"Do You Wish Her to Marry?" Brazilian Women and Professional Diplomacy, 1918–1938. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017) - de Souza Farias, Rogério
ABSTRACT: In 1918, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Itamaraty] hired its first female employee. The organisation would henceforth confront the discussion of the role women in diplomacy. Traditional European aristocratic values had heretofore shaped the Brazilian diplomatic profession, and they relegated women to the role of supporting wives. Countering the status quo, those interested in opening diplomatic positions for women argued that the gendered nature of diplomacy was, in fact, feminine and used the rhetorical strength of traditional values to reframe the career. The transition of the masculinity model associated with the "new" diplomacy and the transnational constitution of the acceptability of female diplomats, however, precluded female activists from strategically using discriminatory gender stereotypes to succeed. Only in 1954, Itamaraty opened careers permanently to women.