This study explores how Indonesian ‘Mumpreneur’ Influencers (influencers) navigate neoliberal precarity and patriarchal gender norms through their work as stay-at-home mum influencers on Instagram. This research combines a qualitative analysis of the Instagram accounts of Indonesian mumpreneurs with in-depth interviews with 32 mothers, who identify as mumpreneurs and mumfluencers. The interviews shed light on their motivations, content strategies and the challenges of self-entrepreneurship in an increasingly saturated market. The study argues that influencer Mumpreneurship is a complex and contradictory phenomenon. Although mumprenuerships are often praised as empowered entrepreneurs, this research shows that mumprenuership is not just a strategy for fiscal sustainability but is also a symptom of broader problems. These include precarious childbirth and gender barriers to formal employment, the absence of supportive employment policies for working mothers, and widespread gender bias in the world of work.
AbidinC (2018) Internet Celebrity. Leeds, England: Emerald Publishing Limited, 100–110.
2.
AbidinCGwynneJ (2017) Entrepreneurial selves, feminine corporeality and lifestyle blogging in Singapore. Asian Journal of Social Science45(4–5): 385–408.
3.
AnnisaF (2022) Performance of micro celebrities: From digital meritocracy to neoliberalism. Al-I’am, Journal of Contemporary Islamic Communication and Media2(2): 49–75.
4.
AnnisaFSuwartoDH (2023) Working with passion: Digital media specialist as precarious worker in the digital age. Studies in Media and Communication11(7): 57–66.
5.
ArcherC (2019a) How influencer ‘mumpreneur’ bloggers and ‘everyday’ mums frame presenting their children online. Media International Australia170(1): 47–56.
6.
ArcherC (2019b) Social media influencers, post-feminism and neoliberalism: How mum bloggers’ ‘playbour’ is reshaping public relations. Public Relations Inquiry8(2): 149–166.
7.
Banet-WeiserSGillRRottenbergC (2020) Postfeminism, popular feminism and neoliberal feminism? Sarah Banet-Weiser, Rosalind Gill and Catherine Rottenberg in conversation.” Feminist Theory. Sage Publications21(1): 1–22.
8.
BartleyKOudhuisM (2022) Happiness ethics - how to be “a good mother” and do the best for the child. International Journal of Applied Ethics7(1): 41–51.
9.
BesamuscaJ (2020) The short or long end of the stick? Mothers’ social position and self-employment status from a comparative perspective. Gender, Work and Organization27(6): 1285–1307.
10.
BlackSFox MillerCLeslieD (2019) Gender, precarity and hybrid forms of work identity in the virtual domestic arts and crafts industry in Canada and the US. Gender, Place and Culture26(2): 272–292.
11.
BladesH (2019) Projects, precarity, and the ontology of dance works. Dance Research Journal51(1): 66–78.
12.
BridgenL (2011) Emotional labour and the pursuit of the personal brand: Public relations practitioners’ use of social media Liz. Journal of Media Practice12: 61–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jmpr.12.1.61_1.
13.
CarlinMFedericiS (2014) The exploitation of women, social reproduction, and the struggle against global capital. Theory & Event17(3): 47. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/553382.
ChenGM (2013) Don’t call me that: A techno-feminist critique of the term mommy blogger. Mass Communication and Society16(4): 510–532.
16.
CopelandDBHarbaughBL (2019) It’s hard being a mama”: Validation of the maternal distress concept in becoming a mother. The Journal of Perinatal Education28(1): 28–42.
17.
CorbinJStraussA (1998) Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. In: Notes and Queries, 3rd edn, vols. s13-I, Issue 19. London, UK: Sage Publications, Inc, 163–180.
18.
de PeuterG (2011) Creative economy and labor precarity: A contested convergence. Journal of Communication Inquiry35(4): 417–425.
19.
DijkMPv (1995) Flexible specialization, the new competition and industrial districtsSmall Business Economics7(1): 15–27.
20.
DobsonAS (2015) Postfeminist Digital Cultures, Feminity, Social Media, and Self-Representation. In: Paper Knowledge. Toward a Media History of Documents. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 23–51.
21.
DorschelR (2022) Reconsidering digital labour: Bringing tech workers into the debate. New Technology, Work and Employment37(2): 288–307.
22.
DuffyBE (2016) The romance of work: Gender and aspirational labour in the digital culture industries. International Journal of Cultural Studies19(4): 441–444.
23.
DuffyBEHundE (2015) “Having it all” on social media: Entrepreneurial femininity and self-branding among fashion bloggers. Social Media and Society1(2): 1–11.
24.
DuffyBEPinchASannonS, et al. (2021) The nested precarities of creative labor on social media. Social Media and Society7(2): 1–12.
25.
DuffyBEWissingerE (2017) Mythologies of creative work in the social media age: Fun, free, and “just being me.”International Journal of Communication11: 4652–4671.
26.
EiglerJAzarpourS (2020) Reputation management for creative workers in the media industry. Journal of Media Business Studies17(3–4): 261–275.
