Sample Abstract

Motherhood and Digital Activism: How Participatory Culture Revises the Public Intellectual

A brief survey of mother-activist blogs and the rhetorical strategies for their engagement with (and creation of) a new participatory culture reveals a new sort of public intellectual, one whose authenticity comes not from academic credentials or other conventional means of qualification, but instead comes from reification of the individual experience.

The American media machine persistently polarizes the culture of motherhood. Probably most notably recognized as the “mommy wars” in which stay-at-home moms are pitted against those who work outside the home, this polarization is further constructed in public discussions such as whether moms should drink alcoholic beverages during playdates and whether moms should vaccinate their young daughters against the human papillomavirus.

Mother-bloggers like Jen Lawrence at MUBAR , Ann Douglas at The Mother of All Blogs , and Bitch PhD work against the models of simple contestation and simple motherhood. Not only do such writers move past the uncomplicated rhetoric of either/or, they engage in decidedly un-motherly conversations as well, proving that motherhood does not swallow up one’s social identity whole.

The discourse blogging affords does not abide polemic sound bites and two minute segments to which issues of mothering are often relegated in traditional public forums; further, blogs allow the culture of motherhood to exist in discursive spheres other than those specific to child-rearing and housekeeping. The practice of blogging allows for an unparalleled participatory culture, where the identity, embodiment, and performance of motherhood is represented as complex and nuanced. This essay seeks to examine mother-activist blogs as representations of motherhood intersecting with activism and to consider the possible implications of such intersections on public intellectualism and discourse.