MOMMYBLOGS AS A FEMINIST ENDEAVOUR?

By

SUZETTE BONDY-MEHRMANN

Integrated Studies Project

submitted to Dr. Cathy Bray

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts – Integrated Studies

Athabasca, Alberta

October, 2011

Table of Contents

Abstract ………………………………………………………………….3

Introduction………………………………………………………………4

Defining my variables and situating myself in the research……………...4

What does it mean to espouse feminist principles online?.........................6

Method for studying mommyblogs……………………………………....7

Background and review of the literature………………………………....7

Analysis and discussion…………………………………………………14

Future directions………………………………………………………...17

Conclusion………………………………………………………………18

Works cited……………………………………………………………..20

Appendix 1: Study of Breastfeeding blogs by Suzette

Bondy-Mehrmann ……………………………………………………...22

Appendix 2: Examples of Mommyblogs ………………………………35

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Abstract

It is important for feminist researchers to pay attention to new venues where women are

creating and sharing knowledge. In the case of this paper we are looking at mothers

online and the venue is the mamasphere, the virtual space where mothers are

exchanging information through blogs. In interacting in this manner, however, are

women engaging in a feminist endeavour? I approached this question through an

interdisciplinary review of the research and writing available on mommyblogs against a

backdrop of feminist theory of motherhood and by adding the findings from my own

research on mommyblogs about breastfeeding. My findings indicate that aspects of

mommyblogs in their current form do or could support feminist thinking but these are

overshadowed by limitations to feminist ideals such as dominance of more privileged

mothers’ opinions, reinforcement of cultural assumptions and intolerance rather than

support for different mothering choices. This research concludes that rather than

prescribing conventions for mommyblogs, being aware of how the mamasphere

operates in favour or against feminist principles through diffusion of information from

research such as this one is the best way for mothers online to be empowered by blogs.

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Introduction

“This website chronicles my life from a time when I was single and making a

lot of money as a web designer in Los Angeles, to when I was dating the man

who would become my husband, to when I lost my job and lived life as an

unemployed drunk, to when I married my husband and moved to my mother's

basement in Utah, to when I became pregnant, to when I threw up and became

unbearably swollen during the pregnancy, to the birth, to the aftermath, to the

postpartum depression that landed me in a psyche ward. I’m better now.” –

Heather B. Armstrong, famous mommyblogger.

As feminist scholars, it is important to pay attention to new areas where women are

active, in this case, the blogosphere. I am interested in exploring what mommyblogs

like Ms. Armstrong’s are all about. Are they self-indulgence as some critics claim? A

way to reclaim motherhood from dominant media images of bliss and self-sacrifice? Or

are they possibly a vehicle through which the dominant privileged group of mothers are

disseminating their version of motherhood? By taking into account many different

views on mommyblogs and guided by feminist theory this research probes the question

of whether mommyblogs are or could be considered a feminist endeavour.

Defining my variables and situating myself in the research.

“Mommy blogs in general tend to be everyday diaries of details one might

share over coffee” (Sue Shellenbarger).

Whereas only a decade ago the Internet was a place where companies and institutions

sought to have a presence for marketing, promotion or cost savings in providing

services, nowadays it is private individuals who are increasingly seeking a presence

online to post about their lives, thoughts, and topics which they feel strongly about. A

method of doing this which has become quite popular is the blog, “a website comprised

of regularly updated chronological entries” (Fleming 1). In this project I will be

looking at a specific subset of blogs referred to as “mommyblogs”. A “mommyblog” is

a blog where people interact around what is culturally defined as topics which fall into

the realm of motherhood (see Appendix 2 for examples of mommyblogs).

Mommyblogs might take the form of a traditional blog which is a regularly updated,

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public journal maintained by a person. Mommyblogs can also be forums or online

Cafés where many different readers or “bloggers” can start and contribute to discussion

threads. They can also be sites where articles related to motherhood have generated an

online discussion through comments left by readers. The area on the Internet where

bloggers are active has been termed “the blogosphere” and mommybloggers have

moulded this term into “the mamasphere” to designate their space.

I myself am not an avid reader of blogs, nor do I maintain a blog of my own. I

became interested in this topic through an Athabasca course supporting the use of

Social Media Tools such as blogs in learning. A number of co-students were avid

bloggers and were very enthusiastic about blogs as a new and better way to receive our

information which redistributes power from the dominant media institutions back to

everyday people. Based on my feminist studies at Athabasca, I was somewhat

suspicious of these claims because I do not feel that blogs, as I began to experience and

learn about them, fulfilled important feminist goals such as inclusiveness (see Kinser

2010) and I questioned whether blogs really were progress in how we communicated or

served primarily as popularity contests, entertainment, or in some cases, a profitable

advertising channel. In addition, I have reservations about participating in discussions

online as many blogs or social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter collect

personal data, monitor activity, or require that you open an account of some sort to

participate. My focus on mommyblogs within the blog genre stems from my online

research for a project about breastfeeding discourses (see appendix 1). During my

research I found that when I visited blogs run by mothers either supporting breast or

bottle-feeding the comments left by people were sometimes nasty critiques of mothers

who chose bottle-feeding rather than any discussion supporting women’s individual

choices or challenging the discourses and structures which limit women’s decision-

making abilities. In addition, I saw much evidence of “horizontal violence” in these

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blogs, a term which I will touch on in my review of the literature. This initial

disappointment in the feminist thought lacking in many online breastfeeding

discussions led me to want to explore the state of feminism on the mamasphere in

general. Therefore, this research aims to contribute to the small body of literature about

mommyblogs calling attention to feminist considerations for the blogosphere.

What does it mean to espouse feminist principles online?

There are different opinions of what feminism means for mothering. Therefore, in

defining what I am looking for in this project it is important that I make a choice in

terms of how I will limit my criteria. For my project, I have chosen to incorporate the

theory put forth by Amber E. Kinser’s in her book Motherhood and Feminism. Ms.

Kinser states that “A primary role of feminism throughout history has been to challenge

taken-for-granted assumptions which direct our lives” (9). Therefore in keeping with

this tradition I will be evaluating whether blog posts are challenging or reinforcing

assumptions about motherhood.

As a second point Ms. Kinser writes

Feminists have also worked to strengthen women’s power by valuing and

increasing their knowledge. One way they have done this is by rejecting

popular beliefs that medical and psychological health professionals are the

most reliable and important repositories of expertise about pregnancy, birth

and child-rearing (5).

