Strong women and special mothers? Reflections on gender, care and motherhood in the context of post-zika epidemic in Brazil

Abstract

This essay aims to expand the debate about maternity and care provided by women-mothers of children with congenital Zika syndrome (SCZ), in the current post-epidemic context in Brazil, through a theoretical and political analysis, mediated through dialogue with scientific literature in the area of Social and Human Sciences. From an intersectional approach, which considers social, racial and gender vulnerabilities and inequalities, it discusses how these relationships influence the organization of care and the construction of motherhood for these women. We note that women are the main caregivers of the child, the result of an ideology of motherhood, situated in the sexual and social division of labor within a capitalist society, which imposes different responsibilities and duties for women and men in caring, reinforcing oppression and exploitation. In the context of congenital infection, the precariousness of life and the dismantling of public policies, there is an overload of responsibilities on special warrior-mothers who can compromise their physical and mental well-being, which so much aggravates the situation of social unprotection in which these women meet when they push them in search of collectives that strengthen them as political and rights subjects.