Women eat, mothers cook: motherhood and cooking practices in Western Brazilian Amazon

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-12902022211025pt

Keywords:

Domestic cooking, Gender performativity, Feminism, Qualitative research

Abstract

This paper describes and discusses how motherhood is practiced and represented in women’s domestic cooking practices in Western Brazilian Amazon. A descriptive and qualitative study was conducted with 16 women cooks using in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed by identifying the regular, expressive and significant units of significance. These women, when childless, cooked to meet their individual needs and out-of-home work schedules. During pregnancy, but specially after birth, women modify their cooking practices, appropriating the preconceived hegemonic ideas on what it means to be a mother, focused on homemaking and greater investment of time and effort. Such changes reinforce the belief that mother-child relations should involve intensive motherhood.

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Author Biographies

  • Mayara Sanay da Silva Oliveira, Universidade de São Paulo

    Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.

  • Ramiro Andrés Fernandez Unsain, Universidade de São Paulo

    Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.

  • Priscila de Morais Sato, Universidade Federal da Bahia

    Universidade Federal da Bahia. Escola de Nutrição. Salvador, Bahia, Brasil.

  • Mariana Dimitrov Ulian, Universidade de São Paulo

    Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.

  • Fernanda Baeza Scagliusi, Universidade de São Paulo

    Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.

Published

2022-09-22

Issue

Section

Original research articles

How to Cite

Oliveira, M. S. da S., Unsain, R. A. F., Sato, P. de M., Ulian, M. D., & Scagliusi, F. B. (2022). Women eat, mothers cook: motherhood and cooking practices in Western Brazilian Amazon. Saúde E Sociedade, 31(3), e211025pt. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-12902022211025pt