Symbolic confinement and sexuality: tensions between gender mandates and rights-based citizenship in conservative contexts

Abstract

In this article, we propose to problematize the notion of symbolic confinement in relation to women’s sexuality, reproduction, and non-procreation. This category refers to subtle forms of coercion expressed through social mandates, gender ideals, and stereotypes that limit autonomy and restrict life projects. The analysis, situated in the province of Tucumán (Argentina), draws on contributions from Community Social Psychology and feminist epistemologies, and is informed by empirical data obtained through interviews, observations, publicly available press materials, and institutional documents. The findings show how religious and conservative practices, together with insufficient state responses, deepen women’s double confinement—both subjective and social—by generating concrete barriers to access to sexual and reproductive rights. Furthermore, the study highlights the role of gender-disciplining discourses in the configuration of subjectivities. In sum, this article seeks to engage in a theoretical discussion of the category of symbolic confinement in light of empirical evidence and to critically reflect on the ways in which the patriarchal order produces and reproduces structural inequalities in access to rights.