The men were completely exiled from Noiva do Cordeiro, a town in southeastern Brazil where matriarchy governs everyday life.
If you recognize the name Noiva do Cordeiro, you may know it as the town where everything is dominated by women, the women are all young and beautiful, they regularly send their men into exile, and then the young and beautiful women invite eligible men to a wildly fictional version of a real place.
Not a single statement in that first paragraph is true about present-day Noiva do Cordeiro, an isolated rural community in southeastern Brazil. But the exciting reports have been circulating for a decade or more, since a few provocative articles were published, replicated by media outlets around the world and permanently inscribed on the Internet.
For the record: As many men as women live in Noiva, with a population of about 350. Most of the men are away weekly, working in a nearby town. Most of the women work in the village, which is run communally by residents. The women (of all ages) take the ornaments with good humor and take pride in the true history of the women of Noiva, especially from a family line. In the late 19th century, a young woman defied church and society to establish an unconventional settlement. Today, a 78-year-old woman, the founder’s granddaughter, leads the thriving and evolving community.
María Senhorinha de Lima grew up in a 19th century Brazil immersed in the machismo of the Portuguese colonizers and the dogma of Roman Catholicism. After three months of forced marriage, Ella María ran away with a man she loved, Chico Fernandes; As punishment, the church excommunicated Mary and four generations of her descendants. María and Chico settled on land in the state of Minas Gerais. More people joined them, including other women expelled by the church; a community grew, shaped by gender equality and freedom of religion.