Trading a rifle for a child? Stories about the senses and meanings of motherhood in war.

Abstract

This article presents the main results of the research entitled Experiences of motherhood in war and the post-agreement period, which aimed to investigate the senses and meanings of motherhood experienced by female ex-combatants of the former guerrilla FARC-EP, in the context of war and in the post-agreement period. Through the life stories of Verónica and Elena, the 'other' forms of maternity that were experienced outside the traditional family model are recognized. In manifesting disobedience to social mandates, they, before being mothers, were above all female combatants who made their participation in war a way of escaping the private sphere that made them invisible and subordinate, due to their mere reproductive function. Their experience of motherhood in a context of war allowed them to create a new closer sense to a “free” and autonomous motherhood, making it possible to break with the hegemonic model of motherhood. Using the biographical method, with contributions from feminist theory and from the perspective of communication as a practice that promotes the production of meanings, motherhood is approached as a historical construction