Cinema ovariano: representações femininas matérias nos filmes Tudo Sobre a Minha Mãe (1999) e Volver (2006), de Pedro Almodóvar.

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the construction of femininity in Pedro Almodóvar’s cinema, particularly in the films All About My Mother and Volver, through the lens of gender critique, the study of female identity, and, above all, the role of motherhood as a central device in the narrative and in the symbolic and social control of the female body. In this context, motherhood is highlighted not only as an intrinsic and emotional human experience but also as a social construct laden with norms and expectations that regulate female behavior and reinforce mechanisms of control. The theoretical framework is grounded in the works of Laura Mulvey (1975), Simone de Beauvoir (1970), Judith Butler (2003), and Michel Foucault (1979), with emphasis on the critique of the male gaze, the historical roots of gender oppression, the performativity of femininity, and the surveillance and disciplining of bodies. These reflections are linked to the role of feminism in deconstructing traditional representations of women – especially mothers – within the artistic and cinematic landscape portrayed.