Intensive Mothering Research Articles

Being ‘a good mother’ in Türkiye: negotiating expert advice and intensive motherhood

This study explores middle-SES Turkish women’s perceptions of being a good mother within a context-specific version of intensive motherhood and the intercessions of expert advice with their motherly subjectivities through a phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with three groups of 12 mothers each with children aged 0–6, 7–12 and 13–18, a total of 36 women living in Istanbul. According to findings, middle-SES Turkish mothers, in line with expert advice, shift their prioritisation of the child’s secure attachment to supporting the child’s future chances through education as they grow older. Mothers’ agency out of these concerns is a culturally positioned resource that enables social mobility. However, with the experience of mothering, these concerns are negotiated in everyday life and mothering practices are reflexively (re)constructed in a logic in which the subjective wellbeing of the mother and the child are sought to be brought together. This study argues that these negotiations are tied to increasing experience in mothering and the availability of conflicting expert advice.

“(Un)Being a Mother” Media Representation of Motherhood and Female Identity

This research examines the portrayal of (non)motherhood in television series from 2016 to 2022. The title, “(Un)being a Mother”, was deliberately chosen for its polysemic nature, facilitating an exploration of the complexities of motherhood, its absence, and the implications for womanhood. The study thematically analyzes 15 television series from Hispanic, Italian, and Anglo-American cultures to reveal the diverse perspectives on motherhood. Utilizing the frameworks of Intensive Mothering, Good Mothering, Good Enough Mothering, and Non-Mothering (including both childless and childfree women), the research aims to illuminate representations of motherhood, variations in mothering paradigms, and the influence of cultural and geographical contexts. This study introduces an innovative methodological approach by investigating recurring themes of (non)motherhood across different cultural productions, incorporating insights from media sociology, gender media studies, anthropology, and ethnographic media research for a comprehensive understanding of the subject.

Risk, emotion and responsibility: an analysis of the storylines used by vaccine hesitant mothers

Under processes of responsibilisation and individualisation in the ‘risk society’, as well as discourses of intensive motherhood, mothers are expected to make ‘good’ decisions regarding their children’s health. Consequently, decision-making concerning childhood vaccination becomes an emotionally challenging process, as mothers strive to minimise risk while simultaneously promoting and protecting health. Existing research shows that a substantial number of parents of young children have concerns regarding childhood vaccination. This article aims to examine how mothers who identify as vaccine hesitant dynamically construct risk, emotion, and responsibility when accounting for their decisions about childhood vaccination. Based on 15 in-depth interviews conducted in Belgium, this article reports the findings of a discourse analysis. For the latter, we draw on positioning theory and Lupton’s emotion-risk assemblage. The findings report three storylines that mothers discursively construct when discussing risk and responsibility in relation to childhood vaccination, namely a health promotion, a maternal protection and a critical healthcare consumer storyline. These storylines help to clarify the fluid and multidimensional nature of the mothers’ accounts of vaccine hesitancy. Furthermore, the findings provide empirical evidence for the use of the emotion-risk assemblage, as we find that vaccine hesitant mothers construct risk in relation to feelings of safety, control, empowerment, anxiety, fear, worry, intuition, vulnerability, being overwhelmed, pity and contempt. Overall, the findings demonstrate that when accounting for their decisions concerning childhood vaccination, hesitant mothers assume responsibilities within a context of social and gendered vulnerability, which affects their constructions of risk.

Different patterns of endorsement of intensive mothering beliefs: Associations with parenting guilt and parental burnout.

