The social construction of motherhood in Mexico and women who decide not to procreate

Abstract

Abstract. This article*** refers to the sociocultural implications of being a woman and not being a mother in the Mexican context, characterized by having an extremely traditional family model. In Mexico, any family structure that gets out of the heteronormativity, including homoparental families, single parents, LGBTTTIQ+ couples and couples without children, is questioned, judged and criticized. The approach is made mainly from the feminist epistemology, since, from politics and criticism, it makes visible the unequal power relations that exist between men and women, as well as the gender roles that have been imposed socio-historically on each one, which are legitimized by the discourses of science, religion and patriarchy, generating that men continue to be the main occupants of the public spaces and women of the private spaces such as the home and what it essentially entails: motherhood. As Saletti explains, one goal of feminist theory is “to analyze the construction of social discourses about women” (2008, p. 169), one of them being motherhood. She also states that “by revealing the constructed character [of maternal practice], it demonstrates that the social imaginary about it, is shaped by diverse representations that identify motherhood with femininity, providing a common ideal for all women” (2008, p. 170). That is why the article addresses issues such as gender roles, mother­hood, science, patriarchy and how these aspects impact or influence women who have decided not to be mothers.

Keywords: motherhood, social construction, gender, power, child-free women.