Ana Saavedra

Professor Suzanne Leonard

English-221
23 March 2016
All About My Mother - Queer Theory
Pedro Almodovars All About My Mother tells the story of Manuela, a single mother who
loses her son, Esteban, in an accident. Not having fulfilled her promise to tell Esteban about his
father, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in search of the father. We learn that Lola,
Manuelas ex-husband, is a transgender woman and drug-addict who had no clue that she had
fathered a child. During her search, Manuela has many experiences. First, she rekindles her
friendship with Agrado, a transgender woman who is also a prostitute. She meets Rosa, an HIV
positive nun, who is carrying Lolas child. Manuela finds herself working for Huma, an actress
who is dating her drug-addicted co-star, Nina.
Almodovar challenges compulsory heterosexuality by refusing to denote heterosexuality
as the default for the character in this film. Although the characters never explicitly state their
individual sexual orientations, the dialogue between them unearths queer romantic and sexual
encounters they have had. Manuela comments that she continued her marriage as well as her
sexual relationship with Lola after she began transitioning to a woman. Rosa, a woman, had sex
with Lola, a transgender woman, resulting in her pregnancy and HIV positive result. Nina and
Huma are in a lesbian relationship, yet Nina also expresses her desire to see Agrados penis and
at the end of the film is married to a man, giving the audience the assumption that she is
bisexual. All of these characters execute actions that challenge heterosexual norms.

Lola and Agrado both challenge heteronormativity in their relationships, as they are both
transgender women who are romantically and sexually involved with people of different genders.
As transgender women, Lola and Agrado break the heteronormative link between biological sex
and gender. They also break the chain between biological sex and gender presentation. Lola
engages in sexual encounters with assumedly cisgender women. Meanwhile, Agrado prostitutes
herself to assumedly cisgender men. The two challenge the idea that transgender women are
exclusively attracted to the same sex and also break heteronormativity, along with the rest of the
queer characters, in their actions. All the women, whether they are cisgender or transgender,
reinforce the chain between gender and gender presentation. All women present some feminine
gender expressions, such as long hair, femme clothing, and/or the use of makeup.
Manuela and Rosa challenge the gender norms the least out of all the characters. As
cisgender women, the two reinforce the chain between gender, biological sex and gender
presentation, as well as roles tide to and expected of women. Rosa is a nun who works with atrisk individuals and upholds the feminine stereotype of the caregiver. Manuela also portrays
herself in the same role due to her traditionally feminine occupation as a nurse. The audience
only understands and assumes they are queer once their romantic and sexual involvement with
Lola is addressed.
Though Rosa dies in childbirth, both women also carry out their cinematic archetype
roles as mothers. Rosa chooses to not terminate her pregnancy, and makes sacrifices for her
future son despite not knowing if she or the child will make it. Manuela fulfills her maternal role
first as Esteban's biological mother and caregiver and later on as Rosa caregiver during her
pregnancy. Finally, she becomes the adoptive mother of Rosas child ensuring her role as a
caregiver does not end with Rosas death. Both women are shown to be very sentimental; a

traditionally feminine trait. Rosa openly displays emotion when she discovers she is pregnant, is
diagnosed with HIV and sees her father and dog for the last time. Manuela is constantly
portrayed as a sentimental character in the moments when she makes emotionally driven
decisions, such as going to A Coruna after the man who now possesses her sons heart as well as
to Barcelona in search of Lola. Sensitivity is a trait closely associated with womanhood and
femininity, reinforcing the link between gender and expected gender roles.
The decision to make all of the main characters queer, yet not fetishizing their queerness
and, instead giving them roles outside of their queerness normalizes them. They possess other
traits outside of their expected gender roles and queer identities. Throughout the film, the
audience witnesses these characters constantly interact and, while their marginalized identities
are brought up, their experiences are not inherently hetero sexual. All individuals, regardless of
sexuality may experience the death of a child, an unexpected pregnancy, drug abuse or even
being a sex worker. These situations normalize them. Moments in which the main characters are
surrounded by secondary characters assumed to be heterosexual, reminds the audience of their
queerness and the significance this role has on them.
A major scene that highlights queerness and gender to the audience is Agrados
monologue on her life. She speaks to a crowd that was expecting to watch Huma and Ninas
play, not listen to her speak. Agrado focuses on the authenticity of herself as a woman,
commenting on the numerous surgeries she has had to make her body feminine. She ends her
monologue by stating that a person is more authentic the more they resemble the way they have
dreamt of being. This moment draws attention to Agrados identity not only as a woman but as
a transgender woman, as well as her authenticity as a woman while on a theater stage, where
actors attempt to portray characters with authenticity.

Agrados monologue can also be interpreted through performativity, which is the idea
that gender is made and remade by continually re-performing it. Since Agrado is on a stage, the
place where actors perform their parts over and over again, her transition as a transgender
woman can be seen as a continuous act to prove that she possesses the traits for what society
considers a woman to be. Transgender individuals also often feel the need to be passing for
their gender, both to alleviate dysphoria as well as reduce the risk of transphobic violence.
All About My Mother also presents itself to queer theory through its auteur. Pedro
Almodovar is an openly gay film director who incorporates gay culture into his texts. His
decision to integrate narratives about non-normative gender identities and sexualities in All
About My Mother makes the film appealing to queer and queer-allied audiences.
All About My Mother is a film from and for the queer community and its allies. With
main characters that display non-normative gender identities and/or sexualities, the film makes
visible and destigmatizing a community that is not commonly represented in mainstream media.
Overall, Almodovars All About My Mother can be of interest to queer theorist due to many of its
themes and representations of queerness.