COWAP: Beauty and Gender: A Psychoanalytic Perspective

Session 1: Beauty and the Maternal Body
Speakers: Patricia Alkolombre, PhD and Catherine Mallouh, MD

Saturday, May 9, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm EST
Via Zoom
1.5 CME/CE per session · 4.5 CME/CE total · Captions in all languages

Presentation Description:

The images of the maternal body and pregnancy throughout history reflect the different ideals of beauty and aesthetics that
prevailed in each period. These ideals are expressed in painting and sculpture, and later in images, whether photographic or
digital, and in various media.

These images reflect the place of women in each culture, their maternal role and the different vicissitudes they experience.
From paintings of Madonnas holding their babies—and hiding their pregnant bodies—to the present day, where women take
photographs of their bellies during pregnancy. Or they paint their own experiences of pregnancy, as Frida Kahlo did when she
captured her miscarriage in a painting as a way of processing it. We will approach these topics from a psychoanalytic
perspective.