MULHERES LIDERANÇAS RURAIS, PARTICIPAÇÃO POLÍTICA E TRABALHO DE CUIDADO DURANTE A PANDEMIA DE COVID -19

This article aims at reflecting upon the lives of women in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the work of female rural leaders in mitigating the spread of coronavirus within their communities. We began by investigating the current lives of eight rural community leaders, through interviews carried out via mobile app devices. The women reported on their difficulties and challenges based on their political and community activities in different contexts in the Brazilian Northeast during the pandemic. The research was informed by a host of feminist theories and feminisms, reflecting on the continuous line that allocates the public and private spheres in understanding the political performance of rural women, people's behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic, the reproduction of gender stereotypes, as well as situations of violence and local strategies that pervade care and self-care. In the rural world, it is also women who are at the forefront in the struggle for the survival and sustainability of community life, before and during the pandemic.