Thinking Childbirth from an Emancipatory Perspective? Phenomenology and Psychoanalysis1

Feminist thought, despite the importance of its work, has not resolved the phenomenon of women's subordination in the care and education of children, and in society as a whole. Meanwhile, we are witnessing a gradual but continuous process of disconnection between women's bodies and subjectivity, and the conception, pregnancy and birth of children, due to developments in reproductive techniques. Considering this paradoxical tension, the author proposes to return to the very place where this subordination and anticipated rupture occur, to consider whether mothers could find there both the means to reclaim their childbirth experiences and potential levers for emancipation and rebirth, on both a personal and societal level. To this end, she describes, from the point of view of a singular woman, and from an emancipatory perspective, the phenomenological and psychoanalytical itinerary of childbirth by which this woman, in becoming a mother, is born to herself by giving birth to her child. By co-constituting the universal meaning of childbirth and becoming a philosophical mother, this singular woman operates a real paradigm shift in our representations of the mother and the metaphysical structure of the sexes.