The unrealistic expectations rooted in intensive mothering beliefs can negatively impact maternal well-being. The present study investigates associations between intensive mothering beliefs, parenting guilt, and parental burnout using a person-centered approach. We first examined whether different profiles of mothers exist based on their endorsement of the five subbeliefs of the Intensive Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire. We then tested associations between these profiles and parenting guilt and parental burnout and whether mothers' demographic characteristics predicted profile membership. Using data from 291 mothers (61% White, 15% Black/African American) with at least one child under 6 years old, we identified four profiles of mothers. Two distinct patterns of intensive mothering endorsement emerged: mothers who exhibited consistent levels of endorsement across the five subbeliefs (i.e., high endorsement, moderate endorsement, and low endorsement) and mothers who were characterized by higher endorsement on fulfillment, stimulation, and child-centered but lower endorsement on essentialism and challenging (i.e., selective endorsement). Profile membership contributed to differences in parenting guilt and parental burnout. Parenting guilt was the highest in the profile characterized by the high levels of endorsement across all five subbeliefs (high endorsement) and was significantly higher than low endorsement. Parental burnout was the lowest in the selective endorsement and was significantly lower than in the high endorsement and moderate endorsement. These results highlight the heterogeneity of subscribing to intensive mothering beliefs and suggest that magnitude and patterns of endorsement of intensive mothering beliefs differentially contribute to parenting-related well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Digitally intensive mothering and unequal emotional work of Chinese mothers

ABSTRACT Due to the unequal gender division of labour in parenting practices, intensive mothering has been further reinforced in the digital age, amplifying mothers’ otherwise implicit emotional work. Using data from 70 self-narration cases of Chinese mothers during lockdown learning, this study found that mothers experienced four kinds of negative emotions – anxiety, anger, frustration and guilt during online learning, and adopted two possible coping strategies – active self-reflection and passive intervention by others. This study foregrounded the unequal emotional work of Chinese mothers, especially the vulnerability in emotion management among mothers at lower socioeconomic levels. This study revealed how the ideological discourses constructed by intensive mothering influence Chinese mothers’ emotions in digital educational involvement and the digital inequality it may trigger.

Tracing views of the intensive mothering discourse in Latvia and on Twitter (X)

ABSTRACT While each new generation since Latvia regained independence has been slowly edging toward libertarianism and equality, childcare in everyday life is still understood as primarily a woman’s burden, echoing both the intensive mothering discourse of Western neoliberal societies and patriarchal traditions inherited from the Soviet gender system. This article aims to map the saturation of ‘intensive parenting’ discourse and differences in opinion between Latvia’s population and Twitter (X) users by comparing the results of a survey involving both samples.

“It’ll be All Right, Everybody Has Children”: Regretting Motherhood in Iceland

ABSTRACT Social expectations of women as mothers significantly impact the reproductive decision-making process for those who have the potential for childbirth. This article focuses on women in Iceland who regret motherhood. It aims to understand how regretting motherhood is experienced and the consequences of living with a socially unacceptable emotion. Based on the results of in-depth interviews taken with sixteen heterosexual ciswomen who regret becoming mothers, we employ reflexive thematic analysis to explore the social and personal factors that promote motherhood and how they manage their regret. The results suggest that despite the intention of the participants not to become mothers, pro-natalist ideals, social assumptions, and expectations of women as mothers wield a powerful hold over the ability to reject the role. Many participants grapple with the expectation that all women want to become mothers, familial expectations, and the assumption that mothering is an inherently emotionally fulfilling undertaking. The findings also suggest that the discourse of maternal regret can be understood as a resistance to normative cultural motherhood expectations and intensive motherhood narratives.

"She Was Feeling Overwhelmed at Home Caring for Her Children": Expectations of "Intensive Motherhood" as a Risk Factor for Young Women's Suicide.

Suicide is a leading cause of death among young women and are perinatal mothers. This paper explores how expectations of motherhood played a role in young women's deaths by suicide. I question the notion that motherhood is a "protective" factor against suicide. Using the concept of "intensive motherhood," I interrogate how expectations of mothers became fatal. Through analysis of 31 young Australian mothers who died by suicide, three key themes are explored, centered upon the theme of "failing motherhood": mothering without a father, mothering with mental illness, and the loss of care of children.

