A young girl holding a white chicken in her arms with the blue sky in the background.

A 'women-only' village? The truth is much more complex—and fascinating

Noiva do Cordeiro in southeast Brazil is a community of tolerance and acceptance. Women have played a major role in shaping it.

Bruna Oliveira Fernandes, one of 350 or so residents of Noiva do Cordeiro in the mountains of southeastern Brazil, likes to play with chickens and often gives them pet names. Known as Noiva, the village was founded at the end of the 19th century.
Photograph by Luisa Dörr
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