COMM 411
Representations of Motherhood
Texas A&M University Course Description:
Examination of understandings of motherhood from a humanities perspective and over a variety of cultures and time periods, as reflected in written media and/or oral texts.
Stacy H. Aschenbeck
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Survey #1
Survey #2
Survey #3
Mothers in Magazines
Redbook in the 1930s
Redbook and Mothers
Mothers in Music
Mothers in Novels
Mothers in Films
In Disney Pixar’s 2004 movie The Incredibles, the mother figure, Helen Parr, is first introduced as a crime-fighting, sassy superhero named Elastigirl. Through a series of events to protect her and her family’s identity, she has assumed the role as a housewife and mother – unpacking boxes from moving, cleaning the house, feeding the baby, making dinner, picking the kids up from school, etc. The movie portrays the modern day, stereotypical view of a stay at home mom. Helen is truly “incredible” as she portrays motherhood in Disney’s movie The Incredibles as dedicated to protecting and caring for her family, going to great lengths to do what is right, and make sure her husband and children know they are loved.
The portrayal of motherhood in films has a very wide range. There are several roles that a mother can take on whether that be the "supermom" like Helen or the absent mom, the overprotective mom, the abusive mom, or several other categories that moms can fall into. This project gave me insight into mothers as individuals with a unique influence on their children. But the overall takeaway is that no matter what type of mother is portrayed, there is some impact on the child's life in the film.
Mothers in Advertisements
Clorox
A young boy runs in to tell his mom he “made poo poo” to which his mother expresses her excitement and pride in her son until she realizes it was not made in the toilet but rather in the bathtub. This commercial is for “life’s bleachable moments”.
After surveying the mothers' opinions on the three advertisements, this ad generated the most positive feedback. Many mothers felt it was humorous while also accurate in the sense that moms oftentimes have to expect the unexpected!
DayQuil
A sick mother tells her young daughter she needs to “take a sick day”. The commercial promotes DayQuil since “moms don’t take sick days”.
On the otherhand, this advertisement received mixed emotions from the mothers who felt that this doesn't accurately represent motherhood. Instead the results indicated that moms put others first which sometimes means they forget to take care of themselves.
Volkswagen
This commercial shows three boys wreaking havoc in a convenient store while their mother is filling up their not-so-fuel-efficient car. A mom with a Volkswagen drives by with three well-behaved boys in the car. It promotes a car that allows a mom to “stop less, go more”.
This advertisement also generated mixed reviews and had the most negative responses as far as accuracy and positive feelings associated with the product. However, the craziness of the boys was met with a tender heart as many moms can relate to life as chaos and out of control sometimes.
Mothers in the News
Article #1
http://www.today.com/parents/photo-military-moms-breastfeeding-goes-viral-t43971
Article #2
The words for "mom" and "dad" are very similar in many languages. This article explores the possibilities of why this is the case. I loved this! I felt it offered a wonderful worldview on motherhood as universal and not limited to mere words or restricted to knowing the language.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/words-mom-dad-similar-languages/409810/Article #3 & #4
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-osterberg/being-a-mompreneur-never-stops_b_8537062.html
The second article reviews a study conducted by Pew Research Center offering statistics how millennials would rather be moms and dads than married. It offers the increase in single parents as explanation that it is not necessary to be happily married to happily raise children.
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/millennials-would-rather-be-moms-1307844320362550.html
Disney Moms
In our discussion about the presence and role of mothers in Disney movies, we discussed the surprising reality that a majority of mothers in Disney films are absent - whether that be a physical absence through death or separation or an emotional absence due to an abusive emotional mother. I knew that a common writer tool is to remove the parents from the story line to allow the children more freedom to make their own choices and go on their own adventures without parental intervention. Therefore, the "evil stepmom" approach was expected. However, I did think that there would be a greater percentage of Disney moms who were either the Caregiver or Protector stereotype such as the moms portrayed in the attached video.
Mothers in Children's Books and Teen's Fiction
Letter to Momma Brooks
After finishing my COMM 411 Representations of Motherhood class in my final semester at Texas A&M, I have seen various perspectives of motherhood that I haven't before. One thing I especially enjoyed learning about was how the portrayal of mothers has changed drastically in the past 50 years due to various social pressures, economic stresses, family expectations, and technology all impacting the way mothering was done. Nanny was raised different than how she raised you, which I also know is different than how you raised us. The interview I had with Nanny over Thanksgiving break was definitely my favorite project in the class as I got to ask her opinion on some of the things we have been learning about such as social media impacting mothering, advice for new moms, and technology benefiting or harming mothering today.
I have definitely grown to appreciate even more so the sacrifices you make for your family each day. I didn't realize the social pressure and emotional turmoil that can come with being a stay at home mom vs. a career mom. Each of them have their difficulties and rewards and it is something I'm sure you will help me figure out whenever I have to cross that bridge.
Thank you for loving each of us so well and so uniquely. Thank you for being a constant support system and example in who I aspire to be someday as a mom!!
Love ya bunches!
Taylor