Super Mom in a Box
Keywords:
Pinterest, motherhood, digital media, interaction design, identity, postfeminismAbstract
Super Mom in a Box examines how Pinterest influences identity formation in mothers who interact with the site. In the essay, I use my own extensive interactions on Pinterest to investigate how the site's postfeminist content and interaction design create a hypermaternal identity for maternal interactors. This piece suggests that the celebration of domesticity and femininity on Pinterest validates a mother's home-oriented interests and reinforces her commitment to family; at the same time, this celebration contributes to a limited online identity for mothers, which can produce stress and alienation in real-world experiences of motherhood. In other words, because I’ve scrolled through thousands of pins and repinned hundreds of times, I now wonder, Does my daughter’s birthday party need to be its own version of Disneyland? Are baked goods good enough holiday gifts for neighbors? When did party food start requiring framed labels?
And most importantly, What has pinning done for and done to mothers?
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