Portugal by Phil Mailer & Phil Mailer

Author:Phil Mailer & Phil Mailer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PM Press
Published: 2012-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

MACHISMO AND THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

No discussion about housing and urban struggles is complete without specific reference to women. In societies where most women stay at home, they bear the brunt of bad housing.

I will attempt to describe the situation here realistically and without false optimism, as it was riddled with contradictions. The urban struggles were very positive. The feelings of hope and joy which they gave rise to are difficult to describe. They had so many facets: freedom on the streets, freedom to come and go, tiny changes which made a great difference to everyday life. Many women felt this freedom. A woman from Tinturaria Portugália (a dry-cleaning firm), when asked about the greatest change she had experienced after April 25, said: “Before, I was locked up in my house. I don’t know why. After, I came out onto the streets, in the demonstrations … There’s no describing the joys I have lived since April 25th.” My ex-neighbour was also exuberant in her confidence. She began to criticise me for not having gone to demos she had attended. These were real changes.

But there was another side to the coin. Women were second-class citizens. The year 1975 may have been touted as “Women’s Year” elsewhere in the world, but it was not so in Portugal.

The real problems of women in Portuguese society were immense. Before April 25, they were legally disadvantaged in many ways. Divorce was forbidden. Contraceptives could only be obtained on prescription, and were thus not available to the poorer classes. The glories of motherhood and fertility were widely proclaimed in an effort to supply future white rulers and soldiers for the colonies. I clearly remember a pregnant fisherwoman near Nazaré, before April 25, patting her belly and saying resignedly “This is for the war.” Abortion was illegal, even when the woman’s health was threatened.

Matrimonial relations were almost feudal. A husband could legally open his wife’s letters. She couldn’t leave the country without his written permission. All economic decisions were by statute in his hands. In law, she remained a serf to her husband’s wishes.

Some things changed after the coup but it is difficult to imagine army officers being particularly sympathetic to women’s problems. A movement to make divorce possible grew and campaigned throughout the country. MDP-CDE gave it support. The law was finally altered, although abortion continued to be illegal. Contraceptives could still only be obtained on medical prescription.

A decree passed soon after April 25 said that the state would henceforth be responsible for children: “the nationalisation of children,” as one woman doing her shopping in the market called it. In fact the decree removed from the family (and from the father in particular) their right to do what they liked with the children. It established penalties for child-beating and ill-treatment.

Housewives were called donas da casa (the mistress of the house). Especially in the North, they were often called “the boss” by their men. This wasn’t only condescension: it was real in a limited way. But because it was limited, it was derogatory.

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