Women take the lead in Brazil’s private life revolution

In Colonial Brazil, only the wealthy could afford to get married. Etiquette required men to express their affection for women with gifts such as fabrics or ribbons. Couples were not allowed to look at each other too much or meet alone, for fear of being criticized. Priests would ask for and regulate details about marital lives during confessions. Even if a couple was married, French kissing was not allowed. Sex was limited to procreation and involved penetration only.

Privacy was hard to come by indoors, as few houses had doors, and the coming and going of guests (including those outside the family) was constant. The blurred boundaries between public and private spaces were defining factors of Brazilian society, according to sociologists such as Roberto Damatta. 

Marriage was considered a contract governed by conservatism and religiosity rather than a private matter, and divorce was not even being mentioned. Although divorce was legally recognized in 1977, it met with resistance for decades.

Only recently has there...