Shifting views on the pregnant body: Filming the play Anatomía dunha serea

Abstract

Anatomía dunha serea (‘Anatomy of a mermaid’) () is a documentary theatre play in which the Galician actor Iria Pinheiro shares the experiences of obstetric violence she went through during and after labour. I filmed Pinheiro’s creative process when putting the play together. As I was filming, I found Anatomía dunha serea presented a reality that is still debated in Spain, disrupting the performative image of the pregnant woman that has been perpetuated in cultural production within western patriarchal society. In this article, I address how I use video essay as a research form to analyse the subversive nature of the play, looking at how Pinheiro uses parody as a device to disrupt, and how she confronts us with the image of the pregnant woman typically portrayed in films. Furthermore, what started as an investigation into the actor’s creative process turned into a personal exploration to understand more about the pregnant woman who infiltrates the Galician and Spanish imaginary. By analysing to what extent the image we get from films has been framed by the depictions of the pregnant Virgin Mary and how subversive portrayals in films are sometimes made invisible, I intend to challenge how we present the pregnant woman on screen.