Narrating embodied ambivalence: a dialogue about our “non-motherhood” experiences

Abstract

In this article, we share a dialogue about our personal decision-making processes regarding motherhood, the convergence of institutionalized motherhood and compulsory heterosexuality, and the possibility of actively choosing non-motherhood. We claim that our resistances to the mandate of hetero-patriarchal motherhood –as well as the ambivalences present in our decision-making processes– are forms of embodied transgression and rebellion. We find it relevant to rescue our testimonies as feminists living in the decades of 1990 and 2000 because we believe that by rendering political our own experiences anchored in our bodies, our social class, ethnic origin and cultural inheritance, we become part of a political collective and we build theory that serves as a ground to think about ourselves and about our gendered society. Thus, our testimonies contribute to the processes of making personal decisions, sustaining political struggles and defining the subjects of feminisms.