Marcela Temer

Marcela Temer
First Lady of Brazil
Incumbent
Assumed office August 31, 2016
President	Michel Temer
Preceded by	Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva
Second Lady of Brazil
In office January 1, 2011 – August 31, 2016
President	Dilma Rousseff
Preceded by	Mariza Gomes da Silva
Succeeded by	Position vacant
Personal details
Born	Marcela Tedeschi Araújo May 16, 1983 Paulínia, São Paulo, Brazil
Political party	PMDB
Spouse(s)	Michel Temer (m. 2003)
Children	Michel
Residence	Alvorada Palace
Alma mater	FADISP

Marcela Tedeschi Araújo Temer (born May 16, 1983) is the current First Lady of Brazil, married to President Michel Temer.^[1]

Early life

Marcela Tedeschi Araújo was born on May 16, 1983 in Paulínia, São Paulo, to Carlos Antônio de Araújo and Norma Tedeschi. After graduating from the Escola Estadual Porphyrio da Paz, in her native Paulínia, Marcela worked as a receptionist for the newspaper O Momento. In 2002, at the age of nineteen, she won the title of Miss Paulínia, then moving on to share the state title as Miss São Paulo.^[2][3]

In 2002 Marcela accompanied her uncle Geraldo, a Paulínia municipal employee to the annual political convention of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). While there, Marcela met Michel Temer, a politician forty-three years her senior.^[4] The couple married on July 26, 2003, in a small ceremony.^[5]

In 2009, Marcela graduated with a law degree from Fadisp, a private school in São Paulo. In an interview, Marcela says that she never took the licensing exam because of the birth of the couple's son Michelzinho.^[6][7]

Controversies

Michel and Marcela Temer (right) at President Dilma Rousseff's inauguration ceremony on January 1, 2015

During the recent economic crisis, Brazilian and foreign media have criticized Marcela Temer's spending habits, characterizing her foreign trips, extensive remodeling of the executive residence, and money spent on clothing as excessive.^[8]

On May 12, 2016, Brazilian police arrested three people for attempting to extort money from Marcela after they hacked her personal internet account.^[9]

The conservative Brazilian weekly magazine Veja featured a profile of Marcela Temer in their April 18, 2016 issue.^[10] The title, "Bela, recatada, e 'do lar'" (translated as "beautiful, demure, and a housewife") portrayed Marcela as a feminine helpmeet. Almost immediately, Brazilian feminists outraged by the transition from the country's first female president Dilma Rousseff to a more conservative government responded on social media by posting memes of themselves that questioned Marcela as a role model for Brazilian womanhood.^[11]

References

1. CNN, Catherine E. Shoichet. "Brazil's interim leader: 5 things to know about Michel Temer". CNN. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
2. "Conheça um pouco da vice-primeira-dama Marcela Temer e da irmã Fernanda Tedeschi". Extra – Famosos. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
3. "Paulínia torce por Marcela na Alvorada". Estadão. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
4. Linhares, Juliana. "Marcela Temer: bela, recatada e "do lar" | VEJA.com". VEJA.com. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
5. "Foi uma atração forte". IstoÉ Gente. 11 August 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
6. "Para Marcela Temer, diferença de idade para o marido não importa". Estadão. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
7. "Entenda a polêmica após matéria com perfil de Marcela Temer". Diário Catarinense. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
8. "Brazil goes into economic free-fall but new first lady keeps shopping". Mail Online. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
9. Reuters (2016-05-12). "Hacker Arrested for Attempted Extortion of Brazil Interim President's Wife". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
10. Linhares, Juliana. "Marcela Temer: bela, recatada e "do lar" | VEJA.com". VEJA.com. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
11. Sims, Shannon. "The Hilarious Feminist Backlash To Brazil's Impeachment Fallout". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-05-24.