Beyond intensive motherhood: Performing online cross-border motherhood on social media

Abstract

Mamatzhik (Funny Mom) was founded as a closed Israeli maternal community on Facebook, available only to women for dealing with conservative patriarchal social demands. It became the largest online community in Israel, whose main preoccupation is young motherhood. A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews and posts posted on their Facebook page was conducted. Seeking to understand and explain the content characteristics of posts as well as interpretations and experiences of young mothers, our findings show that Mamatzhik offers an alternative and subversive identity for modern mothers, shaping a new liberal feminist maternal identity – that is, online cross-border motherhood. It also provides an online space that allows temporal ventilation from social pressures using online daily carnival entertainment shows. Mamatzhik also uses subversive feminist humor to challenge the ideology of intensive motherhood, which requires mothers to devote their lives to the benefit of their children at their own expense.