Momfluenced

Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture

By: Sara Petersen

Narrated by: Megan Tusing

How momfluencer culture impacts women psychologically as consumers, as performers of their stories, and as mothers

On Instagram, the private work of mothering is turned into a public performance, generating billions of dollars. The message is simple: we’re all just a couple of clicks away from a better, more beautiful experience of motherhood.

Linen-clad momfluencers hawking essential oils, parenting manuals, baby slings, and sponsored content for Away suitcases make us want to forget that the reality of mothering in America is an isolating, exhausting, almost wholly unsupported endeavor. In a culture which denies mothers basic human rights, it feels good to click “purchase now” on whatever a momfluencer might be selling. It feels good to hope.

Momfluencers are just like us, except they aren’t. They are mothers, yes. They are also marketing strategists, content creators, lighting experts, advertising executives, and artists. They are businesswomen. The most successful momfluencers offer content that differs very little from what we used to find in glossy women’s magazines like Glamour and Real Simple, only they’re churning it out daily and that content is their lives.

We flock to momfluencers to learn about fashion, wellness, parenting, politics, and to find Brooklyn-designed crib sheets printed with radishes. Chances are, if you’re a mother reading this (and maybe even if you’re not!), you are an arm’s length away from something you’ve purchased because a momfluencer made it look good.

Drawing on her own fraught relationship to momfluencer culture, Sara Petersen incorporates pop culture analysis and interviews with prominent momfluencers and experts (psychologists, academics, technologists) to explore the glorification of the ideal mama online with both humor and empathy. At home on a bookshelf with Lyz Lenz’s Belabored and Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror, Momfluenced argues that momfluencers don’t simply sell mothers on the benefits of bamboo diapers, they sell us the dream of motherhood itself, a dream tangled up in whiteness, capitalism, and the heteronormative nuclear family.

Momfluenced considers what it means to define motherhood for ourselves when society is determined to define motherhood for us.

©2023 Sara Petersen (P)2023 Beacon Press

Critic reviews

“A deep dive into the ever growing ‘momfluencer’ culture . . . With an investigative eye and a sense of humor, Petersen sheds needed light on a key part of the social media landscape.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Readers who find themselves endlessly scrolling social media with that particular form of envy and aspiration it all seems to inspire will be fascinated by this insider’s look behind the spotless countertops and cherubic children.”—Booklist

“Petersen deftly dissects the aesthetics of good motherhood, skewers popular momfluencer tropes, and pokes fun at her own tendency to buy both the goods and the fantasy they’re selling.”—Reason

A great listen!

Really loved Sara’s perspective and hearing from all the people she interviewed. Some really great insights.

Funny and witty

Enjoyed dissecting why IG moms annoy me yet I can’t stop scrolling through their feeds.

Resonates with Disgruntled Moms

if you've been struggling with motherhood and comparing your personal experience to the glowing motherhood images on social media, this book is for you!

This book really pulls back the curtain on popular moms on social media, with some of them appearing with interviews with the author in the book! I wished I had this book in front of me right before I gave birth to be vary lf the many pitfalls awaiting you in early motherhood.

I think this book precedes any scientific research in the "mom and social media" relm but the author's observations about social media trends and her own life strike a definite chord in my own motherhood experience. In the best way the author could be, this is well-researched and balanced, by a combination of informal polls, interviews with influencers, and notes about products they endorse.

I haven't noticed any odd narration pronunciations but maybe that's my own dialect...

Narrator too distracting

I agree with the other commenter: the narrator’s tone was odd and the way she pronounced Todd-a-ler!

I liked a lot of the history in this and validated some of my feelings, but paints a very exhausting picture of motherhood (which is fair because it can be) but I thought it was too dragged and became too negative to finish.

Sincere but shallow.

This is a great book if you’re a mom or new to critique of capitalist culture. Unfortunately I am neither. While I appreciate the authors point I found this book ill researched (she pulls largely from the internet and other modern pop culture books. I wish someone went deeper into this topic because there’s so much to learn.

Tackles issues I’ve been curious about as a mom

A great read for anyone wondering about how they got sucked in to momfluencer’s sphere of influence. At times a rant and at times very well researched, this book was irresistible.

A must-read for contemporary moms

I’ve long been a fan of Petersen’s, and this book exceeded my expectations. She does a deep dive into momfluencer culture, something so pervasive it often goes unnoticed. I wanted to give it to all the young moms in my life.

A Macro View of Micro Interactions

I only consume a small amount of momfluencer content intentionally, but since getting pregnant last year, it has seeped into my world from all angles. Peterson does an incredible job of looking at these influencers both on the individual level (what makes them compelling despite their flaws) and on the macro level as they reflect white supremacy and patriarchy. It doesn’t give advice on how to “fix” their influence per day, but her comprehensive work will have a lasting impact on the lens in which I view their content.

The performance was just okay… I always feel like personal sentiments are delivered better by the author. But it wasn’t distractingly bad.

Odd pronunciation and tone by Narrator, but overall solid analysis

Narrator says Todd-a-ler, which for some reason was quite grating on my ears, in addition to a few other quirks. She also felt a bit monotone. Otherwise the analysis was solid and it was an interesting perspective on industry/career that is often the butt of jokes or not taken seriously as real work. Made me think differently about the work that goes into “influencing.”

Why are the political comments necessary?

I was excited to read this until there was so many political comments within the first dang chapter! Particularly about Covid, masks and vaccines. It turned me off and I ended up returning it.