When They Voted First: The Pioneering Spirit of Rio Grande do Norte in Female Political Citizenship

Abstract

Female political citizenship can be defined as the right to vote and be voted for, breaking with patriarchal ideals of exclusion, and is very important for democratization and gender equality in Brazil. In this context, issues regarding the pioneering spirit of Rio Grande do Norte are addressed, specifying the theme of State Law N. 660/1927 and the articulation between the Brazilian Federation for Female Progress and the local political elite. Thus, it is evident that the problem revolves around the question: how did the alliance between suffragists and vanguardist oligarchies enable the first female electoral enrollment in Latin America? The study is important because it brings consequences to historical memory by highlighting trajectories such as those of Celina Guimarães and Alzira Soriano. The objective is to analyze the legal-political engineering that anticipated the 1932 Electoral Code. Methodologically, it uses bibliographic and documentary review. It concludes that the theme demonstrates an articulated achievement, although marked by class and race intersections.