1 Introduction
1.2 Motivations
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to take a further look into how these stereotypes affect Taiwanese mothers in self-presentation on social media. I take an important step to explore mothers from a cultural aspect to grasp a better understanding of both Taiwanese mothers and society.
Few studies have focused on the influence leveraged by society when it comes to self-presentation on social media, as well as probing into a more profound aspect of the perspectives of mothers.
1.2 Motivations
This research looks to uncover the current situation of mothers in Taiwanese society and discuss the ideologies constructed vis-à-vis Instagram influencers.
My father works as a teacher at a university, while my mother quit her job a long time ago to take care of us. Since my father supplies financial support in the family, she feels obligated to manage everything apart from making money. Also, I’m perplexed about why a mother is responsible for the chores while a father works outside, existing as the phenomenon that prevailed in the patriarchal systems.
It is intriguing to me that the mothers I’ve followed for years manifested themselves mostly in a positive way on Instagram. Compared to my mother’s whinings about her living as being a homemaker, the mother influencers shared their lives with happy expressions and even fancy pieces of jewelry.
Instagram mother influencers give rise to the following questions: Are they influenced by good mother ideologies that have long existed in the patriarchal system?
Is it a kind of self-empowerment when mothers manifest themselves positively to the public? Are mothers satisfying themselves through the reproduction of a good mother impression?
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1.3 Scope and Objectives
This study probes into mother influencers’ self-presentation on social media, especially based on their background and motivation. Prominent researchers from related fields have presented diverse insights into social networking sites. However, the current research approaches the domain from a different angle by focusing on mother influencers.
First, rather than solely identifying the patterns of mother influencers’ presentation on Instagram, this study shall discuss the viewpoints from the mother influencers.
Second, this study provides a more profound understanding of mothers’ tactics and perceptions on self-presentation in an online environment via in-depth interviews.
Third, this study unveils the contextual meanings of such self-presentation so as to understand mothers’ construction of self when presenting themselves publicly.
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Chapter 2
Literature Review
This chapter first discusses the origin of self-presentation. Second, it illustrates the theory in an online environment due to the proliferation of the Internet and mobile technologies. Third, I review the prominent literature that talk about mother ideologies existing in patriarchal systems. Fourth, I discuss the current situation of mothers in Taiwan. Lastly, a summary appears at the end of this chapter.
2.1 Influencers’ Self-presentation on Visual-based Instagram
Erving Goffman (1059) initially brought up the concept of self-presentation in 1959, but only focused on face-to-face communication (Ward, 2016). The theorization of self-presentation originated from Goffman’s study, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,” elaborated through a dramaturgic approach (Goffman, 1978). It
depicted the management of self-presentation as a performance on stage (Goffman, 1978), focusing on the “role” people solely play (Leary & Kowalski, 1990, p.35). In other words, impression management takes place in the presence of strategies and tactics of presenting oneself toward a different audience or depending on different occasions. With the strategies and tactics of self-presentation, Goffman stated the purpose of disclosing or concealing information to portray oneself strategically and desirably is linked to pleasing the audience (Baumeister & Hutton,1987). Aside from pleasing the audience, people can also present themselves by matching their ideal selves through self-construction (Baumeister & Hutton, 1987).
Leary and Kowalski (1990) referred to self-presentation as a process of individuals’
attempt to control the impression forms of themselves. These scholars specified
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impression management as the process of impression motivation and impression formation, which include the degree of motivation over which people control their images as perceived by others, as well as the process of creating their impression upon others (Leary & Kowalski, 1990). They further noted that the influence of both the mental and external parts of individuals should be taken into account (Leary &
Kowalski, 1990). Such a statement amplifies the importance of studying self-presentation from the mental and external aspects, which prominent researchers have done extensively in recent years.
2.1.1 Self-presentation in an online environment
With the significance of the theory and the popularity of digital interactions, scholars have considered that self-presentation does not just exist in a face-to-face environment. They continually have adapted Goffman’s ideas to electronic environments and discussed related effects and behaviors involved in the presentations of people’s selves (Ward, 2016). Such studies in the literature grant us a more multi-faceted knowledge of self-presentation.
Bozeman and Kacmar (1997) found that individuals tend to have a specific goal and present their selves accordingly by regulating their self-presentation. People regulate their self-presentation very well when they consider self-regulation as being vital in the process (Vohs, Baumeister, & Ciarocco, 2005). On the other hand, some theorists claimed that individuals could be selective when presenting themselves online.
Profiles selected for self-presentation in a computer-mediated environment (Hancock
& Toma, 2009) are a carefully-controlled type of selectivity of self-presentation (Walther, 2007).
