Men and Care: A Critical Analysis on the Paternity Leave Approval in the National Constituent Assembly

The article aims to analyze the ideational gender assumptions involved in the paternity leave's approval in the National Constituent Assembly, thus institutionalizing paternity in Brazil. From the Federal Constitution's promulgation in 1988 to present days, the country has undergone transformations in its productive and reproductive bases that require the leave's revision with a view focused on the co-responsibility for care inside the family. Paternity leave is part of the family policies of the Brazilian social protection system, with familistic characteristics, and still remains unregulated. The discourses related to positions in favor and against the license in Plenary stage are analyzed, considering the relationship established between men and care. Discursive Institutionalism and Critical Discourse Analysis are used as theoretical and methodological frameworks. The assumptions of the sex-gender system and familism prevailed in the discourses, although with important changes in the father's role as a caregiver. The article contributes to the understanding of the [necessary] transformation of men's gendered role in the private sphere, understanding it as part of the [necessary] change in the relations of the ideal male-female dyad inside and outside families in contemporary Brazil. Keywords paternity leave; familism; National Constituent Assembly. O artigo tem por objetivo analisar os pressupostos ideacionais de genero implicados na aprovacao da licenca-paternidade na Assembleia Nacional Constituinte, institucionalizando, dessa forma, a paternidade no Brasil. Da promulgacao da Constituicao Federal em 1988 ate o presente momento, o pais passou por transformacoes em suas bases produtivas e reprodutivas que requerem a revisao da licenca com vistas a corresponsabilizacao pelos cuidados intrafamiliares. A licenca-paternidade integra as politicas familiares do sistema de protecao social brasileiro, com caractensticas familistas, e segue, ate o presente momento, carente de regulamentacao. Sao analisados os discursos relativos aos posicionamentos favoraveis e contrarios a licenca na etapa do Plenario, atentando para a relacao estabeledda entre homens e cuidado. Utiliza-se o instrumental teoricometodologico do Institudonalismo Discursivo e da Analise Critica de Discurso. Nos discursos, prevaleceram os pressupostos do sistema sexo-genero e o familismo, ainda que com modificacoes importantes no papel do pai enquanto cuidador. O artigo contribui para a compreensao