THE REGULATION PROCESS OF WOMEN'S LABOR IN BRAZIL IN VIEW OF THE THEORY OF CAROL SMART: LAW AS GENDER TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract

Objective: This article has as object the process of women's labor regulation in Brazil, having 1932 as its landmark. The legislation in the period is frequently presented as if it was only a women's achievement, when it was actually also the element of their exclusion from the public space of work. Carol Smart's critique of law will make it possible to understand why. Methodology: The research used the historical-legal method (GUSTIN; DIAS; NICÁCIO, 2020, p. 80), from legal and doctrinal sources. The legislation of the time was recovered, regarding the regulation of women's work and the ideal of women spread by the Brazilian State, through its regulations, in the studied period. Results: The notion of Law as a technology of gender allowed a critical analysis of the process of legal regulation of women's work in Brazil, providing an understanding of the reasons why it legitimized the return of women to the home in the 1930s. In Smart's line, in addition to the content of the laws, it was the Law itself (discourse and form) that allowed this return. Contributions: It is intended to contribute to a critical look at the Law regarding its function to promote gender equality and non-institutional exclusion of women from the public space of work. It is believed that promoting and improving the discussion about the differentiation and binary opposition between the figure of man and woman, that is perpetuated in the field of Law, can serve this objective.