The Consequences and Implications of the Phenomenon of Instagram Mother

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The contents reveal their motherhood, which affirms that the mother influencers are not free from patriarchal social expectations.

The new maternal images prevailing in their content contrarily do not show that traditional motherhood and good mother ideologies have a significant influence on them. The images instead aim to transform the long-existing mother beliefs and recreate mother impressions. However, the recreation of mother impressions through their new maternal images in fact becomes more binding on the mothers. Leisure time, outdoor activities, and attractive appearance thrive in the participants’ Instagram profiles since their followers seek ideal maternal images from the participants. Their contents create an illusion that the perfect mothering life is easy to attain. Moreover, their self-presentation implies a fear of failing to meet social expectations. Being afraid of stigmatizations and condemnations labeling them as “a failure to be a mother” also contributes to their deliberate impressions. The mother-blaming has greatly compelled the mother influencers to create an ideal, positive self-presentation.

7.1 The Consequences and Implications of the Phenomenon of Instagram Mother Influencers

By soliciting the underlying meanings behind the influencers’ self-presentation, I have probed into these mothers’ motivations for presenting themselves online and constructing their maternal beliefs. The traditional mother discourse or the long-existing good mother ideology is still perpetuated in the system, for which the mothers find it hard to eradicate. I have found that several types of consequential and implicated information are neglected by the mothers presenting themselves online. They are not aware that they are the products of the patriarchal beliefs.

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7.1.1 Creating a spontaneous mother fantasy

When I asked the mothers if they manifest themselves purposely on Instagram, several replied with a negative answer, but they specifically mentioned several images related to the maternal instincts they aim to present. A contradiction thus emerges.

Mothers have inevitably framed themselves under the patriarchal system - that is, new impressions do not emancipate the mothers from traditional values. The mother influencers’ impressions have become more ideologies in this system. The participants reveal their wonderful life, which is full of beautiful clothing, high-end accessories, fancy restaurant experiences, and travel photography, as ways to love themselves.

Furthermore, the participants’ profiles are full of attractive maternal images, such as being slim and beautiful, looking young and positive, and pursuing wonderful lifestyles.

They have given themselves into consumerism in the name of transforming the traditional mother beliefs, demonstrating the influence of patriarchy.

It is intriguing to ponder over whether the mothers can attain a life like that in reality. Moreover, the participants’ contributions to the dominating beauty criterion and professional mothering images constitute the illusion that they believe it is easy to achieve in their mothering lives. Additionally, to attain the ideal maternal role in this system, mothers might have to go down the proverbial rabbit hole. The intensive representation of new maternal images on social media is the source for speculating about consumerism’s best impression. The followers of these mother aim to seek inspiration from these mother influencers, yet, conversely, they could fall into the predicament of trying to achieve this “fantasy.”

7.1.2 Othering the mothers who have failed to meet social expectations

The maternal images created by the participants have confined the mothers into

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the process of social stratification. Concerning the consequence that the participants have created, othering is a term with which I would like to conclude. As Brons (2015) argued:

“Othering is the simultaneous construction of the self or in-group and the other or out-group in mutual and unequal opposition through the identification of some desirable characteristic that the self/in-group has and the other/out-group lacks and/or some undesirable characteristic that the other/out-group has and the self/in-group lacks. Othering thus sets up a superior self/in-self/in-group in contrast to an inferior other/out-group, but this superiority/inferiority is nearly always left implicit.”

(p.70)

The participants’ fabulous lifestyles and attractive appearance on their profiles turn out to be the new maternal images that Taiwanese mothers should consume. The participants recreate the mother impressions through social expectations on maternal images, in which the othering takes place among the mothers who cannot meet the new impressions. Furthermore, the participants with luxuries are mostly in the higher financial echelons. The lower echelon mothers may find it hard to achieve a luxurious lifestyle when the mother influencers become their maternal role model. Their pictures of including luxuries are insinuating images that intensify the stratifications among mothers in this system.

Unable to be set free from the patriarchal beliefs, the traditional mother beliefs are still deep-seated in the participants’ minds. The mother influencers have constructed their maternal images deliberately and carefully to avoid othering from their mother followers. The professional motherhood demonstrated on the participants’ Instagram platforms reveals that the othering is exerted on both the mother influencers and their

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followers. Without acknowledging the undergoing process, the mother influencers fall prey to patriarchal beliefs. The fear of a negative evaluation from other mothers is significantly displayed on the participants’ Instagram profiles. Their manifestations become an activity under intense surveillance, continuously strengthening the mother myths and generating more maternal concerns due to the aspiration for ideal motherhood in a contemporary structure.

7.1.3 Circulating pressure

Circulating pressure appears like a vicious circle as in Figure 22. The circle starts with the mother influencers’ images exhibited on their Instagram profiles, contributing to new mother impressions. The pressure of pursuing new impressions among the mother followers has reinforced the new mother impressions in this system. Eventually, the new impressions have resulted in the mother influencers’ pressure to transmit more new impressions or to maintain their impressions. In a sense, the mothers today suffer more pressure when new impressions are created visually on Instagram.

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As we can see visually on Instagram, the mother influencers with high follower counts share consistent themes and features - that is, the maternal images the mother influencers manifest are intensely intertwined with their followers. The mother followers’ aspiration to meet the new maternal images leads to the mother influencers’

motivation to transmit new impressions. With the help of pictures, the mother influencers could deliberately convey their new impressions on Instagram. Furthermore, Instagram’s algorithm recommends a similar type of mother influencers when a mother follower follows a mother influencer, dominating this new type of mother impressions in this system. The mother influencers’ new impressions will haunt the mothers in this system, especially the mother influencers themselves.

7.1.4 Double-binding the mothers

In addition to the journey of attaining the fantasy, the mothers are immersing themselves in a double-bind world. Specifically, when women confront their motherhood for the very first time, they experience a brand-new identity in life. As cited in Johnston and Swanson (2003), a double-bind emerges when expectations and condemnations are tied together (p.244). Continued into motherhood, it is consequential that “motherhood roles and ideologies [a]re contested” (as cited in Johnston & Swanson, 2003, p.244). Therefore, a double-bind arises from the mother influencers’ profiles.

The double-bind that emerges on the mother influencers is closely associated with ideologies in this system, in which traditional beliefs and new mother impressions operate simultaneously. To be more specific, the mother influencers have generated a new image of mothering life, in which they are living their mothering life leisurely and carefreely. On the other side, the mother influencers have endeavored to carefully

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project their professional motherhood. The two different manifestations on Instagram are cementing the double-bind and bewildering their mothering lives today.

Campbell and Hart (2019) found condemnation over mothers’ attributes to the mother ideology. In their study, the researched mother went out with her friends for the first time after 10 months of isolating herself from family and friends; however, a stigmatization was inflicted upon her for not staying home with her child (Campbell &

Hart, 2019, p.1687). According to the participants’ images of living a care-free and relaxing life, these actions are not socially expected. The pressure of being double-bind reveals that traditional beliefs and new impressions are incessantly colliding - namely, being an ideal mother is more demanding than before.

Contemporary society expects mothers to be omnipotent today. The question arises: Is it ever possible for mothers to meet every social expectation? The participants seem to create new impressions through visual images on Instagram. They have ignored the fact that the constructed impressions are still products under the patriarchy. To conclude, I recall Douglas’ statement: “I think motherhood is the unfinished business of the women’s movement” (as cited in Morales, 2004).

There is more pressure being inflicted upon mothers nowadays. The mothers confine themselves with new impressions while aiming to be free from the traditional mother discourse. The socio-cultural influence on motherhood is striking even in this modern era.