Momfluenced: Inside The Maddening, Pictureperfect World Of Mommy Influencer Culture,New

How momfluencer culture impacts women psychologically as consumers, as performers of their stories, and as mothersOn Instagram, the private work of mothering is turned into a public performance, generating billions of dollars. The message is simple: were all just a couple of clicks away from a better, more beautiful experience of motherhood.Linenclad momfluencers hawking essential oils, parenting manuals, baby slings, and sponsored content for Away suitcases make us want to forget that the reality of mothering in America is an isolating, exhausting, almost wholly unsupported endeavor. In a culture which denies mothers basic human rights, it feels good to click purchase now on whatever a momfluencer might be selling. It feels good to hope.Momfluencers are just like us, except they arent. They are mothers, yes. They are also marketing strategists, content creators, lighting experts, advertising executives, and artists. They are businesswomen. The most successful momfluencers offer content that differs very little from what we used to find in glossy womens magazines like Glamour and Real Simple, only theyre churning it out daily and that content is their lives.We flock to momfluencers to learn about fashion, wellness, parenting, politics, and to find Brooklyndesigned crib sheets printed with radishes. Chances are, if youre a mother reading this (and maybe even if youre not!), you are an arms length away from something youve purchased because a momfluencer made it look good.Drawing on her own fraught relationship to momfluencer culture, Sara Petersen incorporates pop culture analysis and interviews with prominent momfluencers and experts (psychologists, academics, technologists) to explore the glorification of the ideal mama online with both humor and empathy. At home on a bookshelf with Lyz Lenzs Belabored and Jia Tolentinos Trick Mirror, Momfluenced argues that momfluencers dont simply sell mothers on the benefits of bamboo diapers, they sell us the dream of motherhood itself, a dream tangled up in whiteness, capitalism, and the heteronormative nuclear family.Momfluenced considers what it means to define motherhood for ourselves when society is determined to define motherhood for us.