27.
EkinsmythC (2014) Mothers’ business, work/life and the politics of ‘mumpreneurship. Gender, Place and Culture21(10): 1230–1248.
FedericiS (2019) Social reproduction theory: History, issues and present challenges. In: Radical Philosophy, vol. 204, 55–57.
30.
FisherEFuchsC(2014) Introduction: Value and labour in the digital age. In: Fisher E and Fuchs C (eds) Reconsidering Value and Labour in the Digital Age. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 3–25.
FraserN (2017) Crisis of care? On the social-reproductive contradictions of contemporary capitalism. In: BhattacharyaT (eds) Social Reproduction Theory, Issue May 2018. Pluto Press, 21–36. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vz494j.6
34.
FreemanC (2007) The “reputation” of neoliberalism. American Ethnologist. 34(2): 252–267.
35.
FuchsC (2020) Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory. In Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory. https://doi.org/10.16997/book45
36.
GermicEREckertSVulteeF (2021) The impact of instagram mommy blogger content on the perceived self-efficacy of mothers. Social Media and Society7(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211041649.
GillR (2007b) Postfeminist media culture: Elements of a sensibility. European Journal of Cultural Studies10(2): 147–166.
39.
GillRPrattA (2008) In the social factory?: Immaterial labour, precariousness and cultural work. Theory, Culture & Society25(8). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276408097794.
40.
GillRScharffC (eds) (2011) New Femininities: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity. Palgrave Macmillan.
41.
HardtMNegriA (2000a) Empire. Harvard University Press.
42.
HardtMNegriA (2000b) Empire. In Epire, vol. 59. Harvard University Press.
43.
HarveyDL (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism. In: Sociological Perspectives, Issue 1. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388974
44.
HesmondhalghDBakerS (2013) Creative labour: Media work in three cultural industries. In: Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries, Issue March 2011. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203855881
45.
HochschildAR (1983) The Managed Heart: The Commercialization Human of Feeling.
46.
HouM (2019) Social media celebrity and the institutionalization of YouTube. Convergence25(3): 534–553.
47.
KellerJM (2014) Fiercely real?: Tyra banks and the making of new media celebrity. Feminist Media Studies14(1): 147–164.
48.
Kremer-SadlikTFatiganteMFasuloA (2008) Discourses on family time: The cultural interpretation of family togetherness in Los Angeles and Rome. Ethos36(3): 283–309.
49.
KressG (2012) Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Discourse Studies14(4). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445612446268b
50.
LawnJPrenticeC (2015) Introduction: Neoliberal culture / the cultures of neoliberalism. Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies12(1): 1–29.
51.
LinZZhaoY (2020) Self-enterprising eSports: Meritocracy, precarity, and disposability of eSports players in China. International Journal of Cultural Studies23(4): 582–599.
52.
LittlerJ (2013) The rise of the “yummy mummy”: Popular conservatism and the neoliberal maternal in contemporary British culture. Communication, Culture & Critique6(2): 227–243.
53.
LittlerJ (2017a) Against meritocracy: Culture, power and myths of mobility. Against Meritocracy: Culture, Power and Myths of Mobility (Issue August). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315712802.
54.
LittlerJ (2017b) Desperate success: Managing the mumpreneur ‘social. City Research Online37(9): 1591–1601.
NelliganPMorganG (2018) The Creativity Hoax: Precarious Work and the Gig Economy. Anthem Press.
61.
O’CampoPFreilerAMuntanerC, et al. (2019) Resisting austerity measures to social policies: Multiple explanatory case studies. Health Promotion International34(6): 1130–1140.
62.
O’DonohoeSHoggMMaclaranP, et al. (2013) Motherhoods, markets and consumption: The making of mothers in contemporary western cultures. Motherhoods, Markets and Consumption: The Making of Mothers in Contemporary Western CulturesFebruary 2016: 1–258.
63.
Orton-JohnsonK (2017) Mummy blogs and representations of motherhood: “Bad mummies” and their readers. Social Media and Society3(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117707186.
64.
Packer-MutiB (2016) A review of corbin and Strauss’ basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. The Qualitative Report14(2): 140–143.
QuintanilhaMMayanMJRaineKD, et al. (2018) Nurturing maternal health in the midst of difficult life circumstances: A qualitative study of women and providers connected to a community-based perinatal program. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth18(1): 1–9.
Richomme-HuetKVialVD’AndriaA (2013) Mumpreneurship: A new concept for an old phenomenon?International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business19(2): 251–275.
69.
RocamoraA (2011) Personal fashion blogs: Screens and mirrors in digital self-portraits. Fashion Theory - Journal of Dress Body and Culture15(4): 407–424.
WozniakA (2019) Digital objects, digital subjects: Interdisciplinary perspectives on capitalism, labour and politics in the age of big data. European Journal of Communication34(5): 566–569. (eds. C. Chandler, D. and Fuchs (Ed.) University of Westminster Press.
