La construcción de lo femenino en la experiencia de la maternidad.

Abstract

This research analyzes how social expectations associated with the maternal ideal influence the construction of female subjectivity and the possibility for women to sustain themselves as desiring subjects. The relevance of this study lies in questioning the sociocultural mandates that have historically linked femininity to motherhood, generating ideals of perfection, self-sacrifice, and devotion that are often presented as natural and unquestionable. In this context, the objective of the research is to analyze how female subjectivity is constructed within the experience of motherhood in relation to the paradox between female desire and the maternal ideal. Methodologically, the study was developed through a mixed approach that integrates the theoretical analysis of the categories female subjectivity, female desire, and the maternal ideal, together with an empirical exploration of the experiences of mothers residing in the city of Guayaquil through surveys and interviews. The results show that motherhood cannot be understood solely as a biological or social function, but rather as a subjective process shaped by cultural mandates that generate tensions between personal desire and the demands of the maternal ideal. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the maternal ideal continues to operate as a normative reference that conditions the experience of motherhood and influences the possibility for women to recognize and sustain themselves as desiring subjects.