The new face of motherhood: where does this leave marketers?
There has been lots of talk recently of a gradual, societal shift back to more traditional, humanistic values. In particular, we’re seeing feminist values being re-defined by a new generation of women that are feeling somewhat burdened by the mammoth ‘supermum’ ideal left to them by their predecessors. For example, the shift from ‘ambition’ to ‘man-bition’ has been identified as a recent trend, with more women wanting hunter-gatherers and more men wanting home-makers.
In the same vein, we are seeing more and more women choosing to leave their careers and embrace motherhood as a full time job. A 2011 Mumsnet survey found that more than 60 per cent of its members said they would stay at home if it was financially viable. What does this tell us about where women are at, their attitudes, priorities and values? One could argue that this is simply a result of the economic crisis, with women being pushed back into full time mum status as they can no longer afford childcare and their childcare benefits have been cut. Whilst the economic climate may have accelerated this trend, we would argue that this ‘return to motherhood’ started before the recession and actually signals a more profound shift in values and attitudes to motherhood.
From a wider, society point of view, we are seeing much greater value assigned to motherhood in general. In contrast to the 80s and 90s, where being a ‘full time mum’ was perhaps seen as the ‘lazy’ option that defied feminist principles, this decade shows a new level of respect and even admiration for women who dedicate themselves to this role. The complexities, intricacies and challenges of motherhood are becoming increasingly acknowledged in the media, raising its profile, leveraging motherhood to a sort of art-form. We see very regular evidence of this in the media with open discussions taking place around the trials and tribulations of parenting styles and practices (take Tiger Mother for instance), as well as new parenting books and TV programmes emerging on a monthly basis. We also see evidence of this through the increasing number of mothering support sources available in the community, both in the public and private sectors; for example, community parenting ‘workshops’, advice services, online community forums.
The housewife in 2012. The housewife ‘status’ in 2012 is vastly different to what it was say back in the 1990s. Today, housewives are by no means ‘behind the scenes’, vulnerable to the decisions made by the more ‘active’ members of society. Today they are visible, vocal and increasingly influential even on the political front: valued for bringing vast life and career experience to the table, and recognised for being the ‘shapers’ of our future citizens. The infamous Mumsnet online forum (now with over 600,000 members) is a key political vehicle for stay-at-home mums and has played a pivotal role in informing policy development of late.
More pride, less prejudice? As the housewife status has been elevated, more and more women today are taking pride in their mother status, with ‘full time mum’ becoming a positive way to define yourself. The meaning attached to this role in 2012 is far removed from the meaning attached to the stereotyped image from the 1950s. The key difference between 1950 and 2012 is the ‘choice’ factor. If we de-code the 1950s ‘house-wife’ paradigm, it is rooted in conformity, submission, dependency and pressure to live up to standards and expectations. In direct contrast, the 2012 ‘motherhood’ paradigm is couched in much more positive emotional territory. First and foremost, for (many) women in 2012 this is a choice they feel empowered in making.
Authenticity, realness, meaning and purpose. For many women, this choice stems from a desire to free themselves from the pressure to ‘do it all’, the constant sense of dissatisfaction that comes from feeling pulled in different directions. You could say (some) women are coming full circle, in the sense that they are now making a stand against the multi-dimensional, demanding, high-speed lifestyles and instead, they are fighting for a life of simplicity and authenticity. This trend of seeking ‘the simple life’ is further supported by recent (2010) figures revealing a historic shift of Britain’s population from countryside to city, now going into reverse.
Furthermore, as women are having children later on in life, they have greater opportunity to experience the satisfaction of career ‘success’ before having children, thereby reducing the chances of feeling motherhood is depriving them of experiencing a career. These women would probably feel confident in returning to their ‘old’ careers or even re-invent themselves in the future, perhaps once their children are in full time education. In addition, many women of this generation may have grown up in a home with two working parents and as a result, have made a conscious decision to build closer relationships with their children than they had growing up.
Where does that leave us when it comes to marketing to mothers? As marketers, there is a new ‘breed’ of motherhood values emerging we need to get to grips with. These are not mothers who can easily be boxed into the ‘supermum’ or ‘happy homemaker’ stereotypes. In fact in an advertising context, women are incredibly sensitive of (and defensive about) being pigeon-holed. Brands need to be extremely careful in tapping into these out-dated stereotypes, especially as we can no longer assume that either of these stereotypes feels aspirational. Perhaps, in connecting with mothers, it will become increasingly important to play to their intelligence, their individuality and their active roles both inside the home and in the wider world.
