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RIO DE JANEIRO – A month ago in Brazil, a wave of demonstrations swept the big Brazilian cities. Tens of thousands of women, scandalized and alarmed by the sprint of incumbent presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, marched through the streets shouting "Ele Não" ("Not him"). But two days later, the polls of the investment company Ibope showed that the advance of Bolsonaro had only increased, thanks to a brutal reaction of conservative voters towards the movement Ele Não. In the first round of voting on October 7, Bolsonaro consolidated his lead by placing it comfortably, if not decisively, in front of his opponent.
As Brazil prepares for a second round on Sunday, October 28, Bolsonaro will face the former mayor of São Paolo and teacher, Fernando Haddad, candidate of the Workers Party (PT); it is expected that he will easily claim victory. For some women, the choice is difficult: vote against Bolsonaro, reputed to have praised the military dictatorship of Brazil and to have declared that a colleague of the National Congress was too ugly to deserve rape, or to vote for him despite of these misogynistic comments. an advocate of traditional family values and an ethical policy in the face of long-standing political corruption and a struggling economy. The two movements – # EleNão and #EleSim ("Yes, Him") – divided women as much as they divided the country.
That women are a decisive factor in Bolsonaro's victory, rather than cementing his defeat, might seem to run counter to his public image. Just last month, as many as 50 percent of women said they would never vote for Bolsonaro.
"He is violent. He has repeated many times that he believed that women should earn less than men, and we must recognize that a president with a speech like his would be a huge step backwards for women, "he said. said Giovanna Ramalho, a 22-year-old student at UERJ, State University of Rio de Janeiro, who participated in protests last month. "It does not deserve such an important role in our country." Clara Maria de Oliveira Araújo, Professor of Political Science at EBUJ, a specialist in women's political participation, said that this could, in theory, make Feminine vote a decisive factor for Sunday's result, but that assumes that women are united. They are not.
Despite the litany of sexist, racist, homophobic and autocratic comments from Bolsonaro, Brazilian women are just as likely to support it as their male counterparts. This is because many of them are fed up with nightly reports of political corruption scandals and gigantic bribes juxtaposed with public services struggling to cope with tight budgets and increased violent crime; they want a president radically different from the one they've seen before.
"There is a part of the electorate that views his speech as a speech rather than a proposal," Araújo said. "And there is another group who thinks that he may run the risk that he keeps his promises, but that he is always better than the other solution."
Isabella Matarazzo, an architect in her fifties, does not believe that feminist values are incompatible with Bolsonaro's support. For Matarazzo, progress and equality mean not making concessions because of perceived socio-economic disadvantages, such as social class, gender or race – despite the acute economic inequality in Brazil that strikes women most harshly and minorities. "I am both feminine and feminist. I do not feel like a victim. I feel like a protagonist, "she said. "You do not expect the government to save you. We women must make our own progress. "
Like many of Bolsonaro's supporters, Matarazzo has one criterion over all others when it comes to electing the country's next leader: corruption. The double political and economic crisis that began in 2014 has had a negative impact on Brazil, triggered by the global commodities crisis and a simultaneous attack of highly publicized political corruption scandals revealed by the massive operation Car Wash . As of March 2018, four years after the start of the investigation, 237 people had been convicted of crimes involving bribery and intent to form a criminal gang, leaders and high-ranking politicians having accepted to plead for an amount of over $ 3.5 billion in payments to the state. Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who brought the PT to power in 2002, is among those currently serving a prison sentence for corruption. He was banned from running for president only a few weeks before the first round of elections.
"A government with a clean criminal record is the most important thing in this election," said Matarazzo. "If you are corrupt, you take money from public institutions, people outside hospitals and children outside schools. The government needs to set an example to people who look at them and say, "If they steal, why can not I?"
The rejection of the PT (about 52% of the electorate has turned away from the party) remains one of the main reasons for the rise of Bolsonaro, even among women. Despite the worst recession in its history in June 2017, the Brazilian economy is struggling to regain its former strength: about 12.7 million Brazilians are still unemployed, GDP growth stagnated at just over 1% most of the past year, according to the International Monetary Fund. And after witnessing services such as public health care and education struggling amid revelations of billions of dollars in political bribes, Brazilians are angry.
