How is motherhood represented in Spanish series?

A recent study has analyzed the relationship between real family models and those that appear in fictions of the television drama genre. The results show that there has been progress regarding the representation of motherhood in Spanish fictions of the first decade of the 21st century.

Writing / Irene Vega

The female characters have been studied in this work with the objective of analyzing the representation of motherhood in the dramas Spanish films - a genre that mixes drama and comedy - distributed through video-on-demand platforms. The scientific team has examined the plurality of maternal figures, their interaction with the current socioeconomic context and the evolution of the protagonists' narrative plots. Specifically, it has focused on its main motivations, the presence and connotation of processes related to motherhood, the demographic characteristics of the maternal figures existing in the fictions and the evolution of the narrative discourse of the protagonists.

“The women protagonists of the dramas Spanish women have great knowledge and control of their reproductive processes and, although being mothers is not a priority for them, when it is, they depart from traditional stereotypes. In these fictions, decisions about motherhood are represented as the result of individual impulses, which highlights the absence of commitment to the current social context," explains Lorenzo Torres, professor of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the URJC and co-author, together with Mariona Visa and Isabel Menéndez, of the study published in Íkala, Magazine of Language and Culture.

After conducting a comprehensive analysis of data collected from six dramas Spanish films created between 2018 and 2022, such as Small Coincidences (Javier Veiga, Prime Video, 2018) or Perfect Life (Leticia Dolera, Movistar, 2019), the article demonstrates that the dramas current ones mark an advance with respect to the representation in Spanish fictions of the first decade of the 20th century. “The analysis of the representation of reproductive processes and the construction made of them from cultural works is very pertinent due to the current social context,” says Lorenzo Torres. “The concept of family has undergone a great transformation in recent decades, diversifying its models: couples without children, combined families with children from previous unions, single-parent families, homoparental families, transgender families, etc., and they have also been notable the advances in assisted human reproduction,” he adds.

For greater inclusion and social awareness

Among the conclusions of this study, the authors highlight that the results obtained can be useful for content creators - scriptwriters, producers or directors - and that they can use them to reflect on the current representations of motherhood in series, consider how they can diversify and enrich their narratives. “This could lead to the creation of more inclusive and representative stories,” says the URJC professor.

Furthermore, the study concludes that the research could feed public debate on the representation of motherhood in the media and its relationship with contemporary society. Lorenzo Torres defends that “these results could raise awareness among the audience about the importance of addressing issues such as diversity, choice and economic reality in television narratives. The lack of engagement with the social context surrounding motherhood, noted in the findings, could spark discussions about the need for policies and practices that more critically and thoughtfully address the challenges associated with motherhood. This could influence political decisions related to gender equality, work-life balance, and reproductive rights.”

This research is completed with a video essay published in the magazine Tecmerin: "Do you really want to have children?" Off-screen motherhood in Spanish dramas.