My Postpartum Depression Consumed Self

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine my personal experience of

motherhood as it relates to navigating through postpartum depression. Through the methodology of autoethnography, scenarios and encounters were analyzed to depict my marginalized position as a new mother in a traditional Hispanic family and in a contemporary white supremacist hetero- patriarchal society. The theoretical framework of deviance, in particular labeling theory, was used to introduce alternative frameworks to the traditional culture of motherhood. Key themes included cultural values seen as gendered scripts that dictate the place of women within the motherhood realm. discussion of what the dominant culture deems normal is utilized to demonstrate the conflicts that an individual may experience when internalizing stigma around resisting the traditional roles womanhood. marginalization and implicit acts of othering, condoned by those perpetuating hetero-patriarchal values exhibiting normalized ideals, exacerbate the subordination of those who do not fit in this idealized matrix of motherhood.