REGULATORY IDEALS ABOUT PREGNANCY AND MATERNITY FOR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN IN NORTHERN CHILE

Abstract This article analyzes regulatory ideals about pregnancy and parenthood among young men and women attending both public and private high schools in Antofagasta and Calama, Northern Chile. We looked at gendered and socio-economic dimensions in their subjective and social constructions. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The findings suggest four regulatory ideals framing the construction of a youths as social subjects: ideals centered on adulthood; gender ideals; religious ideals; and family ideals. Those intervene dinamically, as a socio-cultural regulating framework in the construction of youths as subjects, and in their discourses on pregnancy.