The queer effect of matrilineal genealogies in Pedro Almodóvar's 'Todo sobre mi madre' (1999)

Abstract

How can alternative kinship formations begin to challenge heteronormative and patriarchal family structures? Matrilineal genealogies are not subject to the limitations of patriarchal lineages. They do not necessarily rely only on biological connections between family members nor do they reproduce traditional Oedipal or nuclear family structures. The inclusion of substitute mother figures in matrilineal genealogies points to the anti-heteronormative potential of alternative kinships formed through formal or improvised networks of women. These figures queer the limitations of the category mother, questioning the boundaries of the term by operating both within and outside of patriarchal notions of motherhood. Pedro Almodóvar’s 1999 film Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother) serves for me as a case study for investigating the matrilineal genealogies that obtain a spontaneous and improvised quality rather than reflect a normative family structure, instead incorporating friends, lovers, and even strangers. The matrifocal solidarity of the film indicates the subversive and utopian power of walking together. This paper begins by considering the idea of queer motherhood and then analyzes how Manuela as the mother without child, Manuela as substitute mother, and Lola as transgender father complicate the notion of family and the concept of mother.