A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Mothers’ self-representations and representations of childhood on social media (2023)

Kallioharju, M., Wilska, T.-A., & Vänskä, A. (2023). Mothers’ self-representations and representations of childhood on social media. Young Consumers, 24(4), 485-499. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-06-2022-1541

Tutkimusta rahoitti strategisen tutkimuksen neuvosto, joka toimii Suomen Akatemian yhteydessä.

JYU-tekijät tai -toimittajat

Kallioharju, Minna
Wilska, Terhi-Anna

Julkaisun tiedot

Julkaisun kaikki tekijät tai toimittajat: Kallioharju, Minna; Wilska, Terhi-Anna; Vänskä, Annamari

Lehti tai sarja: Young Consumers

ISSN: 1747-3616

eISSN: 1747-3616

Julkaisuvuosi: 2023

Ilmestymispäivä: 19.05.2023

Volyymi: 24

Lehden numero: 4

Artikkelin sivunumerot: 485-499

Kustantaja: Emerald

Julkaisumaa: Britannia

Julkaisun kieli: englanti

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-06-2022-1541

Julkaisun avoin saatavuus: Avoimesti saatavilla

Julkaisukanavan avoin saatavuus: Osittain avoin julkaisukanava

Julkaisu on rinnakkaistallennettu (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/87139

Tiivistelmä

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine mothers’ social media accounts that focus on children’s fashion. The authors probed children’s fashion photo practices as representations of the mothers’ extended self and the kind of childhood representations produced by the social media accounts. They also investigated mothers’ perceptions of children’s privacy when engaging in sharenting – the sharing of information about children or parenting online.

Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on 16 semi-structured interviews with Finnish mothers who had Instagram accounts focusing on children’s fashion.

Findings
Children’s fashion photos play a diverse role in mothers’ identity work. The photos can be used to express a mother’s taste and aesthetic skills, to express values, to fit into peer groups and to store memories of oneself and the children. Through the photos, representations of the prevailing Finnish childhood ideals, such as authenticity, naturalness and playfulness, are reproduced. The mothers perceived the children as part of their extended self and justified sharenting with mother- and child-centered arguments.

Originality/value
Through shedding light on the practices of social media fashion photography, this paper provides insights into how commercialism and social media shape cultural expectations for both motherhood and childhood. The paper contributes to previous research on sharenting, extending it to the context of fashion photography.

YSO-asiasanat: äidit; lapset (ikäryhmät); vanhemmuus; sosiaalinen media; itseilmaisu; representaatio; muoti; kulutus; ulkonäkö; valokuvat; yksityisyys; kuluttajakäyttäytyminen

Vapaat asiasanat: motherhood; extended self; self-representation; consumption; childhood; children’s fashion; children’s clothing; social media; sharenting; purchase requests; online media; other media and children

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