Motherhood rights and digital activism: An interview with Francesca Fiore and Sarah Malnerich, content creators of the account @mammadimerda

The work of content creators and digital activists Francesca Fiore and Sarah Malnerich actively engages their followers to criticize both the outdated model of Italian maternalism and the current neoliberal discourse of intensive motherhood. Through their blog and Facebook and Instagram accounts, @mammadimerda, Fiore and Malnerich actively rebuke and critique the proliferation of media images of intensive motherhood as normative and successful. In particular, Fiore and Malnerich take issue with both the sacrificial mother model and the new momism neoliberal idea of the super-mom. They use the self-branding non-farcela (we can’t make it) motto as a feminist critique of gendered parental roles and systemic inequality in the workplace. In their stories and posts, they invite followers to share their experiences as ‘imperfect’ mothers, and they start and promote calls for action on better governmental policies for working mothers. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fiore and Malnerich actively mobilized their followers, creating petitions and social media campaigns aimed at pushing the government to re-open schools or provide financial aid in support of women’s employment. In this article, I interview Fiore and Malnerich about their digital activism on mothers and women’s rights in Italy, focusing on their campaigns on gender equality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

#adaywithMamaJen: An Analysis of Visual Self-Representation of Motherhood on Instagram

Motherhood is culturally expected and requires women to conform to societal ideology, creating 'good mothers' ideals and media commercialization. With the growing number of social media influencers, especially on Instagram, the study aims to examine the meaning of the visual self-representation shown by the Instagram account of Jennifer Bachdim (JB) and connects to the roles of motherhood portrayed by the account. The account showcases JB's work as a mother, entrepreneur, and influencer in beauty and wellness. The study applied but was not limited to, Machin & Mayr’s multimodal critical discourse analysis and Rettberg’s self-representation theory to analyze JB’s selected reels. The results indicate that JB's selected reels represent her notion of being 'busy' as a mother of four children, entrepreneur, and influencer; yet the representation that JB builds negates the presence of helping hands in her family life. Also, JB creates a self-representation of motherhood to attract attention and followers, influencing and reshaping the media's image of successful mothers, and reinforcing intensive mothering ideology. In the selected reels, JB shapes an image closely associated with her motherhood roles. Consequently, the increasing number of followers subsequently contributes to her expanding business deals.

Residual and emergent: Good mother ideals in China and the role of cultural values

AbstractObjectiveThe study aimed to explore how different groups of people perceive good mother ideals in China and the cultural and sociodemographic profiles of these groups.BackgroundGood mother ideals have changed over time and become increasingly complex. The prevalence of intensive mothering has been supported mainly by media representation research and dominated by Western‐focused studies. How tensions between Confucianism and neoliberalism alter the good mother ideas in contemporary China requires further investigation.MethodFirst, we used an open‐ended survey to collect good mother attributes. Then, we conducted a latent profile analysis with an online survey (N = 449) to divide people into subgroups according to their latent perception structures. Later, we ran multinominal logistic regressions to explore whether cultural values and sociodemographic variables can predict group membership.ResultsCollected attributes (N = 1,162) were organized into five categories: neutrality (37.87%), femininity (25.39%), motherhood (11.53%), family responsibilities (6.71%), and childcare responsibilities (18.5%). Moreover, we identified three groups holding different motherhood beliefs: Whatever, Average, and Perfectionist. Young people had higher odds to be in the Whatever group and held more flexible good mother ideals, and married women were 6.69 times more likely to be in the Perfectionist group than single men. Our findings also indicated that people in the Perfectionist group scored higher on attitudes toward family and Asian values.ConclusionOur research suggested that researchers must distinguish between dominant motherhood representation and lay perceptions of motherhood as well as pay attention to the cultural sensitivity of good mother ideals.

“Unless I could be like the typical dad”: Exploring parenthood through the perspective of the voluntarily childfree

Fertility rates have significantly declined in advanced, industrialized nations. The factors contributing to these swift demographic changes are diverse, but it is evident that women are opting for fewer children, delaying childbirth, and a growing number of individuals are choosing not to have children. Most studies on voluntary childlessness depict it as a growing phenomenon in Western societies and predict that the voluntary childless population will continue to increase. To explore this trend, examining individuals’ and couples’ fertility choices within the context of evolving parenting culture proves insightful. This study explores the concept of modern parenthood by interviewing 12 Icelandic voluntarily childfree individuals and five couples by examining the decision-making process associated with choosing not to have a child and exploring its connection to prevailing parenting norms. The Icelandic context provides an interesting research backdrop, given its emphasis on gender equality, diverse family structures, and policies that support both parents’ participation in work and childcare. The results indicate that women perceive the role of motherhood as mentally and emotionally draining, complex, and requiring significant personal sacrifices. This suggests that narratives of intensive mothering can directly influence and inform decisions on fertility in the Icelandic context where becoming a parent is seen as a choice, which can even stand in the way of personal fulfilment and autonomy. While the interviewees acknowledge the unequal responsibilities and duties of mothers and fathers, they do not question the individualism and intensity that characterize modern parenthood.

