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Betty Friedan and Instagram: an Analysis of Mommy Influencers Through the Lens of the Feminine Mystique Mikayla Pevac, M.A

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Betty Friedan and Instagram: an Analysis of Mommy Influencers Through the Lens of the Feminine Mystique Mikayla Pevac, M.A Betty Friedan and Instagram: An Analysis of Mommy Influencers Through the Lens of The Feminine Mystique Mikayla Pevac, M.A. [email protected] Pennsylvania State University Introduction This project applied Betty Freidan’s analysis of advertisements from The Feminine Mystique (1963) to contemporary Instagram “mommy” influencers. Within Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, the ninth section of her work entitled “The Sexual Sell” acknowledges the power of advertising on the perpetuation of the housewife stereotype as the “ideal” way of living for a woman. Using feminist theory as applied to advertising media studies, the case study of “mommy” influencer Christine Andrew was qualitatively analyzed as a modern example of “the Balanced Homemaker” stereotype. The “Balanced Homemaker” The Feminine Mystique “played an important role in [the] turbulent movement political movement, and in the sea-change of attitudes toward woman’s roles Stereotype that emerged in the 1970s.” (Fermaglich & Fine, 2013, p. xvii) “The Balanced Homemaker’—is ‘from the market standpoint, the ideal type.’ She has some outside interests or has held a job before turning exclusively to homemaking; she ‘readily accepts’ the help mechanical appliances can give—but ‘does not expect them to do the impossible’ because she needs to use her own executive ability ‘in managing a well-run household.” (Friedan, 1963, p. 175-176) Case Study: Christine Andrew Example #1 § Ritual Vitamin Promotion: § Semi-romantic position § Candid-like § Spotless setting Post uses the attractiveness of the couple to sell a “perfect” lifestyle, which apparently includes the consumption of vitamins by the husband. @christineandrew: July 15, 2020 Case Study: Christine Andrew Example #2 § Hello Fashion Plug: § Candid-like § Serene natural setting § Posed, obedient children Post highlights the happiness of the family, but also promotes the clothing worn by each member in the comments for Andrew’s personal blog, Hello Fashion. @christineandrew: October 9, 2020 Case Study: Christine Andrew Example #3 § Over-the-Top Birthday: § Personalized balloons § Custom bears & lights § Spotless living room Post uses the event of the youngest child’s birthday to further epitomize an unattainable lifestyle that only is possible because the vendors of the party supplies traded the products for a plug from Andrew on social media. @christineandrew: October 3, 2020 Discussion With the advent of social media there are now “co- creators” that mold promotional material into messages that “[try] not to seem overly commercial and instead [operate], guerilla-style, to blend seamlessly with social patterns, streams, and platforms.” (Serazio & Duffy, 2018, p. 481) Co-creators, like mommy influencers, use “peer influence…to leverage the authority of third-party intermediaries in the hope of swaying public opinion.” (Serazio & Duffy, 2018, p. 483) Discussion Influencers represent a group of people hovering between the average person and celebrity: they offer glimpses into ways of living foreign to most, yet do not exude the same unattainability as movie stars. So, while the 1960s advertising culture of selling dishwashers to a category of the population labeled “The Balanced Homemakers” may on the surface seem over, this paper argues otherwise: that gendered advertisements of the twenty-first century still imbibe the gendered aspects that led Friedan to write her cultural critique, just under a different, more modern façade. § Serazio, M. & Duffy, B. (2018). Social media marketing. In The sage handbook of social media (pp. 481-496). 55 City Road, London: SAGE Publications Ltd Doi: 10.4135/9781473984066.n27 § Fermaglich, K., & Fine, L. M. (Eds.). (2013). Works Cited Introduction. In The Feminine Mystique (Norton Critical Edition, pp. xi–xx). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1963) § Friedan, B. (2013). The Sexual Sell. In The Feminine Mystique (Norton Critical Edition, pp. 172–194). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1963).
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