Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Pandemic Narratives Navigating Pregnancy and Social Services in the Time of COVID

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/b56450231

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • This creative writing project employs the use of ethnographic fiction to position the voices of newly mothering women within the literature surrounding gender inequality, access to social services, and pregnancy while being situated during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The voices of four women are brought to life within a broader commentary surrounding mental health issues postpartum for mothers during a period of isolation, as well as a discussion in inequitable distribution of resources for those most in need of services, a narrative of self-loathing as a result of societal condemnation and shaming of those in poverty, and lastly of multigenerational family life and the blessing and struggles that that brought. These four narratives are placed within a conversation of the role of the State to provide the necessary services to meet the necessary dietary, health, housing, and other needs of those living below the poverty line, as is experienced by mothers and their families. These narratives are also situated within a critique of the State’s surveillance and control of marginalized communities within a more nuanced Foucauldian critique of the State’s biopower. Lastly, I situate myself within these narratives from my own unique perspective to voice how this process has transformed how I view myself within upholding systems of oppression, but also in giving light to the resiliency and autonomy in which I found these women persistent to provide for themselves, their families, and their communities, despite the structural failures that continue to block upward mobility.
License
Resource Type
Date Issued
Degree Level
Degree Name
Degree Field
Degree Grantor
Commencement Year
Advisor
Committee Member
Rights Statement
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

In Collection:

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details KetsdeverMichaelJ2021.pdf 2021-11-23 Public Download