People also select photographs in a computer-mediated environment for
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strategically to make their profiles more accurate or to possibly match their own expectations of themselves. Especially in a social media context, people will construct
“treasured aspects of themselves” digitally (Toma, 2013, p. 201). White (2016) also stated that social networking services have a way of making self-presentation rather distinct. Applying selectivity of self-presentation to Instagram’s profiles, scholars found that Instagram users are more aware of selecting images to foster their “self-concept” than in making connections with others (Jackson & Luchner, 2018, p.2). In a sense, people might purposely select pictures of themselves on Instagram, which Chae (2017) considered to be the process of editing.
Several studies on Instagram present different roles and characters’ self-presentation. Smith and Sanderson (2015) examined athletes’ self-presentation by analyzing the contents of Instagram feeds. Geurin-Eagleman and Burch (2016) examined Olympic athletes’ self-presentation to get a further understanding of their behavior and intention toward self-presentation. Related to gender expectations, Gainor (2017) also dug into the field of athletes’ self-presentation.
Sarita and Suleeman (2017) measured the correlation between the need for belonging and self-presentation on Instagram via the Need to Belong Scale. Scholars have also investigated adolescent girls concerning the manipulation of Instagram photos (Kleemans et al., 2016). Hurley (2019) emphasized Instagram as being a helpful resource for exploring presentations of identity (Hurley, 2019). The current study thus hopes to shed light on influencers’ presentations on Instagram from a more explorative way in order to grasp a better sense of participants’ viewpoints.
Social media have made people become more capable at multi-media presentations and changed celebrity cultures through influencers (Li, 2018). People who are not recognizable enough in the real world could be famous as an influencer
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through the Internet (Li, 2018). The proliferation of influencers has contributed to the practices of presentation on social media. By utilizing strategic tactics of self-presentation (Senft, 2013), influencers attract followers online (Marwick, 2015;
Khamis, Ang & Welling, 2017). Instagram grants influencers an opportunity for modifying their self-presentations into idealized ones that they could not achieve in an offline world (Hurley, 2019). Our study investigates Instagram influencers from a different angle and towards a specific aim - Taiwanese mothers.
For mother influencers, if they tangle themselves up with any socio-cultural factor when presenting themselves publicly, then their behavior and perspectives towards managing their presentations are more distinct compared to other roles. This is an intriguing topic to probe into and thus allows this research to present its cultural perception in terms of Taiwan. The next section discusses mothers and their relation to East Asian society.
2.2 Uncovering the Good Mother Ideologies
Celebrated mothers on Instagram mainly share their inspirational pictures, styles, and care-free lives (Djafarova & Trofimenko, 2017), instead of the harsh hours spent at nurturing kids and doing chores. Djafarova and Trofimenko (2017) noted that the followers of the celebrated mothers are obliged to keep positive online images to match the “perfect mother” theme on their social media profiles (p.25). Hence, this research is curious about the fact that mothers only reveal positive images to the public and ponders over whether there are good mother ideologies to follow.
2.2.1 The common theme
A “common culture of motherhood” has been derived in the literature, although
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2008). Speaking of commonness, the discourse of motherhood is often presented in terms of “good mother” (Liamputton, p.26). The ideology of “good mother” is pervasive among different cultures and has emerged with a “consistent theme”, such as mother’s devotion (Herr, 2016, p.47). The construction of the ‘ideal mother’ ideology has considerable influence on mothers’ identities and viewpoints.
The period in life when women transit into mothers is often perceived as a harsh time and can lead them to question about whether they are “good mothers” (Brunton et al., 2011). A “good mother” is a woman who grants the priority job as nurturing her kids, as portrayed in diverse materials (Chodorow, 1978). Mothers even cover the expense of mothering on their own, while fathers are sometimes free from the job of child-nurturing (Hertz, 2017). As cited in Kim and Okazaki’s study (2017), Hays (1996) referred to motherhood as the paradigm of a good mother, in which “intensive mothering” can be “child-centered, expert-guided, emotionally absorbing, labor-intensive, and financially expensive” (p.8).
Mothers feel obligated to follow mothering ideologies in patriarchal societies in order to prevent themselves from any accusation of being bad mothers (Holmes, 2006).
A patriarchal system has men focus on work, while women internalize the motherhood myths and the necessity of being mothers in their minds (Holmes, 2006). Patriarchy unavoidably defines motherhood as being the only function of women (Holmes, 2006).
Thus, the construction of patriarchy is undeniably a means to revisit good mother myths.
