The woman as an object for reproduction. A reading of «Maternidad» by Andrés Caicedo

Leonardo-Loayza R. · Desde el Sur (2026) · DOI: 10.21142/des-1803-2026-e0067

Resumen

This article analyzes Andrés Caicedo's short story «Maternity.» Its aim is to demonstrate that the text questions the institution of motherhood, which assumes that women must not only bear children but also care for them. The methodology employed is textual hermeneutics, utilizing categories such as reification, objectification, non-normative motherhood, ideological fantasy, the superegoic reverse, and cynicism. Among the analysis’s key findings is that «Maternity» dramatizes the place patriarchy assigns to women within the social fabric, treating them as objects, instruments for reproduction. The article concludes that Caicedo’s story makes explicit what patriarchal society conceals about women and the domination men exert over them.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal