Por um constitucionalismo feminista: reflexões sobre o direito à igualdade de gênero

Abstract

This study aims to offer an initial contribution to the revitalization of the right to gender equality in Brazil, from an interdisciplinary analysis of feminism. Its starting point is the realization that inequality among women and men – and not the equality enshrined in the 1988 Constitution – has marked the Brazilian society, being an extensive, complex and persisten phenomenon. The last few years, in particular, have shown a worsening of the problem in the country, demanding reflection on the role of the aforementioned constitutional right. This work defends the thesis that such right has not been properly explored: its content is unclear, with some of its aspects being either overvalued and others undervalued. The lack of knowledge about feminism by jurists in general is pointed out as the main cause of the misguided enforcement of the right to gender equality, which alienates them, in a non-neutral way, from the mains studies and debates on the theme of equality between women and men. Therefore, this dissertation proposes, in its first part, to draw a general picture of feminism. It identifies at the end of this stage, the theoretical framework to be followed to examine, in the next section, the content of the constitutional right of gender equality. In short, the feminist theory of American philosopher Nancy Fraser is adopted and, suggesting some adaptations for its application in Brazil, it is argued that the right to gender equality should be viewed from four different point of views: (i) formal equality, (ii) equality as redistribution, (iii) equality as recognition and (iv) equality as representation.