The definition of a good mother has subordinated women in both traditional and patriarchal-dominated meanings through social construction (Holmes, 2006). Society regards motherhood as necessary for defining gender, which is a topic that feminists have debated over for many years (Holmes, 2006). Finlayson (2016) identified patriarchy as a crucial element in feminism, in which feminism is depicted as something
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people have fought for, but which the status quo has bound them (Finlayson, 2016). In a sense, the patriarchal system, which feminism opposes, provides a context for women to thrive for their emancipation and improvement in their lives (Finlayson, 2016).
2.3 Being Mothers in East Asia
Liamputtong (2006) stated motherhood is a culturally-derived performance of mothering. In a relevant East Asian circumstance, the ideology of good mothers represents the traditional role for females (Zuo & Bian, 2001). Given the appropriate context of this research, I aim to traverse the discourse of mothers culturally and geographically as it relates to Taiwan.
Studies have shown that mothers in the East Asian context reflect an intensive mothering ideology (Kim & Okazaki, 2017). The ideology exerts its significance in the discourse of East Asian mothers. Stivens (1998) depicted mothers as “indulgent, loving, and nurturant” (p.327). A wide array of examples are given in East Asian contexts, such as mothers should pay more attention to what is beneficial for their kids instead of what could relax themselves (Imamura, 1996), and mothers should be well-prepared for their children’s school life before it has started (Imamura, 1996). The ideology has affected women in Japanese society and disciplined them with “full, busy, active” mother ideologies, thus failing to give them their free time (Imamura, 1996, p,147).
Particularly in Asian cultures, the discourse of portraying mothers can be traced back to history and religion. To be more specific, intellectuals have dissembled Asian culture as “Chinese, Confucian, East-Asian, and Oriental culture” (Johansson, 2001, p.94). Confucianism has leveraged a grand influence on women in East Asian countries (Lim & Skinner, 2012). Lim and Skinner (2012) stated that East Asian women are
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the ideology of mothers, in which patriarchy-oriented societies emphasize the importance of family and obedience to husband and son (Herr, 2016). Confucian mothering speaks of the virtue centering around a mother’s devotions and sacrifices to the family through cultivating a child’s intelligence and morals (Herr, 2016).
As for the religious cause, motherhood in Asia is associated with Buddha’s ideal relationship between a mother and her child(ren) (Bartholomeusz, 1999). Buddha and mothers share the feature of “loving purely (Bartholomeusz, 1999, p. 89).
2.3.1 Modern women in patriarchal systems
Referring to the status of mothers, I first take a look at modernism’s impact on East women in the past decade and how it collides with mother ideology in patriarchal systems. Feminists have asserted that modernity and modern motherhood carry the consequence of earlier female power or autonomy loss, which can erode women’s situations by the increasing level of “modernity and commoditization” (Stivens, 1998, p.328). Chaplin (2001) talked about the debate in a specific East Asian society.
Japanese women are in an inferior status compared to men, in which emancipation is solely on women’s appearance at that time (Chapin, 2001). In another East Asian context, modernism in a culture occurs like an investment (Johansson, 2001, p.95).
Apart from the modernism of appearance, modern women are depicted as failing to preserve several characteristics, such as “female characteristics” and “proper charm”
when they transit from traditional women into modern women (Johansson, 2001, p.107).
In a sense, modern women need to maintain their femaleness as the essence of beauty.
Put briefly, women do not obtain real freedom in life, although they can dress up more freely. Instead of external beauty, women desire to have freedom inside their souls and through their identities.
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Chinese society has also stressed modern women to mind their obligation at being a wife and a mother (Johansson, 2001). A similar idea has influenced mothers in Malaysian society as well (Stivens, 1998). Malay mothers are told to mind their “duties”
of being mothers and maintain their looks decently, as promoted through local magazines and government campaigns (Stivens, 1998). The concept of a modern woman leads to condemnation and results in the collapse of family values (Stivens, 1998).
In the early 1980s, women in specific East Asian societies were not encouraged to compete with men (Honig & Hershatter, 1988). The burden of “love, marriage and childbearing” became something they need to take good care of instead of having a career (Honig & Hershatter, 1988, p.17). Women should center on their primary job of serving husbands and children, instead of boasting about their attractiveness and intelligence (Johansson, 2001). Influenced by the “happy family” concept, women’s roles of being wives and mothers are mostly strengthened throughout history and glorified in the East Asian context (Stivens, 1998, p.319). Mothers also grant themselves with symbolic value on being housewives in East Asian societies (Lee, Tufiş & Alwin, 2010).