"Corruption has caused enormous damage to the country," said Sandra Cristovam, a 60-year-old small business. "The PT had everything in hand. They had their chance. "
Maurício Santoro, professor of international relations at the UERJ, said that Brazilians tended to attribute to the PT everything that had happened during the party's 13-year party. Proponents praise progressive policies, such as the revolutionary Bolsa Familia initiative, a social protection program created in 2003, which lifted 36 million people out of poverty by 2014. But Mr. Santoro said voters who oppose the PT blame the party's only downturn, turning the elections into a "PT referendum".
"Many people make the connection between the economic crisis and corruption," Santoro said. "With Bolsonaro, his support for him is much more tied to this widespread rejection of all political parties."
But for some women, it is not just anger at the perceived status quo of political corruption. It is rather the feeling that Bolsonaro shares the same values that are dear to them.
"Bolsonaro is someone whose goals are family and God. You can trust him, "said Marília Gil, a retired educator. "He's always been a patriot. This is the only one that could transform our country for the moment – there is no other. "
Brazil remains a deeply religious and increasingly conservative country. Although it is still the most populous Catholic country on the planet, evangelicals have grown rapidly in recent decades. In the 2010 census, some 42 million Brazilians, or about 22 percent of the population, qualified as evangelicals.
Christina Vital, a sociologist at the Federal University of Fluminense who studies evangelicals in national politics, said many Brazilian clerics believed that the PT's social justice policies threatened their religious values. "The left is associated with identity agendas, such as women's empowerment and LGBT rights," she said. "Evangelicals and Catholics have understood that this poses a risk to the standards in effect until then."
The size of the evangelical population of Brazil has made it a formidable power in elections, with enough power for candidates to all positions seek the consent of popular preachers, such as the televangelist Silas Malafaia. In 2012, Malafaia's registration of 40 candidates in seven states in the municipal elections was considered a factor of success. In the 2014 presidential elections, even President Dilma Rousseff used religiosity to improve her image with evangelical voters. And on September 30, a few days before the first round of voting, Bolsonaro received the endorsement of evangelical pastor Edir Macedo, founder of the neo-Pentecostal Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the extensive media network Evangelical RecordTV. (He reportedly made $ 1.1 billion in 2015.)
"Politicians who confess their religious beliefs end up strengthening their political capital within different parties and denominations," Vital said. "It's a game."
Nevertheless, Araújo, the professor of political science, said that it was effective. "Bolsonaro has really put forward a conservative moral agenda, which is of great interest to the evangelical part of society," she said, adding that there were still more women than men. in the neo-Pentecostal churches of Brazil. By placing Christian values alongside moral outrage at political corruption and the status quo, Araújo said that Bolsonaro was able to present himself as a savior. "In the context of this political crisis, it means that people associate it with family and stability," she said.
Certainly, Bolsonaro offers do not appeal to all values. Camila Mantovani, a 24-year-old evangelical activist, said Bolsonaro's religious calls were obvious ploys. "He sees Christians as an electoral means. During a debate, he had to write the word "God" on his hand so as not to forget to mention God! She said. Mantovani added that she was disgusted by her consistent advocacy of violence as a solution to Brazil's problems and that her desire to give the police a "license to kill" was incompatible with evangelical values. "I feel nauseated by this and the fact that many people believe it. This man is not a Christian, "she said.
But for some women, despite what many see as inconsistencies in her adoption of religion, there remains a sincerely expressed devotee who represents the changes they wish to see happen in Brazil. They believe that the greatest risk to the country's future is to allow any party associated with political corruption to take power and that the election of Haddad would mean the continuation of the most recent and difficult chapter of the history of Brazil. After the 13 years of power of the PT, voters jump at the opportunity to choose those who seem able to overthrow the party at the highest power of the country.
"The dictatorship is what we have today in Brazil, a political and ideological dictatorship," said Gabriella Cardoso, a 27-year-old small business owner. "We want a political overhaul – not just an ideological overhaul, but a cultural and ethical overhaul. For us, Jair Bolsonaro, that's it.
