In this article, we analyze the representation of motherhood in La Perra (2017) by Pilar Quintana. Our hypothesis assumes that, in this novel, there is an operation to dismantle the social mandates to which women are subjected if they wish to be considered authentic mothers. These mandates are oppressive for them, even worse if they are updated in contexts of poverty that generate extreme reactions in women, among which the emergence of violence can be recognized. We conduct our study based on the theoretical contributions of Adrienne Rich, Cristina Palomar, Massimo Recalcati, Jacqueline Rose, Orna Donath, Judith Butler and Byung-Chul Han.