were some of the individuals who made possible the various achievements in the struggle for women, thus starting the path of women’s emancipation and paving the way for gender equality.
With the aim of contributing to the value, recognition and dignity of women, they have published several articles on the status of women, denouncing existing inequalities and defending their rights. In fact, the feminist press has been an instrument of particular importance in the struggle for women’s emancipation and manifests itself as the predominant source for understanding feminist demands and thus familiarity with Portuguese feminism.