Online Mothering: The Empowering Nature of a Hashtag Movement Founded on Social Sharing and Stereotype Deconstruction

Online mothering is an arising and multifaceted phenomenon as the online world offers unique opportunities and risks in a particularly challenging period. The overall aim of this work is to investigate the features of the hashtag movement #itcouldbeme, which was born after a terrible news event concerning a newborn’s death, specifically concerning (a) the e-activation levels; (b) the emotional arousal; (c) the potential presence of deconstruction of stereotypes concerning intensive mothering. To investigate positioning, reactions, and emotions, a database of 394 online posts gathered from popular Italian social networks was created, manually codified, and analyzed through the chi-square test. The results enabled us to deepen the associations among these variables, thus revealing the opportunities for empowerment offered by the socio-cultural positioning, different emotional pathways, and adhesion to this online movement. Finally, implications for professionals and public health issues are discussed.

Outside and Inside the Arena of Othering: Notions of ‘Intensive Mothering’ Revealed through Post-Abortion Narratives

This article explores the reproduction of the practice of ‘intensive mothering’ as theorised by Sharon Hays via the theoretical lens of Othering. Examining 20 post-abortion narratives that were shared by women living in Perth (Western Australia), I interrogate the Othering practice that distinguishes those who practise intensive mothering and those who cannot or do not, creating a line of division between the ‘good mother’ and the ‘bad mother’. While Othering tends to be examined uni-directionally, along clear boundary lines such as ethnicity and gender, I utilise the concept of the ‘arena of Othering’. I argue that the process of Othering excludes some people from participating in abortion discourse while bolstering the image of the responsible Self. By studying abortion narratives, this article contributes to both sets of literature: motherhood and Othering, making possible an interrogation of ‘intensive mothering’ and offering the alternative ‘good enough mothering’ to resist Othering.

Go Ask Mom: The Gendered Dynamics of Color-Conscious Racial Socialization among White Parents

Abstract While most white parents avoid discussing race and racism with their children or tell them to be color-blind, recent research suggests that a growing number of color-conscious white parents intentionally talk with their children about racism as an ongoing, systemic issue. However, this research gives little attention to parents’ gender. Using interviews with 28 color-conscious white heterosexual parents, we examine how and why gender influences parents’ race-related conversations with their children. We show that, in theory, mothers and fathers share similar beliefs about race/racism and the need to discuss it with their children. In practice, however, mothers overwhelmingly shoulder these conversations. We trace this paradox back to mothers’ distinctively color-conscious refashioning of intensive mothering practices—which involves both personal and community-level work at the race-parenting intersection—that fathers do not undertake. This gender gap in parents’ personal/community work around race influences contrasting approaches to race-related conversations with their children, with mothers being more proactive and fathers being more passive. This dynamic ultimately casts race as a “Mom topic” within color-conscious white families. We argue that this can inhibit more egalitarian realizations of color-conscious white racial socialization and carries important implications for the sustainability and outcomes of these efforts.

“Sharenting to define mothering”: A grounded theory study of middle-class mothers in urban China

Sharenting, the practice of sharing parenting experiences on social media, has become a prevalent mothering practice across the world, including in China. This paper explored how Chinese mothers defined, constructed, and reconstructed their mothering through sharenting. Using a grounded theory approach, we conducted semistructured interviews with 23 urban middle-class mothers in China. Synthesis of the results revealed three distinct functions of sharenting that reflect a unique mixture of Western feminism and Chinese neo-familism: reinforcing mothering and motherhood, extending mothering through sharenting, and redefining mothering through sharenting. Furthermore, three discourses emerged: intensive motherhood, moral motherhood, and scientific motherhood. These findings provide vivid and nuanced evidence about the Chinese ways of shaping mothering through sharenting, deepening our understanding of sharenting as both empowering and oppressing the manifestation of mothering outside Western contexts.

