Reference no: EM133325025

Explain and describe how the Structural Functionalism is a theoretical perspective of this story and provide a root metaphor.

This narrative will describe the relationship between my in-laws, the ones I am living with now, my parents, and myself (Nallely). Let's start from the beginning, where my trauma and the reason for my unstable mental health were. I was born in Mexico on March 3, 1993, in a small town where my parents did not have the resources to keep living a stable and good life, even though my dad was working here in the United States while my mom was playing the role of both mom and dad doing a fantastic job raising me. My mother was a super mom who went through a lot with her in-laws (my paternal grandparents); they made her life miserable because she was not the woman, they were hoping for their son to marry. My whole childhood, we did not count on my dad's side of the family's love, but that did not stop my parents from making sure to give me extra love; but some point, it was not the same. My parents married because of love, but my mom suffered her first years of marriage because of the domestic and physical abuse from her in-laws while my dad was away working. The years passed by, and the older I got, the more I became aware of my mom's situation. At some point, I started to hate my dad's side of the family. Later the goal of the perfect marriage and family covered my entire mind, but at the same time, I promised never to let myself get bullied in exchange for love. Maybe I was too young to understand why my mom did not say anything for many years and why she did not walk away from that family.

When I was fourteen, my parents decided that the best decision was for us to leave Mexico and start a new beginning in the United States. I was excited about the new adventures and opportunities my parents were providing. After leaving my toxic grandparent's behind, I thought I was finally going to live the life I was hoping for, but that did not happen; my parents started having some conflicts in their marriage, and fights often happened. Once again, the thought of having a happy family was crossing my mind when I pictured the perfect husband and in-laws since I was little. I was having difficulty working on my emotions because of all the trauma I had lived. I was not paying attention to people's true colors around me because what only mattered to me was to live the perfect life where I would be accepted. Hence, I tried to fit everyone's needs and likes, trying to meet expectations because I feared getting rejected if I was not the perfect girl/woman.

At the age of twenty-four, I found myself pregnant, my partner Marcos six years of relationship, was happy, but on the other hand, his parents started having problems with me and the fact that I had a baby, which I could not understand. But little I did not know was that my hell was approaching, and my hope for the perfect family was leaving from the front door. Marcos decided for us to live with his parents while we were getting economically stable. Still, the relationship between Marcos and his family was getting complicated, and I felt something was going on behind my back. Still, I tried not to overthink because I did not want to ruin my goal of the perfect family. Later, the truth came out, and I found out Marcos was cheating on me before my pregnancy and for two more years because the girl he was cheating on contacted me and told me she was the one he loved, and I was on her way. It took me lots of strength to confront him, he told me he was leaving her, and he asked for forgiveness and his parents, too. Because they knew everything since day one but decided to keep quiet instead, they mistreated me and told me the story of he was a man. Ultimately, I stayed with him to get the happy family I always dreamed about. Marcos is helping me financially with our daughter and paying all the bills while I can use my money to pay for my school. In the end, I do not know if I did right to stay, but I want to believe we can work things out.

On the other hand, I am afraid of not being able to support my daughter on my own and being able to pay for school if I leave. I still love him, but I feel insecure because he is not the same but does not mention anything about breaking up. Maybe he only does it for his girl and is waiting for me to finish school; I do not know. At this point, I find myself lost and who I am during this journey.