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.