Abstract

In this article I will provide a critical analysis of the traditional maternal role and its social implications. In order to do so, I will examine the innovative potential of the, so to say, 'alternative forms' of motherhood, so as to show the controversial overlap between the classical figure of the mother and the possibility of a polymorphic notion of motherhood opened up by widespread social practices and medical developments. This enquiry will show that the collapse of womanhood into motherhood not only affects women's lives and their positioning in society, but also reinforces and underpins discourses which hold back broader cultural and technological changes.