The Second Mother: bioethical analysis on gender and class

Abstract

Movie screenings followed by debate can be used as a pedagogical resource for narrative bioethics, aiming to share perceptions and collectively expand the capacity to reflect and dialogue. In this article, we sought to deepen the analysis of ethical and political issues raised in a debate on the movie The Second Mother with students from a public university. The film makes a socio-historical rescue of the Brazilian formation, exposing ancestral antagonisms and a viscerally racist, sexist, and authoritarian culture. Collectively, the main key scenes of the movie were addressed and discussed in the light of social bioethics, based on previously recommended reading. The process led the students to problematize relations of gender, class, work, power, and symbolic violence in contemporary Brazil – necessary reflections in the context of higher education in health.