“TENHO CUIDADO MAIS DOS OUTROS DO QUE DE MIM”: MÃES SOLO E TRABALHO A PARTIR DA VIVÊNCIA DA PANDEMIA DE COVID-19

Abstract

This article presents a section of the research project “Now they’re the ones: the COVID-19 pandemic told by women,” which included the participation of nearly six thousand women. Through a questionnaire containing both open and closed questions, we aimed to access women’s narratives about their experiences during the initial period of the pandemic. For the present study, we focused on the responses of 91 women who identified themselves, in the research, as the sole providers for their children (solo mothers) and self-employed workers. The analysis of the narratives was conducted using the psychoanalytic method, establishing a dialogue with theoretical frameworks grounded in feminist theories on the sexual division of labor, the social construction of motherhood, women’s subjectivation processes, care and self-employment. As a result, we identified three main categories in the experiences narrated by self-employed solo mothers: self-care versus care for others, household care, and financial support. The narratives reveal a significant physical and, above all, psychological burden on these women during that period, serving as a starting point for broader debates on motherhood, familism, the feminization of care, and the (lack of) social policies aimed at its democratization, even after the pandemic.