Jenn Hyslip Response to Parenthood Presentations

Overall, the presentations on representations of parenthood in the media were great in variety. I enjoyed seeing what others came up with and many times said to myself, “why didn’t I think of that.” That being said, some of the interesting things that I observed were the lack of representations of alternative parenthood, the numerous depictions of motherhood, and the idea of celebrity/political figure parents. Both Josie and Ry spoke about how they could not find images that dealt with alternative parenthood, which I agree with. As Ry pointed out, I could also not find an image of a father inside of the house unless I typed in “stay at home Dad”. It was always a picture of a father outside playing with his kid. I thought that Brooke’s take on the idea of parenthood was also extremely interesting and really is “up to date” – celebrity parenting. Magazines are everywhere and vicariously living through a celebrity and their day-to-day activities illustrated in these magazines is the thing to do, nowadays. It’s always the mother with the child though, and if it is the father, he is deemed as the “awesome dad” who takes the time out of his busy schedule to spend with his kids. However, a mother who is a celebrity is also extremely busy, yet isn’t recognized for her ability to balance work and life at home. Finally, a last element of the presentations that stood out to me were the commercials many spoke of. Ellie spoke of the Johnson & Johnson commercial and Josie about Kelly Ripa in the Electrolux commercials. In both of these commercials, the female is represented as a happy mother, who enjoys cleaning, cooking, and taking care of their child. It advertises the good side of motherhood, not the trials and tribulations that occur in reality, which was unlike my take on motherhood, which was the exact opposite. In the end, looking back at these presentations, it is made clear through the media, that motherhood and fatherhood has strict, confining parameters to work with, in order to reach the greatest audience.