City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 Blogging Through Motherhood: Free Labor, Femininity, and the (Re)Production of Maternity Kara Mary Van Cleaf Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/298 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] BLOGGING THROUGH MOTHERHOOD: FREE LABOR, FEMININITY, AND THE (RE)PRODUCTION OF MATERNITY by KARA VAN CLEAF A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 KARA VAN CLEAF All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Sociology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. NAME April 25, 2014 Dr. Patricia T. Clough Date Chair of Examining Committee NAME April 25, 2014 ______ Dr. Phil Kasinitz Date Executive Officer NAME Dr. Victoria Taylor Pitts NAME Dr. Jessie Daniels NAME NAME Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract BLOGGING THROUGH MOTHERHOOD: FREE LABOR, FEMININITY, AND THE (RE)PRODUCTION OF MATERNITY by Kara Van Cleaf Adviser: Patricia T. Clough Drawing from a thematic analysis of 47 North American mommy blogs over a 2-year period, I situate the genre in critical discussions of feminism, media, and labor, exploring both the technological and cultural shifts that turn mothers into cultural producers and that turn the experience of motherhood into a commodity. I situate the content of such blogs, or what gets said therein, within theories of media, gender, and labor. Examining the blogs within and against such academic discussions allows me to develop an intersectional analysis of feminism, media, and labor studies. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I first want to thank my children, Willa and Atticus, for pulling me into a world radically different from graduate school and putting school, and life, into perspective. This project is a shared and momentous victory for us all. None of my work would have been possible without the City University of New York and its mission to educate the inhabitants of the city. Alfred Van Cleaf, my paternal grandfather, took classes at Staten Island College, CUNY and, as I remember and true to those with a CUNY education, always had a sharp critique of the status quo. His access to higher education was passed on to my father who, by the support of the GI bill, earned his doctorate and became the first Dr. Van Cleaf. While such public support of higher education is quickly becoming a thing of the past, my doctorate is a direct result of their access to education. I am especially fortunate to be a part of the Graduate Center community of radical and dedicated scholars and students. Special thanks to Karen Gregory, whom I have soldiered on with from day one and who introduced me to twitter and the amazing scholars and discussions occurring beyond 365 5th Ave. I also must thank Rachel Schiff for her discussions of motherhood, caring for my children, and her explanations of sibling relationships. Tom Buechele, Andrew McKinney, and Karen Gregory have been invaluable in their support and camaraderie. I am fortunate to work with them on our Digital Labor Working Group website and on our various conference panels. Lisa Brundrage also has been a vital confidant in the graduate student- mother-feminist scholar-ITF-adjunct-public school parent experience. Doug Meyers, Polly Sylvia, Mitra Rastegar, and Kim Cunningham all helped me navigate graduate school with laughter and perspective. I also want to thank Erin Martineau for her help editing, organizing, and last minute support with this dissertation. Special thanks to my life-long friends Tracy Quillin and JJ O’Dell, all my Alesio cousins: Carmen, Andrew, Ann, Ted, Amy, Michelle, Matt, and Nicole, and my wonderful sisters and brothers in-laws. Additionally, I am privileged to work with my advisor, Patricia Clough who gave me the latitude, and confidence, to find my way to this project. Her unique work pulled me to the Graduate Center and will forever be a source of inspiration. Victoria Taylor Pitts has also supported me from the beginning and has generously shared her thought with so many others and me. I am also lucky to work with Jessie Daniels whose honesty, humor, and hard work are as educational as they are inspiring. Catherine Silver was also a formative teacher and crucial source of confidence throughout graduate school. I am forever indebted to Teona Bidzinashvili for providing excellent care to my children; because of her loyalty, hard work, and incomparable care taking skills, I was free to concentrate on motherhood in the academic and abstract. Of course, none of this would have been possible with the unconditional love and support of my mother and best friend, Rosemary Van Cleaf. From Kindergarten on, she patiently helped me build up confidence in school, in life, and in v myself. She also taught me how to let things go and laugh. Most importantly, I was able to complete this project because of the generous support, love, and salsa provided by my Bill Lamboley. My work is all the much better from his repeated requests to explain “affect” and from his beautiful and mellow writing that forever inspires and impresses me. I also want to thank him for being my partner in parenthood, my favorite project. I must also thank all of my yoga teachers and the Kula Yoga Project for keeping me breathing throughout graduate school, New York City, and motherhood. In addition to being the subject of my scholarly work, the mommy blogs discussed here also helped me appreciate and enjoy motherhood. Finally, this project is dedicated to my father and my first professor, David Van Cleaf. Starting with our cut throat games of Candyland, to our daily drives to elementary school where he got me thinking about inequality, education, and gender, to his dedicated volunteering at my elementary, middle, and high schools, to our contentious editing sessions, he taught me how to think critically and how to, quietly, never give up. vi This dissertation is dedicated to my father, David William Van Cleaf. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Circa 2010................................................................................................................................................. 1 The Technological Expansion of Motherhood ......................................................................................... 3 Scenes of the Ordinary, Objects of the Good Life.................................................................................... 7 Previous Research................................................................................................................................... 10 Women’s Culture 2.0.............................................................................................................................. 14 Free Labor and Affective Labor: Processes of Commodity Production................................................. 19 Free Labor .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Affective Labor .................................................................................................................................. 21 Transformational Processes and Commodities .................................................................................. 22 Structure of the Dissertation ................................................................................................................... 25 Blogging, Women Online, and the Mommy Blog Genre ....................................................................... 27 Blogs................................................................................................................................................... 27 Women Online.................................................................................................................................... 30 Mommy-blog Genre ........................................................................................................................... 32 Method .................................................................................................................................................... 35 Digital Methods.................................................................................................................................. 36 My Study ............................................................................................................................................ 40 Chapter 2 Blogging Like a Mother............................................................................................ 44 Mommy-blogging Landscape ................................................................................................................. 44 Who or What Is a Mommy Blogger?...................................................................................................... 47 Mommy Bloggers’ Definitions..........................................................................................................