Rituals of motherwork through conversations regarding social media use: A feminist re-imagination of mothering

Abstract

This study rests on the premise that motherwork is primarily embodied invisible work resonating with a sociological concept of articulation work. Articulation work as originally posited by Strauss (1985) considers social worlds in negotiated orders of managing and making-do with discontinuities. This involves conversations, often difficult to facilitate, that mothers do in their attempts to regulate their adolescent children’s social media use.
Using an exploratory interpretivist approach to communication research and using the tools of feminist interviewing and focus group discussion (FGD) facilitating, this paper examined how authentic connections between mothers and their adolescent children are made possible in parental regulation of social media use. Thirty (30) mother informants were selected using intensity sampling.
Guided by Carey’s (2009) Communication as Ritual Model and Kramarae’s (2005) Muted Group Theory, data revealed how authentic connections between mothers and their adolescent children emerge in conversations that covered following: a.) body, voice, and sexuality—a bridge over muddy waters; b.) housework, productivity, and functionalit—a challenge to old paradigms; c.) happiness and success—the convolution between the now and the future; d.) community, parenting, and family—the ambivalent “village”; and e.) influence, purpose, and value—the anxiety to matter.