From progressiveness to perfection: Mothers’ descriptions of their children in print media, 1970–1979 versus 2010–2019

Abstract

In this article, I address how mothers’ public discourse about their children has changed over time by analysing 130 interviews with mothers published in Icelandic magazines and newspapers in 1970–1979 and 2010–2019. The analysis is framed by scholarship on intensive mothering and the affective aspects of neoliberalism, including Berlant’s cruel optimism. The results show that in the former period, children are depicted as equality minded and independent, echoing the then public debate about mothers’ participation in the workforce and gender equality. In the latter era, the children are characterised as talented, perfect, happy and spiritually inspiring for the mothers. This stark contrast between the time periods suggests that today, the feeling-rules of neoliberalism influence mothers’ public portrayal of their children. In that way, children have become proxies to the neoliberal and competitive pursuit of perfection as well as perceived pathways to the personal enlightenment of adults.