Ms. Kinser goes on to single out the power of blogs in stating that here “…power is

reconfigured so that mothers value their own and each other’s mothering experiences

and expertise” (5). Therefore, I will also look at whether mommyblogs are empowering

women through information and leading to more value being placed on women’s

knowledge.

And finally mommyblogs must strive to be inclusive. As Kinser states “…much of

what has been written and published about feminism and motherhood has failed to

adequately examine the multiplicity of women’s experiences and points of view” (22).

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This means that the needs and voices of mothers from different cultures, races, classes

and lifestyles need to be included.

To summarize, feminist mommyblogs should embrace the following criteria:

1. Seek to challenge assumptions about motherhood.

2. Shift the knowledge power to mothers and away from dominant institutions.

3. Present a multiplicity of voices.

Method for studying mommyblogs

My research into mommyblogs is first and foremost grounded in an interdisciplinary

review of the literature on mommyblogs. In addition, I will draw on examples from the

mamasphere such as those which I found in my own research into mommyblogs and

breastfeeding (see appendix 1) in order to support, expand upon or disagree with the

positions of my selected authors. This review of the research and literature will be

followed by a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of mommyblogs against the

backdrop of the key feminist interests which I have outlined above and will propose

how we could better harness the feminist potential of mommyblogs in the future.

Background and review of the literature

Mommyblogging is a radical act!" And? It was. At that time, to be called a

mommyblogger and have a mommyblog was radical. We had to fight for any

respect we received. We had to work hard to earn any recognition that was not

negative. It was radical to embrace (or even accept) being called a mommyblogger

-Keynote by Alice Bradley, author of Finslippy.com at the BlogHer

conference of 2009. Quoted by Jenn Satterwhite on August 1, 2009.

Though writing by and for mothers on the Internet existed long before the BlogHer

conference of 2009, I will choose this point in time and Ms. Bradley’s keynote as the

birth of the mommyblog and the start of the current debates which overshadow it. The

term “mommyblogger” was, and still is, controversial. Some bloggers who are labelled

as such find it diminutive as though they are only defined by what they write which is

related to motherhood. As Lori Kido Lopez noted “[t]he underlying feeling seemed to

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be that the name ‘mommyblogger’ was inherently belittling and cast their website in an

unfavourable light” (Lopez 737). However, the fact that it could be considered a put-

down should concern women, mothers and feminists alike because this is an indication

of the low value of mothering in our society. The label “mommyblog” is also rich

fodder for feminist academics because to use it or not in the blogosphere exposes

cultural assumptions about how mothers’ online roles are defined and limited. What if

a mother mostly writes about her partner, her job, or politics? Whether her blog gets to

count as a mommyblog or not shows how we define what does or does not belong to the

realm of a mommy. As Friedman aptly put it “…[mothers] write with the sum of their

various irreconcilable parts, rather than splitting them so neatly into private and public

worlds. (Friedman 197). Indeed allocating or withholding the term mommyblog for a

website run by a mother may reflect social expectations that mothers should be first and

foremost blogging about their children, household, or recipes online.

As blogs deemed to be mommyblogs proliferated, the mamasphere expanded. It is

hard to quantify but some research suggests that it is quite sizeable indeed. A

Babycenter.com poll in the UK reported that 29% of moms read blogs regularly

(Goldsmith 2009). New technologies which enjoy such rapid popularity growth are

often surrounded by hype. Lori Kido Lopez exemplifies this premature celebration of

the mamasphere in her statement that:

Mommybloggers are developing their own voice for discussing

motherhood, and it is distinctly different from the radiant image of the good

mother that has dominated our media, with its impossible demands and

assumptions about women” (743-744).

Premature because in the face of this optimism other feminist researchers have

looked at how mommyblogs, rather than liberating women, might also be reinforcing

assumptions about motherhood because the very act of having websites about child-

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raising topics almost exclusively by women and targeting women harbours assumptions

about who should be responsible for childcare (Madge and O’Connor 2006).

To be fair, not all which is written about the mamasphere is glowing hype. David

Hochman’s New York Times article “Mommy and Me” caused a stir among

mommybloggers when he speculated that mommyblogs are part of our generation’s

obsession with getting all the attention – which becomes particularly hard for a mother.

Contrary to Hochman’s opinion, May Friedman and Shana Calixte in their anthology

Mothering and Blogging: The Radical Act of the Mommyblog, show how mommyblogs

can have a profound impact on the plight of mothers rather than just being sites of self-

absorbed mothers. Indeed the authors also claim that mothers’ blogging is part of

raising the profile of motherhood as a topic worthy of attention in a male-dominated

blogosphere and in this world which undervalues motherhood topics. However, as

noted above, when overwhelmingly mothers are reading and blogging about these

topics then these topics still remain relegated to a specific audience on the Internet. For

this reason Madge and O’Connor concluded in their study of a popular mommyblog

that “…the internet was both liberating and constraining: it played an important social

role for some women while at the same time it encouraged restrictive and unequal

gender stereotypes in this particular community of practice” (Madge and O’Connor

199).

In her dissertation, Heather Lynn Fleming also builds on this idea of how

mommyblogs reinforce women’s exclusive responsibility in some areas. Since women

primarily write about what they do and from their own perspective she notes that “…

providing only sketchy details of what their spouses do leaves readers with the

impression (perhaps false) that the mothers do the bulk of the family’s unpaid work”

(134). Ms. Fleming would like to see “the foregrounding of the father’s experience of

parenting as well as the mother’s” (134).

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In addition to the propagation of assumptions, a further concern is whether

mommyblogs provide a representative picture of motherhood. In their introduction to

their book, May Friedman and Shana Calixte stated that

“The mamasphere continues to reproduce oppressive hierarchies, where the

voices of the white, the able, the middle class and the heterosexual are often

heard first and most often” (29).

Lopez also calls attention to the lack of representativeness stating that “[i]n

particular, the absence of women of color and mothers from diverse socioeconomic

backgrounds is important to acknowledge and investigate” (Lopez 744). Why this might

be the case is proposed by Judith Stadtmann Tucker who highlights the obstacles to

inclusion such as language and computer skills, access to the Internet, and the leisure

time to peruse or write blogs. All of which she claims “are statistically more likely to

affect low-income, non-urban, and non-white populations” (13). Friedmann and

Calixte expand on the obstacles to inclusiveness by pointing out that the Internet is not

a place “where all good writers get read equally” (30). Many of those who will rise to

the top do so by virtue of the author’s writing abilities. This talent, rather than the merit

of their message, might be what allows their motherhood ideology to rise to the top.

For example, Lopez notes that “…the most popular writers employ a great deal of

humor and levity to entertain their audience” (Lopez 734). Therefore, Tucker rightfully

concludes that

[t]he mamasphere – and the real world – will have to undergo a major

evolution (and possibly a revolution) before the voices and experiences of a

representative cross-section of North American mothers are equally validated

by the dominant culture (14).

This point will continue to dampen the aspirations of feminists for the mamasphere

for some time to come.

Another point which Ms. Tucker draws attention to is that mommybloggers are

using “blog-specific jargon” which further limits the ability of new bloggers or

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outsiders to join in the conversations (13). If I enter the search term “breastfeeding

help” for example, one of the first mom-to-mom sites which I come across is the La

Leche League International. Listed among the threads you find the acronyms and

abbreviations link at http://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?85593-Acronyms-and-

Abbreviations, which takes you to a dizzying list of over 100 terms which are a must

for understanding what is going on in some of the forum conversations. There are

terms which most regular users of the Internet and e-mail will recognize such as

“WTG” meaning “Way to go!”, or “LOL” for “laughing out loud”. However, there are

also terms which are very specific to motherhood and breastfeeding such as “WAHM”

for “work-at-home mom”, “M/C” for “miscarriage” and “BFIP” for “breastfeeding in

public”. Though this website was gracious enough to provide a reference list for its

jargon, the use of such terms helps to maintain a base of regular users or “insiders” who

become accustomed to employing the language of the website but it also creates a

barrier for new users who wish to join conversations or who are seeking readily

accessible information for their breastfeeding problems.

Commercialism also poses a feminist challenge to the mamasphere. In her chapter

in Friedmann and Calixte’s book, Ann Douglas “examines how market forces

manipulate the need for popularity and consensus within mommyblogs, arguing that the

result is a very potent form of bullying that may result in mothers being exposed to

greater judgement than ever before” (Friedmann and Calixte 33). Lisa Hammond

(2010) adds to this point by noting that some blogs are mediated or membership is

controlled in order to maintain the atmosphere of agreement. Bloggers argue that this

keeps out “trolls” who are people who just want to argue and upset the climate but I

wonder to what extent this serves to create more attractive advertising space. However,

despite criticism of how commercialism might steer blogs, Ms. Douglas is also quick to

defend ad income in the mamasphere by arguing that mothers have a right to earn

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money for their writing and the criticism which they receive for accepting ad dollars is

partly based in assumptions about mothers doing things out of love rather than for

payment:

The demand seems to be that mommybloggers should not put a value upon

their written work, in much the same way that mothers generally are

expected to not put a value upon the work that they do in the home (95).

A further concern about mommyblogs is whether the connections they are

forming online are also serving to disconnect mothers from their real-world

networks. One contributor to Kimberley Clayton-Blaine’s book The Internet

Mommy: Inspiring Interviews and Stories From Mothers Who Work And Play

Online, Trisha Haas, raises some concerns about how the Internet is changing

motherhood and the community at large:

[Blogs] keep people ‘connected’ to those like them, but disconnected in

many ways to those in real life…I have been fortunate enough to connect

stories, share experiences and find true friends online. But I am honest

enough to say that it was at the sacrifice of assembling the local moms’

meetings or joining a neighbourhood baseball game (104-105).

Therefore, blogs might be allowing us to find information and like-minded

mothers but perhaps this is at the expense of shutting out the concerns of the

community and the rest of the world. In addition, this indulgence might also

become a new social problem. A study by the German health department has

identified Internet addiction as a real concern especially in relation to social

networks usage. The study warns that losing control over one’s Internet use can

be at the expense of a person’s work, studies and real life social contacts (ZDF).

As Haas herself has also experienced:

“I have seen many a person become a slave to comments, linky love, and

stat tracker; and I’m not far away myself from having an Internet

breakdown” (Haas 104).

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Young women appear to be especially at risk of becoming addicted which the study

attributes to this group using the Internet to compensate for the social acceptance

which they lack in their real life interactions (ZDF).

In addition to the negative side-effects which blogging can have for the user, Sue

Shellenbarger takes a closer look at the toll which blogging can take on blog owners as

well in her article “The Blogger Mom, In Your Face”. She reveals that popular

mommyblogger Heather Armstrong, who was quoted in my introduction, has sought

therapy to cope with hateful postings and that what she has exposed in her blog has had

consequences for her such as being fired from her job and a breakdown in her

relationship with her parents. Mothers who run blogs have also had to cope with

criticism from other parents and Internet watchdogs who question the parenting skills

of those posting photos of their children or using their children’s names sometimes

even lashing out at the parents in their own blogs (see Quenqua 2009).

The mamasphere can also have personal consequences for blog readers,

commentators and owners. Douglas notes that “…disagreements have a tendency to

become particularly high-stakes and personal in the online world of mothers” (119).

She partly attributes this to “horizontal violence, which is when members of groups

with low status display hostile behaviour toward their fellow group members”

(Friedmann and Calixte 120). Douglas sees this as no wonder since mothers have to

content themselves with intrinsic rewards such as recognition (120). Horizontal

violence also manifests itself in the way that oppressed groups attack their fellow

members rather than their oppressors (121). As Judith Warner noted of the pro-

motherhood groups on the Internet

…[they] purport to unite working and non-working mothers alike in an

ecumenical, pro-family social agenda… Once you scratched the surface of

their pro-unity slogans, all too often, something quite different emerged.

Competition. Intolerance. And a big dose of sanctimony. Coming most

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notably from the stay-at-home moms seeking validation for the ‘sacrifices’

they’d made in the name of motherly virtue. (266)

These comments from Warner as well as Lena Karlsson’s research which I will now

discuss, begs the question of whether blogs are the right medium for bringing together

women from different backgrounds and discussing social change. Ms. Karlsson’s study

argues that women diary blogs attract readers based on the similarities which they can

find with the author, for example, age, location, education and ethnicity. Indeed her

study participants reported searching the blogosphere for authors which they could

identify with (148). This suggests that the reading of diary blogs might be more an

exercise in validation for one’s choices and lifestyle than it is a site where assumptions

are challenged and diverse cultures come together.

So what is the overall feminist impression of mommyblogs in their current shape and

form? May Friedman speculates about exactly this in “On Mommyblogging: Notes to a

Future Feminist Historian”. In her opinion, a future feminist historian will look back

on today’s mommyblogs as “…notable as much for their omissions as their inclusions,

enacting both resistance and a submission to the dominant discourses of motherhood”

(197). She also shares my opinion that mommyblogs are currently not representative

but puts an optimistic twist on this by showing that they are nonetheless diverse. In the

next section I will look at how the current available information on mommyblogs ties in

with feminist goals to assess the extent to which these are or could be a feminist

endeavour.

Analysis and Discussion

“Mommybloggers are creating a mosaic of modern motherhood. Like any

mosaic, certain colours dominate the landscape, yet, despite this limitation,

the overall effect is still of multiplicity rather than of a dominant narrative”

(Fridemann and Calixte 30).

From the review of the literature we can see that mommyblogs had a feminist birth.

Their emergence challenged dominant structures on the Internet which privy men, male

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opinion, male topics and which relegate mommy topics to the less important, less

newsworthy, private sphere. Within the mamasphere, however, the potential for

feminism has been somewhat diluted by the reproduction of the same structures which

liberate or oppress mothers differently in our society as they also do in other media such

as newspapers, television and magazines. Many scholars have pointed out that class,

race, lifestyle, culture and language caries privileges and disadvantages in the

mamasphere just like they do in society. Nowadays, mommyblogs are diverging into

niches to serve the interests of mothers who conglomerate around topics relevant to

their particular cultural choices such as Christian parenting, breastfeeding,

homeschooling, lesbian mothering, attachment parenting, vegetarian mothering, etc.

(see appendix 2). This can be seen both as positive, because women can seek options

not available to them in their immediate circle, but also as negative in the sense that

women might be locking themselves into small groups of like-minded mothers thus

limiting their own options for choosing a more empowering model of motherhood for

themselves. If you leave these niches, however, and encounter women who are not

raising their children in the same way as you are, the exchanges can be hostile which

might be attributable to theories of horizontal violence. In my own research on

breastfeeding mommyblogs (see appendix 1) I encountered such aggression when I left

the sites for breastfeeding moms and went to sites posting articles claiming that bottle-

feeding was okay or equal to breastfeeding. Where breastfeeders and non-breastfeeders

mingled, or rather faced-off, good mothering was often thrown in the faces of those

who chose not to or could not breastfeed. As Judith Warner pointed out about groups

of mothers online which seems to resonate for topics such as breastfeeding is that:

“[v]alidation of one group necessarily meant demonization of the other” (Warner 267).

Therefore, in validating their own lifestyle choices in their mommyblogs devoted to

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their specific beliefs and choices, there is the risk that misunderstanding and even

hatred of other lifestyle choices practiced by other mothers are being propagated.

According to some researchers, mommyblogs do seek to counter media images of

mothering thus resisting dominant institutions. Lopez is one such scholar who believes

that

“Mommybloggers are creating a different picture of motherhood to what we

see in the mainstream media. Instead of the vision of the loving mother, we

see women who are frazzled by the demands of their newborn baby, who

have no clue what to do when their child gets sick, who suffer from

postpartum depression and whose hormones rage uncontrollably” (732).

Though Ms. Lopez’s observations hold some truth because there are reassuring tales

of imperfect mothering online, her comments fail to consider how mainstream media

ideas do infiltrate blogs and are also propagated by them. The unrealistic demands

which the media places on mothers are also reflected in mommyblogs discussing an

endless number of topics and offering goods targeting moms through which they subtly

imply that these should be the responsibility and concern of mothers if they want the

best for their children.

The review of the literature has identified a number of obstacles to feminism in

mommyblogs such as a lack of diversity in the mothers who use blogs, horizontal

violence among mothers online, barriers to using blogs such as jargon, lack of leisure

time and literacy or language barriers, lack of access to the technology or rejection of

social networks and the censoring of blog postings. In addition, the empowerment

which blogs could hopefully provide to mothers is overshadowed by the reproduction of

assumptions about women which are already rampant in the real world and which are

possibly magnified by the tendency of mommyblogs to focus on the blogging mother’s

role in child-rearing rather than presenting more points of view from the others who are

involved in the tasks of childcare.

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And lastly, commercialism appears to be a double-edged sword for feminism

because accepting it is often at the expense of inclusiveness but rejecting it is playing

into assumptions about mothers. Why? Because those sites which want to make money

with advertising investment need to cater to a group which is wealthy enough to buy the

products. In seeking advertising dollars blogs may be becoming like other mediums

such as magazines which accept advertising but then need to “…target the middle- to

upper-income parents who can afford to buy the products of advertisers” (Hall and

Bishop 17). This means that commercialized sites have less interest in reaching or

representing lower income families. However, as Ms. Douglas pointed out expecting

mothers to reject advertising income which rewards their writing and entrepreneurship

reinforces stereotypes about mothers’ time not being worth money, their writing as less

worthy of a salary, or their actions being motivated solely by self-sacrifice and love

rather than profit.

Future Directions

Having discussed the current state of mommyblogs we see that a network which

already appeals to a sizeable though not very representative group of women clearly

exists. The challenge therefore is to harness the feminist potential of the system of

mommyblogs which is in place while trying to attract more diversity of opinion and

empowering individual women to recognize the potential drawbacks and limitations of

blogs. Being aware of the commercial, political and personal stakes in mommyblogs

and how these blogs can empower or entrap mothers is one of the best ways to support

feminism in mommyblogs even if we can’t guard against or exclude blog activity which

will run counter to feminist values. Therefore, it is fundamental that more research is

done on this topic and that this research is communicated through channels used by

mommybloggers. Feminists being active in mommyblogs and making posts which are

in-line with feminist thinking is another way to make blogging more empowering.

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Feminists could also maintain Blog Rolls which are lists available online of top blogs

pertaining to a certain topic. In this manner feminist mothering sites could be featured

along with an explanation, open to challenge and discussion of course, of how feminist

principles are being observed on these sites. While the concept of mommyblogs is still

in its infancy, this is an opportune time to become involved in shaping the basis of

discussions to come. However, it is also important to keep an eye on other burgeoning

technologies through which networks of mothers are being formed such as Facebook

and Twitter. It is also equally important not to lose sight of traditional communication

channels which still remain the only connection to some groups of people who suffer

from disabilities, lack literacy skills, have limited access to technology or who choose

to reject online communication due to cultural objections or concerns about the safety

of their data.

For those women who will embark on the mamasphere, Friedmann and Calixte have

highlighted a good model to which mommyblogging could aspire:

A truly radical mamasphere would allow mothers to collectively analyze the

sources of discomfort, joy, boredom and enlightenment, resulting in a focus

that would highlight the situation of mothers broadly, that would “analyze

the situation of women”, rather than simply maintaining anecdotes of

thousands of singular lives (31).

Conclusion

Ideally blogs would create spaces for women to interact with mothers who share

their values as well as those mothers who come from different cultures. This could

expand the possibilities for women to imagine their lives differently while also allowing

them to find mothers who are making similar choices thus encouraging information

sharing, furthering the development of their lifestyle paths and collectively identifying

and challenging any oppression which is limiting them in this pursuit. Ultimately, the

mamasphere is a valuable space where many mothers can interact and become

empowered through the knowledge and experience which their other information

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sources cannot provide. It is also a time-consuming world where mothers are judged,

targeted by watchdogs and advertisers, and overwhelmingly presented with those views

stemming from the dominant class of mothers. Mommyblogs are a feminist endeavour

because they seek to carve out a space in the virtual world which mothers cannot find in

the real world. Whether it is a network of mothers, information which can help them,

validation, or even a source of income, the thrust online by mothers is motivated by a

search for what they can’t find in their communities, relationships, jobs, or their current

media sources. This project has sought to show, however, that when mothers do look

online their search is only partly successful because they are also confronted with the

assumptions, limited options and competition which also characterize their oppression

as mothers in society as a whole.

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Works Cited

Armstrong, Heather B. “About”. Dooce.com. Internet. 04.03.2011. Available at:

http://dooce.com/about

Douglas, Ann. “Web 2.0., Meet the Mommyblogger”, in Mothering and Blogging: The

Radical Act of the MommyBlog. Edited by May Friedman and Shana L. Calixte.

Canada:Demeter Press, 2009: 112-127.

Fleming, Heather Lynn. “Work-in-Progress: An Analysis of Canadian Mommy Blogs”.

Simon Fraser University Canada. Diss. Fall 2008. Internet. Available at:

http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/bitstream/1892/10521/1/etd4172.pdf

Friedman, May. “On Mommyblogging: Notes to a Future Feminist Historian”. Journal

of Women's History, 22, no. 4 (2010): 197-208

Friedman, May and Shana L. Calixte. (eds.) Mothering and Blogging: The Radical Act

of the MommyBlog. Canada:Demeter Press, 2009.

Goldsmith, Belinda. “Mothers turn to Web for product, medical advice”. New York:

Reuters, 2009. Internet. 03.03.2011. Available at:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/10/19/us-mothers-internet-

idUSTRE59I3S720091019

Haas, Trisha. “Has Social Networking Killed the Work-at-Home Mom?” in The

Internet Mommy: Inspiring Interviews And Stories From Mothers Who Work And

Play Online. Edited by Kimberley Clayton Blaine. Seattle: Amazon.com, 2010:103-

108.

Hall, Ann C. and Maria J. Bishop. (eds.) Mommy Angst: Motherhood in American

Popular Culture. California: ABC-CLIO, 2009

Hammond, Lisa. “Mommyblogging is a radical act: Weblog Communities and the

Construction of Maternal Identities” in Mothers Who Deliver: Feminist Interventions

in Public and Interpersonal Discourse (Suny Series in Feminist Criticism and

Theory) by Jocelyn Fenton Stitt and Pegeen Reichert Powell (Eds.) Albany: State

University of New York Press, 2010: 77-98

Hochman, David. “Mommy (and Me)” TheNewYorkTimes.com. January 30, 2005.

Internet. May 25, 2011. Available at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/fashion/30moms.html

Karlsson, Lena. “Desperately Seeking Sameness”. Feminist Media Studies, 7, no. 2

(2007): 137-153.

Kinser, Amber E. Motherhood and Feminism. California: Seal Press, 2010

La Leche League International Forum. Internet. Last accessed October 22, 2011.

Available at: http://forums.llli.org/index.php

21

Lopez, Lori. “The radical act of 'mommy blogging': redefining motherhood through the

blogosphere” New Media & Society, 11, no. 5 (2009): 729-747.

Madge, Clare and Henrietta O’Connor. “Parenting gone wired: empowerment of new

mothers on the internet?”. Social & Cultural Geography, Vol. 7, No. 2, April 2006:

199-220.

Quenqua, Douglas. “Guardian of Their Smiles”. The New York Times. October 23,

2009. Online. Last accessed September 14, 2011. Available at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/fashion/25facebook.html?pagewanted=all

Satterwhite, Jenn. “Mommybloggers: Integrity, Community and Taking back the

Respect we’ve earned”. August 1, 2009. Mommybloggers.com. Internet. Last

accessed August 11, 2011. Available at:

http://www.mommybloggers.com/2009/08/mommybloggers-integrity-commun.html

Shellenbarger, Sue. “The Blogger Mom, In Your Face”. Wall Street Journal, April 10,

2008. Internet. Last accessed 04.03.2011. Available at:

http://biz.yahoo.com/wallstreet/080410/sb120778656388403417_id.html?.v=1

Tucker, Judith Stadtmann. “Foreword” in Mothering and Blogging: The Radical Act of

the MommyBlog. Edited by May Friedman and Shana L. Calixte. Canada: Demeter

Press, 2009.

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Vermilion, 2006.

ZDF, “560.000 Deutsche internetsüchtig - Mädchen besonders anfällig", ZDF Heute.de

Komputer (German source), September 26, 2011. Internet. Last accessed September

30, 2011. Available at:

http://www.heute.de/ZDFheute/inhalt/18/0,3672,8354386,00.html

22

Appendix 1: Study of Breastfeeding Blogs

By Suzette Bondy-Mehrmann, July 31, 2011.

In this research I have studied a sample of 5 mommyblogs dealing with the topic of

breastfeeding including one which is devoted to the “how-to’s” of breastfeeding, two

blogs which emerged in reaction to a news article about breastfeeding, and two journal

blogs. My method of study was to skim through the blogs to get an overall impression

of the discussions, reproduce a sample of the comments posted, and provide feminist

analysis of these. This is not a random or representative selection of available

mommyblogs but rather a sample chosen for the purpose of illustrating the breadth of

discussion surrounding breastfeeding and in the hope of gathering comments from a

variety of people espousing different opinions. This study strives to call attention to the

good qualities and feminist potential of mommyblogs while cautioning against the ways

in which ideologies which run counter to feminism can also be propagated via

mommyblogs. To do this I am going to examine some of the comments which appear

in these blogs to see whether they embrace the following feminist principles which

Amber Kinser discussed in her 2010 book Feminism and Motherhood:

1. Seeking to challenge assumptions about motherhood

2. Attempting to shift the knowledge power to mothers and away from dominant

institutions

3. Rejecting biological definitions of motherhood in favour of a view of mothers as

decision-makers

4. A multiplicity of voices

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The La Leche League International forum

As the leading mother-to-mother source on breastfeeding support the LLLI offers

online breastfeeding forums which exemplify how mothers can use blogs to share their

own expertise. One can also argue that these blogs are striving for inclusiveness as

some blogs are offered in Spanish which extends their services to the largest minority

language group in America. Nonetheless, a multiplicity of voices is not achieved

merely through the act of offering blogs in Spanish because interaction between

mothers from different linguistic backgrounds doesn’t take place unless you understand

and read the other language.

At the beginning of each blog a La Leche Leader has posted a guideline for the

discussions. A call to women to respect each other:

Our experiences vary widely, [emphasis hers] and what works for one

family may not be appropriate for another. Thank you for respecting

each person's right to make the choices that are right for their own

family. LLL supports every mother's right to breastfeed in whatever

way works for her, as long as both she and the baby wish to do so,

whether that is weeks, months, or until the baby weans naturally. This is

an individual decision (LLLSueAnn).

Despite sounding like an open forum which values the rational, choosing mother, the

use of a biased expression such as “the baby weans naturally” masks an assumption that

we should let decisions over our bodies be made by our baby rather than ourselves

because the term “naturally” suggests that this is what is proper for our bodies.

Furthermore, though this post sounds welcoming to mothers who are practising any

length of breastfeeding, it becomes clear that longer periods of breastfeeding are most

highly valued in this forum. We see that the bloggers who had persevered the longest

signed their posts with a little footnote about how long they had breastfed as though

these were badges of honour:

“I breast milk fed my Blossom for fifteen months (after exclusively

pumping for thirteen). My Bud (sixteen months) is still nursing directly

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(after a rough start that included a few months of pumping and

supplementing with mommy's milk)” (llli@duaegutae)

Another mom signs:

“First time, SAH mom to my precious daughter born October 2009

Nursing 19 months and counting!” (llli@irismom)

The insistence on breastfeeding also neglects to provide information or resources for

women who might want to choose formula feeding or abandon breastfeeding.

Therefore, the choices which are supported here, and along with it the possibilities for

mothers to create their own experience of motherhood, are ultimately limited.

“In Support of Bottle-Feeding” by Lisa Belkin on Motherlode

This blog, hosted on the popular New York Times mother news site Motherlode,

started as a brief article about how women who do not breastfeed are having difficulty

finding support for their situation and feel guilty about their “choice” to bottle-feed.

The blog was active for about a year with the last entry in August 2010. The vast

majority of those who left replies reacted positively to the article and shared their own

stories of guilt and feeling pressured by others to breastfeed. For these women the blog

provided a place to exchange mother-to-mother experience and to talk about what they

considered inacceptable to voice in the current dominant discourse on the necessity of

breastfeeding. Therefore, it seemed to serve a therapeutic function in dealing with the

grief and frustration which some women felt in relation to breastfeeding (see Shannon

Proudfoot “Mommyblogging the Cheapest form of Therapy”). Some comments,

however, are not supportive but rather critical of the women and their bottle-feeding

situation or disbelieving or trivializing their breastfeeding problems. One example is

Stacy:

For the very small percentage of women who truly cannot breast feed, I am sorry

that I will give you a subtle disapproving look, but the rest of you deserve it

(Stacy, July 22, 2009).

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So when I see women who weren’t willing to make the effort for their babies, I

feel sorry for the babies. I know that those babies will probably be colicky, get

more ear infections and illnesses and miss out on a wonderful bonding experience

with their mothers (Stacy July 23, 2009).

Stacy demonstrates how assumptions about motherhood can also be reflected in

blogs because she brings in the oppressive, self-effacing, mothering ideal which posits

breastfeeding as a right for the baby and a duty for the mother. She is also trivializing

the heart-wrenching experiences shared by other women rather than validating their

knowledge and experience. Her comments generated criticism, some of which was

more a personal attack but some aimed at addressing the structures which oppress

mothers and which are prevalent in Stacy’s offensive comments.

To Stacey (poster #47): Your arrogance is remarkable. I hope you are fortunate

enough to encounter people who are more forgiving than you. Life is hard enough,

and certainly MOTHERHOOD is hard enough without the “tut-tuts” from know-

it-alls. I pray that God will give me the presence of mind to calmly ignore people

like you. (Vera, July 22, 2009).

I think you should curb your behavior before your child grows up to be as

judgmental and holier-than-thou as you are. If these remarks bother you, perhaps

you should look within, and you will see someone who is so insecure in her own

motherhood that she feels the need to trumpet her accomplishments as a parent in

order to feel superior to others, and therefore better about herself (Nancy, July 23,

2009).

Vera and Nancy are pointing out that mothers are too quickly judged and pitted

against each other in the race to be the best mother. This reflects Judith Warner’s ideas

in her book Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. Ms. Warner points

out that in the current ideology of intensive mothering “…[v]alidation of one group

necessarily meant demonization of the other” (Warner 267). Stacey apparently needs to

put-down other mothering choices to ensure that her mothering ideology is validated in

our society rather than promoting a multiplicity of mothering styles.

Some bloggers like Anne also tried to challenge our society’s structures which

might have been able to redirect the anger which the majority of women in this blog

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were directing at either pushy breastfeeders or perceived lazy, non-breastfeeding

mothers. Anne’s comments were an exception however:

The real reason that so many women give up or choose not to breastfeed is that

they need to return to a full-time job. If we had generous paid maternity leave like

Scandinavia, more women would “choose” to breastfeed (Anne, July 23, 2009).

Ultimately, this blog did more to highlight the differences between mothers than to

expose the assumptions and dominant ideologies which underpin these. The topic did

at least bring together women of different opinions whereas many mommyblogs tend to

attract parents sharing similar lifestyle decisions and interests as the next blog in my

study has done. Therefore this blog did fulfil the criteria for a multiplicity of voices.

Breastfeedingmomsunite.com

Through the website “The Top Ten best Breastfeeding Blogs” I was directed to this

now dormant blog which was run by a breastfeeding advocate called Melodie and

included mostly writings by the author as well as commentaries and articles which were

posted for discussion. The feminist value of this site was limited in that it really only

appealed to and was visited by like-minded mothers who were breastfeeding. As the

title implies, breastfeeding moms are the ones who are welcome to come together on

this blog which limits the points of view to be shared. Indeed the “Neslté-free zone”

logo which she displays on her website should make any formula-feeding mothers, even

those who might also be breastfeeding, feel unwelcome if the title hasn’t already scared

them off.

As I started to pour over the content, I realized that assumptions and biological

destiny were seldom challenged in the articles as breastfeeding is presented as what

nature intended for women. For example, she rather ironically speaks fondly of women

who use breast pumps to help do what nature intended when it fails:

Just as nature adapts to a changing world with variations of design, let us adapt to

accepting that breastfeeding does not have to look only one way to be natural

(Melodie November 30, 2009).

27

This is not only full of assumptions about the supremacy of nature and her cultural

interpretation of nature of one of breastfeeding for many years but also that using man-

made aids such as pumps still counts as natural but formula feeding does not. She also

describes women who breastfeed past a year as “determined” which implies that those

who do not must lack determination.

I am proud to be a part of the determined 9% of mothers in Canada who

breastfeed past a year... (Melodie November 30, 2009).

In one comment Melodie appears to be aware of the tensions which advocating

breastfeeding as better mothering creates yet she nonetheless compounds the problem

with such comments as the one above:

It disheartens me that those of us who are lucky enough to breastfeed straight

from the breast might ever feel superior to moms who use a

bottle…sanctimonious attitudes in response to the sight of a bottle-feeding mom

can ruin the natural sisterly relationships between women who share a special

bond by virtue of motherhood (Melodie November 30, 2009).

The website did however show signs of challenging dominant ideologies about

breasts as sexual because she posted defiantly on the issue of breastfeeding images

being censored on popular internet portals. It is interesting to note that the blog author

decided to quit her blog after two years because she felt this was reflecting badly on her

life and her kids’ life:

But in the two years I’ve been blogging I’ve been letting a lot of things in my

personal life slide. Rules about TV time for one, spending more quality one-to-

one time with my kids for two (Melodie -January 11, 2011).

Ultimately this is not a very inclusive site as it is devoted to ensuring the rights of

breastfeeding mothers and promoting options which appeal to a very specific group

rather than seeking ways to make breastfeeding or other mothering options attainable by

other groups of women whose issues have little resemblance to the challenges facing

these women.

28

Blacktating.com

Blacktating.com also came to my attention through the “Top Ten best Breastfeeding

Blogs” website. I chose this site due to the author Elita’s openness about her race

coupled with breastfeeding discussion and hence the title “Blacktating”. Her blog

appears to be more inclusive than Melodie’s blog as there are comments from women

who could not breastfeed and Elita makes it clear that she is in favour of mothering

choices.

…I am vehemently pro choice. Everyone has the option to choose formula” Elita-

“Michelle Obama and the “Choice” to Breastfeed”, June 10, 2011.

Many women posted a picture of themselves which allows us to see how ethnically

diverse the women are which is definitely a feminist advantage of this site. Many of the

women posting are also Caucasian but I never encountered any comments indicating

that these women were not welcome despite the title “Blacktating”. On the whole,

however, I do get the impression that despite diversity in race, the women seem to share

a similar class privilege in that some blog about being married, their maternity leave,

shopping, and they obviously have the leisure time to indulge in blogging. The Blogger

Profile for Elita seems to reinforce this perception for the author’s own situation: “What

started as a side project to keep her occupied while on maternity leave has become her

second baby”.

The only part which I found a bit unfortunate was Elita’s insistence on biological

norms:

But is breastfeeding a personal choice? Isn't it just what mammals do after they've

given birth?” Elita, “Michelle Obama and the “Choice” to Breastfeed” (June 9,

2011).

…And you are right,the mother-baby bond IS the most important during the first

year. Even if you are bottle feeding, the baby should be fed by mom most of the

time, while being held skin-to-skin. The biological norm is mom and baby close

together. (Elita, „June’s Carnival of Breastfeeding: Second Time’s a Charm”

Reply to HuppieMama. June 2011 )

29

Here I would have liked to have seen more challenge of the notion of a true nature or

biological destiny and a closer look at how culture shapes our definition of biology,

nature and norms. Nonetheless, this was the most inclusive of the breastfeeding blogs

which I saw and lacked the in-fighting and self-righteousness which can be associated

with feeding decisions and which is rampant in the next blog.

“Why Breastfeeding is Overrated” author Joan B. Wolf in Conversation with

Luiza Ch. Savage.

This interview promoting feminist critic Joan B. Wolf’s new book has turned into a

Blog which has attracted more than 329 comments to date. It is a very good example of

the heightened emotions surrounding breastfeeding as readers mostly criticize or even

curse the author for daring to publish this. The interviewer, Ms. Savage is well aware

of the heightened sensibilities surrounding this topic:

Nothing I’ve ever written has received so much emotional response from readers

as the time I wrote about my struggles breastfeeding my first son. My point was to

say, this can be hard; take the breastfeeding class before the baby comes. But I

was accused of discouraging people from nursing. There was a lot of anger in the

letters. Why is this topic so emotional?

Her assessment of the breastfeeding topic turned out to be all too accurate as the

comments reacting to this interview poured in showing evidence of being emotional,

angry and even accusatory. Some readers, however, express gratitude or agreement with

the author and share their own “failed” breastfeeding experiences. Others showed firm

support for a woman’s right to choose thereby crusading for the feminist view of a

mother as one which thinks and chooses. Unfortunately, many of the conversations

take place in a very aggressive manner which I feel only heightens the tensions between

the different groups:

Ahhhhh american health care advice. See what you need to do, is find a company

that sells breast milk to pay this "scientist" as much as Nestle does so that THEY

can use her as a puppet on a string to argue ridiculous points like this (Dmayich, 6

months ago).

30

This is the perfect example of what Wolf is talking about. A woman tells her story

of how the culture of the nipple Nazis nearly cost her child his life, and your

reaction is to come in here and suggest SHE is to blame for not believing fervently

enough. The only words I can think of for you will get my post deleted (Patrick

Flannery, 6 months ago).

Biological definitions of motherhood and assumptions surface unchallenged as many

critics bring in vague notions of “God”, “nature” or “normal” as a way to defend the

supremacy of breastfeeding in the belief that these are authorities.

Breastfeeding is normal and artificial milk or substituting the milk of another

animal is not. This is not an inflammatory statement, this is fact (Hotelqueen, 6

months ago).

That is hilarious... God didn't make formula, humans did. Humans however were

made with the ability to produce milk and thus feed our children, formula hasn't

been around since the beginning of man kind how on earth did we survive?

(Guest, 5 months ago).

The point is we are mammalian mothers who are meant to nurse and nurture our

young (Mammalian mother, 6 months ago).

