A line drawing of a stork carrying an infant. The infant leans out of their cloth bundle to shout at a woman, who stands below: “Mommy, have you gotten my crib yet?”

A line drawing of a stork carrying an infant. The infant leans out of their cloth bundle to shout at a woman, who stands below: “Mommy, have you gotten my crib yet?” Pa’lante, November 4, 1963, p. 4.

“The Politics of Motherhood and Economic Scarcity through Cuban Cartoons, 1963,” invited contribution to Special Issue of Clio: Femmes, Genre, Histoire 41, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 219-227. Published in French as “Cuba 1963 à travers quelques caricatures: politiques maternelles et pénuries” and translated by Alice Bourgeois.

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This article analyzes 12 cartoons published in 1963 by Cuba’s Pa’lante magazine, which illustrate the centrality of pregnancy to conceptions of the Cuban Revolution. The criticism expressed by the cartoons called the government to task for ignoring the material needs of mothers and infants, individuals whom the Revolution claimed to support. Pa’lante’s concern would have been underscored by a soaring birth rate and goods shortage that prompted the periodical to suggest changes to government. policy. In this way, it took advantage of citizens’ right to critique daily life and thereby improve the Revolution. By indicting government leaders, state employees, and working mothers, Pa’lante demonstrated that Cubans of all levels could be held responsible for advancing the Revolution and its support of pregnancy.