The meaning of the use of school uniforms by students of the Institute Our Senhora dos Anjos, in the city of Abaetetuba, Pará, Brazil (1953-1970)

Abstract

This research analyzes the school uniforms worn by students at the Nossa Senhora dos Anjos Institute, in order to create discussions around this material culture and its meanings throughout the history of the religious institution that was founded in 1953 in the city of Abaetetuba, Pará, Brazil. To achieve the proposed objective, documentary research was carried out which consisted of analyzing the regulations, reports and, mainly, the photographs available in the institution's albums. To support the analyses, authors such as Peter Burke (2008), Marc Bloch (2002), Borges (2015) and Andrade (2011) were used as theoretical references. To address the female role of the time, the studies of Louro (2004) were considered. Regarding the research results, it is concluded that, in the period from 1953 to 1970, the school uniforms of the investigated institution underwent transformations and met different social interests of the time, so that they sought to represent, in addition to religious values, discipline of the female body, as they instilled in students decency, obedience and respect. Likewise, uniforms had multiple meanings, as they carried principles that exalted national values, which indicates that uniforms served to identify, standardize and control the behavior of female students in society.