bā xī

巴西

qián

前

dì yī fū rén

第一夫人

mǐ xiē ěr · bó suǒ nà luó

米歇尔·博索纳罗

yǔ

与

bǎo shǒu

保守

nǚ xìng

女性

zhèng zhì

政治

In Brazil, after former President Bolsonaro was jailed, many people began paying attention to his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro.

She may become the new leader of the right-wing camp.

Michelle is very popular among evangelical Christians and conservative women, and she also has many followers on social media.

During the 2022 election, she helped her husband attract more women voters, because many women were unhappy with Bolsonaro’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers say Michelle made Bolsonaro seem gentler and also made more evangelical women feel seen.

The number of evangelical Christians in Brazil is growing, and many of them are women.

Michelle and some conservative female politicians often say that women can take care of the family, be strong, and be leaders, and they also encourage women who suffer domestic violence to report it to the police.

However, they still support traditional family values.

Although Michelle is becoming more influential, Bolsonaro’s sons and male leaders in the conservative camp do not necessarily want her to become the top leader.

This also shows the contradiction in conservative politics about women’s leadership.