Women by the pool

From October 2014 till April 2015, I am conducting field research in Brazil. In this period I will post reflections on Linkedin, aimed at a broader audience. However, these reflections will also be posted here, but with reference to academic litterature relevant for the post. As my training comes from social anthropology and social work, most references will naturally be based in these disciplines. Readers are more than welcome to add their references also from other disciplines in the commentaries below and by this help me to learn more about Brazil and human societies.

I know that it is important to have a network. But if it is important in Norway, it is even more important here in Brazil. What I did not realize until recently, is that my network extends beyond the personal meetings I have with people. I have discovered the women by the pool.

Before anyone get the wrong ideas, I use the term “women by the pool” as an expression for the upper-middle-class women in the urban areas of Brazil that meet by the pool as they are attending lessons of water gymnastics (pretty light gymnastics where I suspect results are measured in kilograms with three digits after comma) or letting their children play with each other.

The pool in this context is located in private areas, for example inside closed communities, and have no resemblance with women at the beach appearing in many circumstances as the stereotyped image of Brazil. The women by the pool occupy a social space where they meet with social peers and where men are accepted but not included. I can talk with them about trivial matters, but like most men I find it rather difficult to continue a superficial, friendly, female conversation for more than 8 minutes. I am by no doubt accepted, but not really included. Which is quite okay.

My wife, on the other hand, is included. She gets access to their social lives and without too much effort get an overview over whom they are, what they do for living, and most important for me, what their husbands do for living.

So, the other day my wife had been together with the kids at the pool. And she had met with other women by the pool. Coming back it turned out she had not been relaxing at all, but she had done some networking on my behalf.

I am in Brazil to do research about social work and am interested, among other things, in the participation of the voluntarily sector in welfare services. One of the women by the pool is the wife of one of the leaders in a well-run NGO in the state, and another woman is married to the leader of one of the major a voluntarily organizations working in cooperation with the municipality providing social services.

So a few days later when some of the families got together for an evening dinner, (I am not really sure how that was arranged) I was already informed about who the leader of the voluntarily organization was, and he was informed about my doings in Brazil. Talks about getting access to areas relevant to my study started right away, as we were already introduced to each other through our wives. Regarding the other husband, the leader of the NGO, we still have not met but we are introduced.

To me, what at first sight seemed as an inaccessible community of women by the pool, turned out to be a place where doors were being opened. Now, I am only a PhD student doing research in Brazil. I imagine that this seemingly drowsy community of upper-middle-class women could be way more important for people way more important than me, for example those who are dealing with the serious matters in politics and economics. I suspect that these communities of women, have more influence than what you may believe at first glance.

References:
Riegelhaupt, J. F. (1967), Saloio women: An analysis of informal and formal political and economic roles of Portuguese peasant women. Anthropological Quarterly