Into the arena: how women are staking their claim in Brazilian sports

The legacy of a decree against women's sports still hangs over Brazil, but as Amy Wolstenholme found out on her MixSafari sabbatical, there are many driving change across the country.

Last April, I had the opportunity to go on an unforgettable trip to São Paulo, courtesy of The Mix's five-week sabbatical programme, the MixSafari. For three of those weeks, I delved into a solo research project focusing on the growing popularity of women's sports in Brazil and how women there are reshaping the sporting landscape. I wanted to understand and experience what it’s like to practice sport for women in the country.

Through speaking to women about the sports they play and how they got into it, I began to uncover some of the deep-rooted cultural difficulties that affect women and how they play sport in this country.

Many of today’s issues stem from the lingering impact of a decree, enacted in 1941, that banned women from playing "sports incompatible with the conditions of their nature". This included football, rugby, polo, track and boxing.

It was only lifted in 1979.

To begin my research, I reached out to athletes, sports clubs, gyms and sports teams on Instagram, hoping that this would allow me to speak to people on a more local level. I wanted the conversations to feel relaxed but inquisitive, rather than a formal interview.

My first contact was with Aline Da Silva, an Olympic wrestler who has set up a wrestling programme for young women in schools. It felt very lucky that she was in São Paulo for a few days while I was there, until I realised she meant São Paulo the state and was in fact an hour and a half outside São Paulo the city. But I definitely wanted to speak to her, so I hopped in an Uber and began my journey, arriving at a leisure centre to be picked up by one of Aline’s colleagues.

When I arrived at the secondary school, I walked into a room of the girls from the wrestling class cheering, dancing and practicing their English.

It was time to jump in.

Outdated thinking, lasting effects

I started by speaking to Aline about why she set up Mempodera, which promotes gender equality through sport and education, and it begins with the difficulties she faced in becoming a wrestler herself. At school, she was really good at the sport and it kept her out of trouble, but no one thought she should pursue it further – because she was a woman.

She wanted young women to feel safe and supported in practicing wrestling, in a way she didn’t have. Initially, many schools had wanted boys to also take part, but as soon as they joined, the girls dropped out. So, Mempodera is women only. 

Speaking to Aline shone a light on the lasting impact of the decree that prevented women from playing sports deemed “too violent” and “not suitable to the female body”. In Brazil, sport and femininity are still largely seen as two separate worlds.

Despite the history of exclusion, there are many others pushing for change: Aline introduced me to Júlia, who founded Nossa Arena in São Paulo City, a safe space for women to play and practice football.

For some countries, specific sports have a unifying power: cricket in India, Rugby in New Zealand, Football in Brazil. So, the law also excluded women from a huge part of Brazilian culture and identity for decades.

Júlia founded Nossa Arena because, previously, whenever Júlia and her football teammates tried to rent out pitches to play on, they were given the smallest pitches, the ones with cars parked on them, or ones where men would watch them while they played. It was shocking that Nossa Arena is one of the only places women felt comfortable to practice football in the city, despite the game being a massive part of Brazilian culture.

After meeting Júlia, I then travelled to Camburi, a village on the coast. Here, I met up with photo journalist Muriel. She introduced me to two female surfers who organise women’s-only surf trips across Latin America; the president of the female skate boarding association; and many women who practice jiu jitsu.

Muriel’s friends happily spoke to me, explaining that the law, even though decades behind them, had left a lasting impression on society, but that it motivated them to play as much sport as they could. It drove them to show they could get good at something they traditionally weren’t supposed to. Their determination was amazing.

A lasting impression 

Following the three weeks of project work, the last two weeks of the sabbatical are yours to use as you want. After an unforgettable experience in São Paulo, I headed to Rio, where I decided to go to a football match to watch local, but nationally popular, team Vasco De Gama. The atmosphere was incredible. Although the match itself was terrible, the support was brilliant.

Hopefully one day women’s sports teams in Brazil will get to experience that level of encouragement and pride.

Being in São Paulo and speaking with these women was a massive reminder of why I love what I do, but also how important the cultural side of research is and why capturing raw, human behaviour creates such compelling stories for brands.

It's important that these kinds of stories are heard and the cultural context understood because the challenges women face in sport are seen around the world. Yet, it’s particularly in places like this that Market Research often overlooks them. It baffles me that countries like Brazil have such an unsaturated market when brands could be making a big impact. These places aren’t hard to reach, but the voices within them aren’t listened to as much.

In Brazil, there is an underlying cultural reason behind the way people view sport but my research shows that there aren’t few brands that these women can see driving progress. It’s time that changed.