Between the heroine mother and the absent woman: Motherhood and womanhood in the communist magazine Femeia

Abstract

This article explores the representation of motherhood and womanhood in the Romanian communist magazine Femeia and the extent to which this publication was a mere vehicle of the official pronatalist policy of Ceausescu’s regime. Two phases have been identified, overlapping both the evolution of the magazine itself and the Party’s ideology. The author metaphorically designates them as follows: (a) 1966–1971/1972, Almost the ‘Eternal Feminine’ and (b) 1973–1978/1979, The ‘Steel Woman’ and the ‘Maternal Glory’. Drawing on discourse analysis and social history, the article examines each of these.