In this article, the philosophy professor Olgária Matos (b. 1948) tackles the concepts of “the feminine” and “the masculine,” even though her real interest is in discussing matters related to the situation of women, and specifically, feminism. She believes that in a dominating, exploitative capitalist society, feminist movements serve as a transformative instrument, thus creating incentives for a change in social outlook. The article was written in the late 1980s—a period when this was a frequent subject of debate about art, especially in the United States (and France, where Olgária did advanced studies). According to art historian Eric Fernie, the greatest contribution of the feminist movement to art history was a change of paradigm. This was a byproduct of the feminist insistence on the need to analyze work within its social context (often reduced to the element of gender).
Another Brazilian feminist public figure prominent during that time was Sheila Leirner, who maintained close ties to France and directed two São Paulo biennials, the eighteenth (1985) [see doc. no. 1111107], and the nineteenth (1987) [doc. no. 1110910] biennials that made efforts to combat nationalist didacticism and historicism. Her curatorial outlook opted for the radical perspective of anarchy, although paradoxically, it also celebrated the most prevalent trend of the decade: “the return to painting.”
Two texts Leirner wrote specifically about feminism feature a United States artist: “Mary Dritschel I” [doc. no. 1111361] and “Mary Dritschel II” [doc. no. 1111362]. The critic holds up this artist’s work as a contemporary example of “consciousness raising” (on the part of women) about women’s specific characteristics, including both sexual identities and sensitivities. Leirner also wrote a more inclusive text in which she discusses “Arte feminina e feminismo” in Europe, the United States, and Brazil [doc. no. 1111363].