Geisy Villanova Arruda (born 12 February 1990 in Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian actress and businesswoman who became known while a student at

Bandeirante University of São Paulo Bandeirante University of São Paulo (in Portuguese, ''Universidade Bandeirante de São Paulo'' or UNIBAN) is a private university in São Paulo, Brazil. It is one of the largest institutions of higher learning in the country, with approximately ...

when her wearing a skirt caused a riot. Her eventual expulsion and readmittance was then followed by her decision to not return to the school.

Biography

On October 22, 2009, Arruda, an undergraduate student in Tourism, went to school dressed in a short dress, which caused her to be harassed by some of her fellow students. This caused a backlash based on moral grounds and ended with the student being harassed and verbally attacked within the university. She was forced to leave the school grounds dressed in a jacket and escorted by police who dispersed the crowds with pepper spray. Videos of the incident were uploaded to YouTube causing national repercussions. After the incident drew considerable national and international attention the actions of the university's students who harassed Arruda were denounced as

sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...

by the female wing of the Brazilian National Union of Students. The Order of Attorneys of Brazil asked for a public apology by UNIBAN to the student.

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

s Valter Pereira and Eduardo Suplicy spoke out against the incident. On November 7, 2009, the university used paid public announcement to declare that it had expelled Arruda from the university for "disrespecting ethical principles, academic dignity and morality." The university's decision was declared as sexist by the National Union of Students, which said that "the university was living in the caveman era" and believed the actions were very unusual. On November 9, UNIBAN decided to reverse its decision. Arruda's lawyers nevertheless were unsatisfied citing that she had suffered from seven crimes: abuse, threats, defamation, false imprisonment, obscene acts from fellow students, embarrassment and incitement to crime. That same day, an investigation by the Delegation for the Defense of Women in the municipality of

São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 844,483 (2020 est.) in an area of . History The city was founded b ...

was commissioned to determine whether there had been

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

. Despite having the expulsion repealed, Arruda decided not to return to her university. This whole incident made her a national celebrity. With her new fame, Arruda appeared on many television shows, posed naked and participated in Carnival. In 2022 she came out as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arruda, Geisy People from Diadema 1990 births Participants in Brazilian reality television series 21st-century Brazilian businesswomen 21st-century Brazilian businesspeople Living people 21st-century Brazilian LGBT people Bisexual actresses Bisexual businesspeople Brazilian LGBT actresses Brazilian LGBT businesspeople Brazilian bisexual people