The Femme Fatale and the Anarchic Sisters: Redefining Care Work and Gender Roles in Ema and “La comunidad del azote”

Abstract

This paper compares the film Ema, directed by Pablo Larraín (Citation2019), with the short story “La comunidad del azote,” written by Natalia Berbelagua ([Citation2011] 2017), focusing on how they both challenge the naturalization of women’s roles as caregivers and reproductive laborers. Both works are set in Valparaíso, Chile and follow groups of violent, joyful, and anarchic women who revolt against the imposition of traditional care work responsibilities and gender roles dictated by the heteronormative happiness script, the idealized figure of the angel of the house, and Marianist feminine values. Ema proposes a redefinition of the femme fatale and the institution of family, while “La comunidad del azote” presents a revenge fantasy against patriarchal society. This paper also examines other feminist themes in these works and draws parallels between them and Latin American movements such as LasTesis (Chile), Ni Una Menos (Argentina), and the Marea Verde (Argentina), particularly in their joyful yet incendiary occupations of the streets, their values of sisterhood and desire, and their portrayal of gendered violence.