Gender and Class in a Brazilian Coal Mining Community in the Mid-20th Century

Abstract

The article examines the construction of gender and the social position of women in the community of coal miners in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in the mid-twentieth century, a period in which local mining reached the peak of production. In this region, there was a rigid sexual division of labour. The mines labour was exclusively male assignment while domestic chores were reserved for women. The study uses criminal and labour judicial sources, mining companies' archives and an interview with a resident of the region, among others. The research observes a tension in the gender roles in moments of social confrontation, in which there was some space for women to demonstrate their non-conformity with the domination imposed by their feminine condition.