Kamila, Khansa Fadia and Sulistyani, Hapsari Dwiningtyas (2026) REPRESENTATION OF MOTHERHOOD IN THE FILM “IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU”. Undergraduate thesis, UNIVERSITAS DIPONEGORO FAKULTAS ILMU SOSIAL DAN ILMU POLITIK.

	Text Cover_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (426kB)
	Text Bab 1_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Download (284kB)
	Text Bab 2_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Download (242kB)
	Text Bab 3_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (567kB)
	Text Bab 4_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (246kB)
	Text Bab 5_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (131kB)
	Text Daftar Pustaka_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Download (170kB)
	Text Lampiran_14040122190051_Khansa Fadia Kamila.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (607kB)

Abstract

Mainstream media have long portrayed mothers as patient, selfless, and able to
balance caregiving with other responsibilities, while contemporary cinema
increasingly shows the exhaustion and vulnerability behind this ideal. This study
examines how motherhood is represented in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025),
directed by Mary Bronstein, and whether the film challenges, negotiates, or
reproduces the ideology of idealized motherhood. Using a critical paradigm and a
qualitative approach, the study analyzes eight selected scenes through John Fiske’s
levels of reality, representation, and ideology, supported by Sharon Hays’ concept
of intensive mothering and the concepts of maternal vulnerability and double
burden. The findings reveal four connected themes: the pressure of intensive
motherhood, maternal vulnerability and the emotional burden of motherhood,
double burden and the unequal distribution of care, and maternal identity, agency,
and the struggle for control. The film challenges the image of the calm and endlessly
capable mother by making maternal exhaustion, guilt, and the need for personal
space visible. However, it does not fully reject the ideology behind Linda’s
suffering, since the expectation of constant maternal responsibility remains
internalized by the protagonist. The film is therefore best understood as negotiating
idealized motherhood, exposing its personal costs without offering a complete
alternative to it.
Keywords: motherhood; intensive mothering; maternal vulnerability; double
burden; John Fiske’s semiotics
206 ilmu komunikasi 2026

Actions (login required)

View Item