Like a natural mom: social media influencers and digital maternal ambivalence in Italy

ABSTRACT This article focuses on Italian social media influencers whose celebrification is inextricably linked to their performances as mothers. Mom influencers are situated within an economy of visibility that functions to centralise the maternal body in processing marketing models and adopting specific trends and norms of the so-called platformisation of cultural production. I situate these content creators in the context of the ideology of intensive motherhood and the new momism, both of which are discursive ideologies framed in a neoliberal economic system. Through a multimodal analysis of three case studies’ Instagram posts, this paper aims to provide a new framework for understanding the self-branding of Italian mom influencers, interrogating how they operate in what I label as a digital maternal ambivalence. This framework acknowledges that – in order to stay relevant for the platform algorithms – mom influencers operate a constant negotiation between the pressure of adhering to idealised representations of motherhood and the need for re-presenting an authentic self, including affects, actions, and emotions that may contrast with popular understandings of what constitutes a good mother image.

Counter-professionalisation in collective childcare: The case of communities of care in Barcelona

Post-industrial transformations have significantly reshaped how young children are cared for outside the family home. Among other factors, the labour market participation of young mothers and a concomitant wish for intensive mothering have led to more diversified childcare solutions for the under-threes. Collective childcare projects (CCPs) promote approaches that are based on a home-like care environment and are run by educators and parents who have usually not trained in formal institutions but who become professionals in informal communities. Applying a discursive approach, this article asks: what characterises professionalism in CCPs? What type of professionalisation is being pursued? We analyse the case of Barcelona, using 45 interviews with association representatives, policymakers, campaigners, educators and parents. Our findings show the important role played by communities of care in defining professionalism and in consolidating a counter-professionalisation ethos, while evidencing their reluctance to pursue formal professionalisation.

“I feel like I am betraying my child”: The socio‐politics of maternal guilt and shame

AbstractIn this paper, we explore maternal shame and guilt as affective derivatives of social regulations of motherhood in Iceland, which is internationally perceived as a frontrunner in gender equality. We analyze 450 qualitative questionnaires completed by parents describing feelings of guilt and shame in connection to parenthood. We use 76 questionnaires completed by fathers to contrast and compare to answers from mothers to better understand the affective‐discursive workings of motherhood. The affective‐discursive analytical framework allows us to understand affective pulls, pushes, power dynamics and their social politics. The findings are contextualized in the Nordic welfare state, neoliberalism, the current ethos of intensive mothering. The recurrent thread running through the data is the idea of the ever‐present mother, and under this umbrella concept, we have developed two affective‐discursive themes: (i) the guilt of working (long hours) and having to arrange for childcare and (ii) failing to be 100% present for the child. We conclude that the emotions of guilt and shame are consistently present in mothers' lives, much more so than in fathers' lives, and that this gendered pattern is both caused by and serves to reinforce the age‐old cultural mandate that mothers are primarily responsible for child rearing. The marks of intensive mothering are evident in mothers' description of feeling guilty for everyday tasks such as working, cleaning, studying, arranging for daycare, sending their children to preschool, and attending to their own needs. This gendered pattern suggests that the gender equality cornerstone of the Nordic welfare state might be at risk as important institutions, such as preschools, are perceived as inferior to mothers' constant attention.

Vegan labor: the intensification of family foodwork at the intersection of dietary and gender norms

ABSTRACT Drawing from a case study of child veganism in Switzerland, I bring together parenting culture studies and food studies to ask how veganism relates to the ideology of intensive mothering. Describing five kinds of “vegan labor” – extra foodwork that vegan parents attributed to their vegan lifestyle –, I find that adopting an alternative diet intensifies parental commitment in a gendered way. Discussing these findings against the backdrop of the Swiss culture of nutrition and gender regime, I underline how examining alternative diets can further our understanding of parenting culture, gender roles, and foodwork. Intensive mothering relates to the local culture of nutrition and the meanings attached to specific diets; coupled with socioeconomic privilege, it can also serve as a resource to mitigate social scrutiny and judgment.