Gendered Structural Inequality and Folk Illness Among New Mothers: An Autoethnography of Shutika

IntroductionThis article explores Shutika, a folk illness from the Barak Valley region in India, through both emic and etic perspectives. Shutika lacks a biomedical equivalent but carries deep cultural significance, reflecting how communities interpret suffering and healing. Situating Shutika within broader South Asian and global health discourses underscores the importance of recognising such illnesses as expressions of socio-cultural and political realities.MethodsAn autoethnographic approach was employed to capture the lived experience of Shutika. The emic perspective is conveyed through the author's narrative as a daughter observing her mother's illness, providing insight into local interpretations of causality, diagnosis, and cure. The co-author's etic perspective contextualises Shutika within medical anthropology and global health.ResultsThe emic and the etic account reveals Shutika as both a physical and social affliction rooted in gendered expectations and structural inequality of traditional interpretation of illness.Traditional healing practices offered meaning and comfort beyond biomedical explanation.DiscussionThe paper highlights the need for medical pluralism and collaboration between biomedical and traditional systems. Shutika emerges as a symbol of marginalised knowledge systems, calling for epistemic flexibility and culturally grounded approaches to global health.