The Transnational Network of Research on Dispossessed, Violated, and Violent Maternities (REMA) has just released the fifth episode of the podcast “Threatened Maternities” (listen to the other episodes here), titled “Too Crazy to be a Mother?“
This episode addresses the (dis)encounters between race, motherhood, and madness by reconstructing the cases of Maria and Conceição (fictitious names), two Black women socially labeled as mad. They were treated at a Psychosocial Care Center (CAPS) III in Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, and were prevented from mothering their children.
The narration of these two cases of compulsory separation and deprivation of parental rights is based on the personal account of Ueslei Solaterrar (CLAM/IMS/UERJ and REMA), who worked as a professional and manager at CAPS III, and also used this experience as the foundation for his Doctoral research. The cases are commented on by Tamara Vicaroni (CLAM/IMS/UERJ and REMA), whose Master’s research investigates similar accounts from professionals in the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS) who worked with mothers using mental health services and who were separated from their children. The conversation is mediated by Laura Lowenkron (CLAM/IMS/UERJ and REMA), who supervised both research projects.
The debate about the cases focuses on the challenges that the (dis)encounters between motherhood, race, and madness raise for the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. The stories of Maria and Conceição highlight how these women, despite having their maternities deprived and violated, were not merely cases but became a cause for the CAPS team that treated them, through their antics, provocations, rebellions, and audacity in their attempts to assert their desire and right to be mothers.
More information:
Laura Lowenkron’s Lattes Curriculum
Ueslei Solaterrar’s Lattes Curriculum
Tamara Vicaroni’s Lattes Curriculum
Reference Videos:
Estamira. Documentary. Directed by: Marcos Prado, 2005.
Mothers and Children: Motherhood in the Context of Mental Suffering. Documentary. Directed by: Vládia Jucá. Institute of Psychology, UFBA (IPS). 2013.
Nise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtSXlyuMDzIda Silveira – Afterword: Images of the Unconscious. Documentary. Directed by: Leon Hirszman, 1987.
Reference Texts:
JUCÁ, Vládia J. S.; BARBOSA, Adilane S. Would the “mad” woman be a bad mother? Reflections on motherhood and madness. Revista Feminismos, v. 11, n. 1, 2023. DOI: 10.9771/rf.v11i1.53020.
PASSOS, Raquel Gouveia. In the Crosshairs: The Mental Health of Black Women in Question. São Paulo: Hucitec, 2023.
SOLATERRAR, Ueslei. (Sur)viving in the Zone of Near-death: The (Un)doing of Mental Health Care for Black People in the Pandemic Daily Life of Baixada Fluminense. 2024. 356 pages. PhD Thesis (Public Health) – Hésio Cordeiro Institute of Social Medicine, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2024.
SOLATERRAR, Ueslei; LOWENKRON, Laura. “I need to be well to take care of my child”: (Dis)encounters between race, motherhood, and madness. Antropolítica, in press.
SOLATERRAR, Ueslei; VICARONI, Tamara. “Am I not a woman?”: The deprivation of motherhood of “mad women”. REMA Column, Brasil de Fato, 11/12/2024. Available at: https://www.brasildefatorj.com.br/2024/12/11/e-eu-nao-sou-uma-mulher-a-destituicao-da-maternidade-de-mulheres-loucas
Production Credits:
Presentation and Script: Ueslei Solaterrar, Laura Lowenkron, Tamara Vicaroni
Script Editing: Irene do Planalto Chemin, Mariana Pitasse, and Lucía Eilbaum
Audio Editing, Sound Design, and Finalization: Irene Do Planalto Chemin
Theme Music: “Mulher no Mundo,” by Maria Tavares
Podcast Coordination: Lucía Eilbaum, Irene do Planalto Chemin, and Mariana Pitasse
Visual Identity: Alice Ohashy
Communication and Dissemination: Mariana Pitasse and Samara Costa
Funding: Pró-Humanidades Notice from CNPq
Text originally published on REMA’s website.
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