The political is personal: Postfeminism and the construction of the ideal working mother

Helen Delaney and Katie R. Sullivan

Gender, Work and Organization, 2021, vol. 28, issue 4, 1697-1710

Abstract: This paper critically analyses how postfeminist discourse plays out in media constructions of politician New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern becoming a mother while in office. Data for this project include Ardern's public announcements of her pregnancy, her daughter's birth, and responses to questions regarding being a working mother. Alongside Ardern's framing of becoming a working mother, we also analyze how mainstream media reported on and sought meaning around her story. We are guided by the questions: How do different feminisms materialize in Ardern's case and how do they help us make sense of working and mothering in postfeminist times? Our analysis contributes to gender and organizational literature by teasing out the tensions and possibilities that emerge for a feminist politics of mothering and working.

Date: 2021
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