Yang (2017) mentioned that women are treated unequally under at-home scenarios in an East Asian society. Studies have investigated the aspect of housework division to gain a better understanding of inequality among East Asian women in families. Most East Asian wives do more jobs at home compared to their husbands (Qian & Sayer, 2016). In urban China, highly-achieved wives still do most of the housework (Zuo &
Bian, 2001). In Japan, the pervasive cultural belief obliges women to bear housework duties via marriage and family roles (Qian & Sayer, 2017). Husbands are providers in
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The social construction primarily focuses on a mother’s devotion to family and neglects her achievements, because the patriarchal system keeps operating under a particular ideology of family roles. Certain ideologies not only influence East Asian mothers historically, but also influence women in recent times to some degree.
2.4 Taiwanese Mothers in the Modern Era
Topics concerning mothers in Taiwan are quite diverse. Regarding Taiwanese mothers, Lee (2007) elaborated on the discourse of ideal mothers as it is constructed in Taiwan. Motherhood is an idea that has long been constructed in a patriarchy system (Lee, 2007). The ideology rationalizes the concept that women in Taiwan are born to be mothers (Lee, 2007).
The ideal roles of the family portray married women’s responsibility as domestic workers, while men work outside the home (Pan, 2005). This depiction was prevalent for most modern women even after the 1960s (Pan, 2005). According to Pan (2005), Taiwanese mothers with different backgrounds and jobs share a common belief that they are required to do more housework than men in a family. Consequently, patriarchal ideology operates as a tradition for most Taiwanese women to follow (Pan, 2005).
Taiwanese women are said to face a dilemma between career and family after marriage (Qian & Sayer, 2016). Most Taiwanese women bear the ideology of being good mothers, sacrificing themselves for marriage and family (Yi & Chien, 2001; Hsu
& Chiou, 2015). Married women make their decisions on whether to still work after marriage or pregnancy, which not only involve their attitude towards the issue, but mostly concern mother ideology framed as a traditional family responsibility (Yi &
Chien, 2001). Taiwanese women have to make compromises between family and individuals and take devotion toward their family and nurturing kids as their priorities
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(Yi & Chien, 2001; Lee, 2007; Hsu & Chiou, 2015). As Pan (2005) concluded, being mothers means sacrificing themselves. Taiwanese mothers do not dwell much thought on their own sake, but mostly about their husbands and kids. Mothers are prone to be the ones who quit their jobs for marriage or kids (Yi & Chien, 2001; Hsu & Chiou, 2015).
2.4.1 Working mothers and the existing ideologies
As I have so far discussed mothers’ sacrifice for the sake of family, it unquestionably prompts us to look into the aspect of the employment rate among Taiwanese women since they have faced pressure to quit their jobs in the past. However, the employment rate of Taiwanese women has increased from 45.64% to 50.92% over the past 20 years. Apart from higher educational levels and increasing job opportunities, legislation has spared mothers from choosing between a career and a family.
The policy of maternal leave and childcare leave without pay was established in Taiwan to relieve women from the pressure of nurturing children and to help them return to the workplace with ease (Ministry of Labor, 2017). With the help of regulations, the employment rate of women of childbearing age in Taiwan has been growing over the past 20 years (Ministry of Labor, 2017). Specifically, among married women aged from 15 to 64, the employment rate was 64.5% in 2017 (Ministry of Labor, 2017). The increasing employment rate of Taiwanese women reveals the fact that the ideology of fathers as providers in a family has gradually changed (Hung, 2015).
The responsibility of providing financial support no longer just belongs to fathers, but to mothers as well. Mothers’ role has transformed into more than just caregivers according to the current society, meaning that they are both mothers and workers at the same time (Hung, 2015). Nevertheless, the gradually shifting role of mothers has not
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Laws and policies in recent years have given mothers more equal environments.
Mothers are still facing an unbalanced situation since the regulations do not have an immense impact on the at-home scenario. As a study revealed, mothers still share a higher portion of housework in a Taiwanese family (Pan, 2005; Hung, 2015). Though mothers have increasingly become working mothers, they are still required to share more housework and be the caregivers in families, because this is rooted in social expectations (Hung, 2015).
Apart from inequality at home, working mothers confront other pressures in this patriarchal system. Keyser-Verreault (2018) explicitly addressed the beauty norms and mother ideologies that are somewhat intertwined together in our society. Keyser-Verreault (2018) also brought up the rarity of related research around such topics, which reaffirm this research study’s goal to investigate Taiwanese mothers regarding their
Apart from inequality at home, working mothers confront other pressures in this patriarchal system. Keyser-Verreault (2018) explicitly addressed the beauty norms and mother ideologies that are somewhat intertwined together in our society. Keyser-Verreault (2018) also brought up the rarity of related research around such topics, which reaffirm this research study’s goal to investigate Taiwanese mothers regarding their