Moms, does if feel sometimes like you just can't win? No matter what you do, you think there's a good chance it's probably still just wrong. Sound familiar? Hopefully not, but in the age of COVID-19, home schooling, social distancing, Zoom play dates - all while also trying to work from home at the same time...well, wow. Who could blame you?
OTHER MOTHERS, APPARENTLY!
Mom-shaming. It's a thing. This is not new and goes back well before coronavirus. In fact, our guest says mom-shaming can be traced back to Victorian days. But there's one major difference between modern moms and moms of yesteryear: social media.
Dr. Margaret M. Quinlan is the co-author of You’re Doing it Wrong! Mothering, Media and Medical Expertise. She and her writing partner investigate the "history of expertise around mothering in the media, from the newspapers, magazines, doctors’ records and personal papers of the nineteenth century to today’s websites, Facebook groups, and Instagram feeds."
In their book, Bethany Johnson and Quinlan have discovered how similar parenting "experts" are between the centuries and explore how social media has placed unprecedented pressures on new mothers.
Margaret M. Quinlan, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has also authored approximately 40 journal articles and 17 book chapters.
Hear the full show below.
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