UPDATE: Apparently, Noiva de Cordeiro isn’t exactly the bachelors’ paradise it was made out to be by Western media. According to a recent article in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, the Belo Vale town isn’t that much different from any other rural settlement. Most of the women shown in the photos working in the field and doing chores are apparently happily married, and the population is made up of both men and women, in equal proportion. It’s just that the majority of men work in the city during weekdays, so they’re left tending to their homes and crops.
Unfortunately it’s been again confirmed that if something sounds too good to be true, it generally is.
Noiva do Cordeiro, a picturesque Brazilian town in the hills near Belo Vale, is one of the very few all-female settlements in the world. Its 600-odd female residents are mostly between the ages of 20 and 35. They all live by a strict set of rules that allows only women to dominate society – but now they’ve extended an invitation to potential male suitors.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the men they choose are welcome to live with them. All men – including husbands and sons above the age of 18 – are banished from Noiva do Corderio. They have to work away from home and can only visit during the weekends. Girl-power rules in this rural community, and women are in charge of every aspect of life including farming, town planning and religion.
It’s a interesting way of life, but the residents of Noiva do Cordeiro believe that it’s the best way to live. “There are lots of things that women do better than men.” said resident Rosalee Fernandes, 49. “Our town is prettier, more organised, and far more harmonious than if men were in charge.”
“We share everything, even the land we work on,” she added. “Nobody competes with anyone here. It’s all for one, and one for all. When problems or disputes arise, we resolve them in a woman’s way, trying to find consensus rather than conflict. And there’s always time to stop and gossip, try on each other’s clothes and do each other’s hair and nails.”
The unique town of Noiva do Cordeiro was founded in the late 19th century, when a woman named Maria Senhorinha de Lima left the man she was forced to marry, for the man she loved. She was branded an adulterer in her hometown in Minas Gerais state, and was chased out of town after the Catholic church excommunicated her and the next five generations of her family.
So in 1891, she went to live away from the local population, and was soon joined by several other single women and single mothers. The entire group was vilified by the locals as loose women and prostitutes. That’s when they decided to isolate themselves from the outside world, and founded the town of Noiva do Cordeiro.
In 1940, an evangelical pastor named Anisio Pereira married one of the women in the community. He then founded a church in the town and imposed strict puritanical rules on the women, banning them from drinking alcohol, listening to music, cutting their hair, or using contraceptives. When he died in 1995, the women of the town decided never again to let any man dictate how they should live.
So they completely dismantled the male-based organised religion he had set up, and since then, they’ve been making their own rules. “We have God in our hearts. But we don’t think we need to go to church, get married in front of a priest or baptise our children,” said Rosalee. “These are rules made up by men.”
Well, Noiva do Cordeiro sounds like a really great place to live in as a woman, except for one glaring problem – there are no men! Although the women of the town are strikingly beautiful, they just find it too hard to meet a potential partner or spouse. “Here, the only men we single girls meet are either married or related to us, everyone is a cousin,” admitted Nelma Fernandes, 23.
“I haven’t kissed a man for a long time,” she added, ruefully. “We all dream of falling in love and getting married. But we like living here and don’t want to have to leave the town to find a husband.”
So to solve the problem, the town’s leaders came up with a proposition – eligible bachelors are welcome to come to the town to meet its women, but only if they’re willing to adapt to living in a woman’s world. “We’d like to get to know men who would leave their own lives and come to be a part of ours,” explained Nelma. “But first they need to agree to do what we say and live according to our rules.”
Living in a women’s world may not come easy to most men, but considering how pretty the girls in Noiva de Cordeiro are, I’m pretty sure many bachelors will put their pride aside in a heartbeat.
Photos: Facebook
Sources: Mirror.co.uk, Globo
