“Chapter Thirty-Eight.” Jane the Virgin. CW. KSWB, San Diego. 28 Mar. 2016. Television.
The main claim from this episode is that although Petra should not be ashamed for experiencing negative emotions following the birth of her two daughters, she has been repeatedly exposed to the same dialogue that states motherhood is the most magnificent blessing in the world and nothing compares to raising a child, therefore Petra feels the need to be alone in her “shameful” postpartum experience. Since Petra has not been educated on the very real, and common occurrence of postpartum depression, she lacks the ability to acknowledge that her feelings aren't just going to go away on their own. Petra is showing signs of PPD and should …show more content…
This source made me realize that before watching this episode, I had not seen PPD portrayed in popular media, except in extreme cases where a mother murders her child. This source made me think about the urgent need to normalize the struggles of motherhood. This episode will help shape my argument because Petra’s character will serve as evidence for a number of reasons, including that most mothers feel ashamed or defensive when faced with the diagnosis of PPD. Petra’s character will also show that PPD has multiple factors that weigh in on whether or not a woman is more likely to be diagnosed with PPD. This source will work alongside, "Can't a Mother Sing the Blues? Postpartum Depression and the Construction of Motherhood in Late 20th-Century America,” because one of Held and Rutherford’s claims is that popular press frames how a woman should experience motherhood. Jane the Virgin, being such a widely viewed show, has the ability to challenge the notion that a mother must be filled with joy following the birth of her child, and expose women everywhere to a new way of thinking about PPD. This episode will also build upon the “social model” of disability brought up by the Ferguson and Nusbaum source, by demonstrating that it is not enough to simply help these people with disabilities, society must also care to understand how one’s personal experience is relevant to society as a …show more content…
The limitations imposed on this article are that since it does revolve around the effects of popular press on motherhood, the reader does not get insight to the attitudes towards PPD in rural areas. The article could be strengthened by demonstrating any correlation between mothers in modernized societies having more negative experiences surrounding childbirth, than mothers in rural areas who are not exposed to modern ideals. The audience for this source could include feminists, who are studying the history of their emergence and the role they have played in portraying motherhood. In addition, this text could be useful to any psychologist trying to better understand how the role of PPD has been shaped over time in modern society. This text was published in the journal of the History of Psychology, which is a well respected journal and to be published, the article had to go through rigorous peer-reviews to ensure the content was accurate and cohesively