We also see better mothering qualities being linked to breastfeeding mothers and a

critique of non-breastfeeding mothers which supports the dominant ideology which

expects women to take a back seat to their family’s needs (see Judith Warner).

I also know many women who did not even bother trying for no other reason than

appearances and one who did not want to feel tied down. i was so sad that the

mothers were more concerned about themselves than their babies (Cricket, 6

months ago).

Even though feminist motherhood emphasizes shifting power from experts and

medical authorities back to mothers we also see that mothers call upon these same

experts if it can serve to defend their own ideology of mothering:

Studies PROVE that it's the best thing for babies, and I know in my heart when I

feed my babies that breastfeeding is pure love (Sarah R, 5 months ago).

Still a few comments were clearly grounded in feminist theory advancing the notion

of mothers as capable of choosing:

Wouldn't the feminist position be "provide access to adequate education on the

benefits of breast feeding and educate professionals on how to help women who

31

wish to breastfeed but are having difficulty then assume a woman is competent to

make her own decision on breastfeeding? (pinkrunningshoes, 5 months ago).

And some challenged dominant structures such as the competitive ideology which

has fuelled the so-called “mommy wars” in virtually all debates about motherhood:

Why are women so unsupportive of one another? We judge things that are

essentially none of our business and we always think the worst of each other

(Healthcare insider, 6 months ago).

At the conclusion of this critical review of a sample of breastfeeding blogs it is fair

to say that all of the blogs in my sample have proven to be a mixed bag when it comes

to supporting feminist ideals. Therefore our discussion will now turn to how women

can be empowered by mommyblogs without being harmed by their pitfalls.

Analysis

Through this study I have shown that rather than being resisted, dominant ideologies

about infant feeding manage to replicate themselves online. In this instance,

mommyblogs appear to be just an extension of the “expert” literature which bloggers

have read and the messages about motherhood such as “breast is best” which is

circulated by dominant institutions and the media. Assumptions about women,

mothering, biology and nature which have been sown over centuries by patriarchy and

male-dominated institutions such as the sciences are also reflected in mommyblogs and

often go unchallenged or are even employed to uphold the superiority of one’s

mothering choices. Secondly, the women who write or access blogs have a tendency to

share many cultural traits such as computer access and know-how, education, and a

command of English writing (in North-America at least). This leads to an

underrepresentation or absence of infant feeding options which support mothers who do

not belong to the privileged norm and a lack of diversity in the infant feeding practices

presented which could lead to some practices being undervalued or misunderstood for

32

lack of exposure and discussion. Therefore, what we saw in these mommyblogs on the

topic of breastfeeding leaves room for both optimism and caution.

Conclusion

With new power we are still faced with old problems. In the case of the emergence

of mommyblogs we have a powerful tool to articulate and achieve feminist goals but

persistent patterns in thinking and longstanding inequalities are constraining and

limiting our newfound power. We see dominant groups and ideologies still dominating

and the self-imposed limitations of assumptions emerging in a forum where we could

potentially be free to create new mothering possibilities.

33

Works Cited

Belkin, Lisa. “In Support of Bottle-Feeding” July 22, 2009. Online. Last accessed July

30, 2011. Available at: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/in-support-of-

bottle-feeding/

Blacktating.com. Online. Last accessed July 29, 2011. Available at: Blacktating.com

Blogger Profile. “Elita”. Online. Last accessed July 30, 2011. Available at:

http://www.blogger.com/profile/01294923997458681675)

Breastfeeding Moms Unite. Online. Last accessed July 29, 2011. Available at:

Breastfeedingmomsunite.com

Kinser, Amber E. Motherhood and Feminism. California: Seal Press, 2010

La Leche League International Forum. Online. Last accessed July 30, 2011. Available

at: http://forums.llli.org/index.php

LLLSueAnn. „Please Read Before Posting”. January 12, 2006. La Leche League

International. Online. Last accessed June 30, 2011. Available at:

http://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?82-Please-Read-Before-Posting

llli@duaeguttae. “Re: Book Recommendations”. #3. La Leche League International.

June 10, 2011. Online. Last accessed July 1, 2011. Available at:

http://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?98236-Book-Recommendations-Breastfeeding

llli@irismom. “Re: Does my one-month-old need a Vitamin D replacement while I’m

Breastfeeding Only. Help!” La Leche League International. June 29, 2011. Last

accessed July 1, 2011. Available at: http://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?103710-

DOES-MY-ONE-MONTH-OLD-NEED-A-VITAMIN-D-REPLACEMENT-

WHILE-IM-BRESTFEEDING-ONLY-HELP.

Proudfoot, Shannon. “Mommyblogging the cheapest form of therapy”. Canada.com. no

date. Internet. 03.03.2011. Available at:

http://www.canada.com/life/parenting/Mommyblogging+

cheapest+form+therapy/2136761/story.html

Melodie. “Breastfeeding: Nature’s Way”. November 30, 2009. Breastfeeding Moms

Unite. Online source. Last accessed July 15, 2011. Available at

http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/2009/11/breastfeeding-natures-way/

Savage, Luiza Ch. “Why Breastfeeding is Overrated” author Joan B. Wolf in

Conversation with Luiza Ch. Savage. January 10, 2011. Macleans.ca. Internet.

03.03.2011. Available at:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/01/10/author-joan-b-wolf-in-conversation/#idc-cover

“The Top Ten best Breastfeeding Blogs”. Upspring Baby. February 10, 2010. Online.

Last accessed July 22, 2011. Available at:

http://blog.upspringbaby.com/2010/02/10/top-ten-best-breastfeeding-blogs/

34

Warner, Judith. Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. London:

Vermilion, 2006.

35

Appendix 2: Examples of Mommyblogs

Vegan, Mormon mother

http://veganmothering.blogspot.com/

Top 10 Breastfeeding blogs

http://blog.upspringbaby.com/2010/02/10/top-ten-best-breastfeeding-blogs/

Christian mothers

http://momsoffaith.com/

Homeschooling mom blog with a provocative title

http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/

Stay at home mom

http://www.stuntmom.com/

A Lesbian mother’s adventures

http://www.lesbianmommy.com/

A Quiver mom and her large family

http://nobirthcontrol.blogspot.com/2009/12/our-story.html

Canadian Moms’ blog

http://www.canadianmomsblog.com/

Crunchy moms – a title used by mothers who consider their mothering styles as closer

to nature or hippy.

http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/

Feminist mom in Montreal

http://newfeministmom.blogspot.com/

Mothers with cancer

http://motherswithcancer.wordpress.com/

Divorced mother

http://www.postdivorcechronicles.com/