Resumen de Gender and education in the debate on public instruction inthe early Brazilian Empire (1820s)

Andréa Slemian

• At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the independencemovements in Iberian America not only expanded women’spolitical participation, they also placed the question of their rightson the public agenda. Among them was that of the right toeducation, an old demand that gained new advocateseverywhere. The year after its opening in 1826, the BrazilianParliament passed a law on public education. This article analysesthe parliamentary discussions to examine the meanings offemininity and masculinity at the time, and to assess how theyshaped women’s rights and their subaltern status