WS100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Postpartum Depression, Voluntary Childlessness, Social Stigma
Guest Speakers - Ann and Stephanie
● Society loves to watch mothers screw up - celebrities
● Motherhood is like misogyny on steroids - acts scrutinized
● Stigma because young mother, unmarried, stay at home mom
● Discrimination on social media if you don’t embody the “perfect stay at home mom”
● Tell you you’re not good enough - directly or indirectly shame - standards that cannot be
fulfilled
● Medical professionals may discriminate as well - assumptions, can be dangerous
● Why do these barriers exist?
● Traits attributed to motherhood (patient/nurturing/self sacrificing) - how we have
constructed idea of motherhood - nuclear family, parent binary, father provides →
damaging → not everyone will naturally be nurturing, etc
● Women most frequently diagnosed with ADHD or ADD within first year of having child →
when they are staying at home and have tasks to stay on top of is when barriers and
ways of coping crumble
● Competitive vibe of mothering → image of best mother
● Internet boards - women being mean to women about parenting styles → working out
own internalized misogyny on each other → many women who were in work force with
great careers, now at home 24/7, bored, working out boredom in aggression → make
themselves feel better
● Harder now because of social media, more invasive and detailed now → access to too
much information
● Pregnancy programs may not warn about social impacts and shaming
● Guilt about needing to organize home, emotional labour, however flack for not pursuing
own interests and identity
● Dad does one thing and considered amazing (takes kid to park and dad of the year)
● Women who are childfree also face social stigma - eg speakers sister’s doctor won’t tie
her tubes because she might change her mind - when are you considered an adult and
can do what you want with your body?
● Questions surrounding or implying children were a mistake
● Hard to access services for postpartum depression - hard to be believed, waiting lists,
stigma/shame bc motherhood is supposed to be most fulfilling thing women can do -
having kids is supposed to be best thing in your life
● Important to support each other and break thru competitive nature
● People commenting about “getting figure back”
● Hard to shut out voices
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Society loves to watch mothers screw up - celebrities. Motherhood is like misogyny on steroids - acts scrutinized. Stigma because young mother, unmarried, stay at home mom. Discrimination on social media if you don"t embody the perfect stay at home mom . Tell you you"re not good enough - directly or indirectly shame - standards that cannot be fulfilled. Medical professionals may discriminate as well - assumptions, can be dangerous. Traits attributed to motherhood (patient/nurturing/self sacrificing) - how we have constructed idea of motherhood - nuclear family, parent binary, father provides damaging not everyone will naturally be nurturing, etc. Women most frequently diagnosed with adhd or add within first year of having child when they are staying at home and have tasks to stay on top of is when barriers and ways of coping crumble. Competitive vibe of mothering image of best mother. Harder now because of social media, more invasive and detailed now access to too much information.
