At the first general audience of the year, held on January 5 at the Vatican, Pope Francis declared that denying motherhood and fatherhood would be a form of selfishness and deplored the fact that pets “take this place.”

Despite the pontiff’s recent statement, debates about the position of animals in Brazilian families are often fought among people who believe that a pet can be considered a child and those who understand that motherhood goes beyond raising a pet. This is the topic for this Friday’s aDiversa podcast episode (2).

In the issue, the guests spoke with their pets and discussed a hot topic. – Photo: Disclosure/ND

Hosted by Luciana Barros, university professor and doctor of linguistics Vanessa Gosdernath, anthropologist and doctoral student Ana Pacheco dos Reis Varan, and doula and photographer Cristina Sousa are participating in the edition. Danilo Duarte, journalist NDTVis also part of the episode.

pet parents

Vanessa Gosdernat considers herself the mother of João Emilio, the dachshund sausage, from the moment she adopted the animal.

“My parents have a couple of dachshunds and they had seven litters. My husband and I stayed with one of them and moved to Florianopolis with this new son. It was then that I became a beloved mother, ”she says.

Similarly, journalist Danilo Duarte also considers himself Lord Shih Tzu’s “beloved father”. “I treat the Lord like a son, I call him a son. I look at him and say that he understands what I’m talking about, but I think we are very romanticizing this issue.

Mother of pet X human mother

Cristina Souza is the mother of two children and the guardian of five cats and two dogs. For her, there is a difference between motherhood and raising pets.

“It’s okay when you say you’re the mother of a pet or a plant, the problem is that you think it takes the place of motherhood.”

According to her, being a mother involves issues that go beyond loving and caring for a child.

“Motherhood is not synonymous with love, motherhood is political. Do you want to know what a mother is? Ask the community. I believe that motherhood should be synonymous with struggle, not unconditional love, because behind the mother is a woman.

About aDiversa

The aDiversa podcast makes room for everyday women’s issues. The episodes feature Lucian Barros and air every Friday at 7am on the Diversa+ page.