Pietra Bertolazi is a conservative anti-feminist influencer who argues that the feminist movement has been forcing women to replace submission to their husbands with submission to their employers.
But there is a question that goes beyond what Pietra says in her speeches: how far does a woman’s freedom extend when her own convictions can also limit her?
Bertolazzi isn’t married. Before that, she was engaged to Mario Velloso, but the relationship did not lead to marriage. Years later, she had a daughter with Murched Omar Taha Filho and continued her journey as a single mother. The question lies precisely in the space between what an ideology proposes and what individual experience allows one to choose.
If her ideology were applied strictly, as she thinks, and coherently to the lives of women, it would be necessary to question whether a woman in such a model would be free to break off an engagement, abandon the expectation of marriage, or build a family outside the traditional structure.
Bertolazi’s criticism of feminism has also appeared in her own public statements. In an appearance on the podcast “Em OFF”, she claimed that “the ugly ones invented feminism” and argued that feminism makes women less beautiful.
Statements like this show how her criticism of the movement goes beyond rejecting its ideas, but also challenges the women who identify with it, raising questions about personal freedom and whether one person’s beliefs should influence how other women are expected to live or look.
The growing presence of conservative women in Brazil reflects a broader debate, whether freedom means choosing within a set of values, or having the space to question, change, and even contradict them.
What leads a woman to find freedom precisely in the ideas that could limit her?
Perhaps the rise of conservative women is also a reaction to the speed at which social norms have changed. Ideas about gender, relationships, sexuality, and individual identity have been transformed in a relatively short period, creating a cultural landscape in which few rules seem permanent.
In 2010, Brazil made divorce easier by removing the previous legal requirements. In 2011, the Supreme Court recognized same-sex unions as family relationships. Two years later, in 2013, the National Council of Justice officially allowed homosexual couples to marry.
At the same time, consensual unions became more common than civil and religious marriages by 2022. These changes show how ideas that once seemed socially and legally established can be redefined at a relatively short period, contributing to a sense that traditional expectations are constantly being renegotiated.
Conservatism offers an answer to this “instability”. Rather than constantly redefining social expectations, it proposes preserving certain principles and treating them as points of reference. Its appeal may therefore be connected to a desire for continuity in a society that often celebrates change.
Politics beyond opinion
As a result, political disagreement becomes more personal. Criticizing an ideology can be perceived as a criticism of the very identity of those who follow it.
When a personal conviction becomes a political argument, it no longer belongs exclusively to the person who holds it. It becomes part of a discussion about what other people should be allowed to do, encouraged to do, or expected to choose.
This is where the rise of conservative women becomes more than a cultural curiosity. It becomes part of a broader debate about which values will define the limits of what is considered acceptable behavior.
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The article above was edited by Maria Eduarda Sapia Moreno
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