Benefiting economically even in different financial echelons

國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

5.1.2 Benefiting economically even in different financial echelons

Apart from mentally beneficial, the participants revealed that they could also benefit economically from being influencers on Instagram. As Cathy mentioned, she thought it was a good opportunity for homemaker mothers. Homemaker mothers could earn extra money from receiving sponsors. Cathy believes that being a mother influencer is perfect for her, because she does not need to spend much time working since she is busy taking care of her baby. She also has learned that it is good to receive sponsored products, because she does not have to spend money on pricey infant products.

Cathy shared another story with me. She would intentionally post a photo of her and her son together in a car to attract sponsors. She revealed a message about how she can drive, and that needed a safety seat for her baby through the photo (see Figure 20).

As Cathy shared, “It is not a bad thing when you present yourself purposefully on Instagram.” She is inclined to share content relevant to her mothering life, making profits from her profiles.

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

Similar to Cathy, Rose and Annie also gain economic benefits significantly from their profiles, in which they have different types of sponsored content. Rose has the widest variety of sponsored content from different companies, while Annie’s sponsored content is mostly about her jewelry brand. Rose, a divorced mother with child custody, carries the responsibility of taking care of her daughter. Divorced women like her bear tremendous economic pressure. Scholars have found that divorce results in “significant economic declines” for women (Warrener, Koivunen, Postmus, 2013). As a mother influencer, Rose endorses many kinds of products, thus increasing her income. Rose mentioned her thought on receiving sponsors:

“I don’t mind to accept lots of sponsored products. I can make profits from promoting them. That’s a great thing. As long as it’s not illegal or too sexual…”

Rose’s statements reveal that she is happy to be sponsored since she could benefit from it. However, collaborating with sponsors as an influencer is not enough for her and her daughter’s living. To maintain a stable financial situation, Rose needs to return to the workforce. A single mother is inclined to face the dilemma of taking care of kids and working at the same time. Namely, Rose made a compromise when it came to her daughter and job.

“I think I’m luckier, comparing to other single mothers. I can work in my brother’s tea shop. I don’t have to worry about finding a decent job. Most importantly, I don’t have to worry that no one can look after my daughter when I work. My mother is willing to look after my kid. I feel grateful.”

Rose’s mother takes care of her daughter most of the time, because Rose works in her brother’s tea shop in Tainan. As mentioned before, Rose’s mother stays in Kaohsiung, and so Rose cannot see her daughter every day. The above excerpts also reveal the dilemma among mothers when they want to re-enter the workforce. In the

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

study of Warrener, Koivunen, and Postmus, factors such as mothers being the primary caregiver for children and a lack of quality and affordable childcare worsen the economic situation among women (2013). Divorced women confront obstacles when they want to re-enter the workforce since they need to take care of children and their work simultaneously.

The traditional belief of a household pattern further worsens a mother’s financial situation. Vogler (1998) suggested that males are associated with taking on a financial provider role throughout history, signifying their great value in a family. Since mothers are not the primary breadwinner in a family, they must sacrifice for the family. In contrast to Rose, being an influencer has helped Annie’s business to grow. Annie is an entrepreneur of her jewel brand and frequently promotes her jewelry as a fashion influencer. The sponsored content is mostly about her jewelry brand and often comes with feeds or stories. Annie demonstrates the styles by wearing her jewelry. Sometimes, she elaborates on her inspiration for designing a product. She noted her motivation of starting her influencer career:

“At first, I just wanted to promote my jewelry brand. I think being an influencer was a quick start. The pictures can convince people that I’m good at aesthetics.”

Annie’s motivation for being an influencer was straightforward. She thought it to be more convincing to show herself with her brand. Moreover, her self-presentation sometimes reveals her start-up stories. The texts are mostly about the hard work of being an entrepreneur. The immense content related to her brand led me to dig up more about her start-up stories. Annie continued with another incident:

“At the beginning stage, there were so many things happening at the same time. I needed to arrange the counter, create more designs, and pay my employee at the

‧ 國

立 政 治 大 學

‧

N a tio na

l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y

same time. So, I asked my family to help me. I feel fearless with the support of my family.”

As an entrepreneur, Annie started her business when she was only 19. At such a young age, it was problematic that Annie did everything on her own. Annie revealed that it was challenging for her to embark on a business without family help in her start-up. The pursuit of her dream required a considerable sum of money. It would be hard to achieve if her family did not give her any financial support. The excerpts revealed that Annie’s family was comparatively well-off in this system. With financial support, Annie succeeded in fulfilling her dream as a CEO of a jewelry brand. Along with Annie’s background of living in a wealthy family, her achievement elevates her status under the hierarchical structure today. Annie’s success shows that women can also start their own business and achieve on their own. The case reminds us of that participants’

self-presentation should be also taken account into when transforming the traditional mother beliefs in patriarchal systems. In the next part, I will speak of how the participants transformed the traditional mother beliefs into new mother impressions according to their motivations.