Mulheres negras garimpeiras na região de Peixoto de Azevedo – MT : décadas de 1970 a 1980

Abstract

In our society, the work of women in gold mining areas is surrounded by stereotypes justified by biological characteristics, which end up being legitimated in the social imaginary of our population and that it is based on gender difference. The arrival of women to these areas, performing similar roles to those of men, may seem to indicate breaking of conventional barriers of sexual division of work. However, research about women in gold mining areas demonstrates prevalent conceptions of ignorance, linked to factors such as ruggedness, insalubrity and demand for physical endurance, and the idea that there is no place for female workers in gold mines. This research aims at understanding what reasoning made them become gold miners in Peixoto de Azevedo region in Mato Grosso, from mid-1970s to mid-1980s, having achieved high level roles as owners of “dredges” and “ferry-boats”. The theoretical principle of the research is based on Berta Becker (1990), Guimarães Neto (1996), Guanaes (2001), Borges (2002) and Barrozo (2007), which provide foundations to understand the development of gold mining; in relation to the female presence in mining, we opted for the authors Figueredo (1999), Carola (2002), Hirata (2002), Caleiro and Rodrigues (2007), who identify the conditions these women were subjected to in mining areas; regarding race, the chosen authors are Hasenbalg (1979), Nogueira (1985), Muller (2006), Fernandes (1964) and Petruccelli (2007). The methodological path will be paved with Minayo (2007), Meihy (1994), Thompson (1987) and Queiroz (1991). This research was developed using a qualitative approach, in a perspective of the methodology of Oral History, using the technique of Life History aiming at recognizing the role of black women that the official history silences. In this perspective, the research results recognize the role of black women in gold mining areas, breaking the stereotypes that existed.