Mothers are more than moms, just ask one. We did (500 actually).
Motherhood isn’t everything. Even to moms. That was made clear in our survey when 9 out of 10 mothers said they wanted to be portrayed in roles other than mom. In no way does this diminish the role of motherhood in a person’s life. It can be defining. It can be exceptional. It can be transformative. It isn’t, however, everything. The pre-motherhood self does not simply evaporate, replaced by the selfless devotion to others and instant knowledge of laundry cycles, sheet pan dinners, and where the extra AA batteries are.
Our Mothers, Ourselves
Have you all seen all the hullabaloo about the new "Not Your Mother's Tiffany" campaign? Wowza is there ever a lot of passion around that! The good news is that Tiffany certainly learned it had a lot of fans. The bad news, of course, is that all of these people are now royally pissed off.
hey mama, we know you’re more than a mom
Motherhood can be defining. It can be exceptional. It can be transformative. It isn’t everything. The pre-motherhood self does not simply evaporate, replaced by selfless devotion to others and instant knowledge of laundry cycles, sheet pan dinners, and where the extra AA batteries are. That person is still in there. And advertisers would be wise to appeal to her.
Is advertising messing with women's minds or am I just crazy?
Women and girls have been manipulated by the media in so many ways for so long that it’s simply a part of our culture. My Instagram feed is chock-full of ads for stuff that is meant to make life better but only gives a paralyzing anxiety from not living up to any of it.
Is The Way We Portray Women In Advertising Getting Any Better?
While there are some standouts, where brands are getting it right (Bravo to you GE, Kraft, and Twitter, though really Twitter, please pay attention to the amount of social media harassment of women happening on the platform and actually do something about it...), but women are still largely portrayed in very specific roles that tend to be deferential to others.