Working women in Rio Grande do Sul: 3x4 photographs of employment record book applicants (1933-1944)

Abstract

This article aims to outline the professional profile of working women based on their professional qualification forms obtained from the Regional Department of Labor, which was established in 1933 in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This form was the document required to request the employment record book, created by the Getúlio Vargas administration in 1932, as part of their labor policies. This study analyzes a set of 3x4 photographs of women applicants and other data registered in these forms, highlighting relevant aspects of the introduction of women into the labor market. The labor activities performed by the women are highlighted in the development of this article, as well as the conditions to which they were submitted and the subjective aspects of their appearance at the moment they were photographed, in the studio or at the workplace.