Afro-Brazilian Girlhood in the Vargas Era, 1930-1945: Insights from the National Children's Department

This presentation analyzes perceptions and representations of Afro-Brazilian girlhood within the national development policymaking of Getulio Vargas’ regime, 1930-1945. It specifically examines the intersectionality of race, childhood, and gender in a period of transition within both policymaking and medical science. These fields merged in intriguing ways within the Vargas regime, as physicians were granted unprecedented federal power to manage the state’s vast child health and welfare improvement campaign. Through the analysis of visual and textual media produced by Brazil’s National Children’s Department, this presentation sheds light on a key shift in social thought around race, childhood, gender, and national identity involving physicians moving away from Brazil’s eugenics movement and the politics of ‘whitening’ that had prevailed since the late 19^th century.  It specifically explores the ways in which Afro-Brazilian girls and girlhood were situated and represented within Vargas-era policymaking, medical discourse, and child-centered propaganda. It argues that the state’s concerted focus on children and the integration of medical technocrats in development policymaking precipitated the expression of more egalitarian views on race and gender that gestured toward the inclusion of Afro-Brazilian girls within contemporary ideas of brasilidade, or Brazilian national identity. The presentation also briefly addresses how these discourses and policies influenced perceptions of black girlhood and Brazilian identity in the latter half of the 20^th century.