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university of
wollongonG
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Are
You Mom Enough?
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SOC250-
Independent Research Project
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Elise Rochelle Boonstra
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Student Number: 3873237
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Due Date: 01/11/2012
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Since the development of ‘Web 2.0’ in 1999 we’ve seen a vast
change beyond the past static web sites, which has enabled an explosion of
online forums, social networks and chat rooms where social everyday interaction
is accessible in its masses. This explosion of interaction online has allowed
for new sociological research into everyday communication online as it delivers
naturally occurring interactions with ease of access, in numerous media forms
as well as interactions on a limitless number of categories. This research is
used in order to observe behavioural patterns, conversational analysis, social hierarchies,
deference and demeanour and rules of conduct which maintain social order as
well as social attitudes within the interactions. In order to observe these sociological
aspects of everyday interaction this paper will deconstruct and analyse a
sample of naturally occurring data that was generated by a cover of Time Magazine published in early 2012.
This particular edition of Time Magazine published on the
21st of May 2012, featured twenty-six year old mother Jamie Lynne Grumet from
Los Angeles, breast feeding her 3 year old son Aram (See Figure 1). With the
heading “Are You Mom Enough?” this article sparked many negative
and angry reactions to the cover image and story with many women stating that “Time
was encouraging parenting wars and making mothering choices even harder” (The
Age, 2012). The article which delves into the idea of attachment parenting
received harsh criticism and became the centre of a worldwide debate not only
between stakeholders in the affected industries but also by everyday citizens
who held a strong opinion of attachment parenting and/ or breastfeeding. The
everyday interaction on this topic follows the news article titled ‘Confronting
cover: Time shows mother breastfeeding 3-year-old’ posted on The Age website where
members of the online community held discussions and arguments following the
article on the “Are You Mom Enough?” cover
in the discussion section of the website. The discussion section featured some
321 comments on a variety of topics that were generated from The Age article.
Figure 1: Controversial cover of Time Magazine published on the
21st May 2012. The cover features 26 year old mother Jamie Lee Grumet
breastfeeding her 3 year old son Aram.
Generally speaking, breast feeding already generates large
numbers of discussion forums, as it is quite a controversial topic as many
individuals have and share very strong opinions on the topic. The specific selection of the
time article rather than just a forum on breast feeding such as The Bub Hub or The Australian Breastfeeding Association forum allows for more empirical
research into different forums and perspectives on the same topic, and
therefore allows for a unified collaboration of information and opinions which
can be supported by further information. This particular piece of data was
selected as it was recent, showed a naturally occurring interaction whereby the
data could be analysed, the data contained conflicting perspectives and varied
opinions which will enable great relation to sociological research. Finally
this particular topic was relevant to myself as I work in the Paediatric industry
and breast feeding is a point of conversation and topic amongst patients whom
again have varied opinions and thoughts on the topic making it relevant and
interesting to my current employment.
The discussion generated on the bottom of the ‘Confronting
cover: Time shows mother breastfeeding 3-year-old’ article is an example of a computer
mediated form of communication (CMC) (As discussed by Robinson, 2007) whereby
the computer is the intermediary in the interaction between all of those
involved. The interaction is an example of a content centric embedded
interaction as the discussion is initiated and derived from the content from
the above article. All of the posts relate to topics surrounding opinions on
breastfeeding and attachment parenting- topics derived from the article (See
Figure 2). The embedded nature of the posts is relative to that of the
interaction belonging to a specific place and time, this is visible as the
discussion posts are date and time stamped in relation to the specific time of
the post (See Figure 2 for example).
Figure 2: Collaboration of posts demonstrating the embedded
content centric nature of the interaction
On examination of the personas and
identities within this interaction, 96.6% of the respondents fall into the
category of anonymity. Anonymity can be described as when the respondent
engaged in the discussion is without a name or they are identifiable by a name
which does not relate to their individual personal identity offline, resulting
in their true identity not publicly known. This can be identified throughout
the data as many of the respondents use a ‘nickname’ or ‘online alias’. This is
prominent throughout figure 3 where we can see a variety of identities as used
in the data. Usernames such as Red Pony, bluestocking or Mummy
are respondents whom have kept their identity 100% anonymous using an online
name or identity as well as having kept their location unknown. Although on the
contrary respondents SamDavisJr and nelson55leong have provided
both their full names and locations. The veil of anonymity is often used online
as many “people don't feel comfortable expressing opinions without the veil of
anonymity. Take away that veil, and only the most outspoken people express
their opinions” (Kabay, 2011). This statement supports the study by Zao,
Grasmuck and Martin who found that: “People acted differently in such
environments (anonymous) than they did in other online settings (nonymous)”
(2008). The remaining 3.4% of the posters responded using their full name
(first and last names) and 100% of those who provided their first and last name
provided their location. A total of 213 of the 321 posters provided their
location- whether this be just a state or capital city, this number totalled
66.6% of the people who engaged in the discussion being happy to provide their
location, even if this meant that their names remained anonymous.
Figure 3: Assortment of online respondents demonstrating various
forms of identity- Anonymity and Nonymity.
The presentation of self as coined by Goffman is defined as “we
play different ‘roles’ in order to convey our self as possessing a particular
set of characteristics” (1971) is also applicable to the personas and
identities present in this data set. Many of the participants in the discussion
have adapted a number of roles in order to ‘perform’ in the space of
discussion, where they convey different characteristics of their persona in
order to get their point across. In this particular discussion the ‘roles’ are
developed in order to portray their knowledge and experience with the topic of
discussion. A number of the roles developed by the respondents reflect on
personal experiences or instead they roles are developed whereby the respondent
reflects on their observed opinions. Some of the roles visible throughout the
data set include: the role of the breastfeeding mother, the breast fed child,
the observer and the medical professional to name a few. These roles are
present in figure 4 as respondent bluestocking expresses the characteristics of their persona and portrays the
role of the mother, which supports their reasoning for their opinion, whilst jack
more simply develops the role of onlooker, giving the impression that the
characteristics he is expressing is that of disgust of bluestockings opinion.
Figure 4: Interaction present in the data set, showing presentation
of self and the different ‘roles’ portrayed in order to convey the respondents
as possessing a particular set of characteristics
Deference and Demeanour can both work together to support an
individual’s image of self or it can work in conflict to injure that image. The
concept of deference and demeanour as developed by Goffman (1967) are present
in this particular interaction. In relation to this data, deference can be
identified as the way in which the participants interact and conduct themselves
in relation to one another and the demeanour of the interaction includes the
way in which this is done in the interaction, and this can be observed through
the use of language, short hand writing, txt speak, CAPS LOCK and profanities
etc. As there are discussions and differences of opinion throughout the data it
is noticeable that the demeanour varies depending on the respondents opinion of
the original poster’s (OP) comment and this can be visible in figure 5 where Anne
and SheHasIssues clearly disagree with the previously mentioned
comments. The change in demeanour is prevalent as Anne and SheHasIssues
use direct and aggressive language such as “EXACTLY!” and “WHO gives its
recommendations” in order to express their disagreement with the OP’s post. The
use of CAPS LOCK also empathises their opinion and makes it appear them to be
YELLING or talking forcefully to portray their opinion as, “writing in
capitals, (makes) IT SOUND LIKE YOU’RE SHOUTING” (Which?, 2012). The benefit of online forums on
deference and demeanour in terms of expression of opinion is that the
individual may present their thoughts and actions in a way in which they
wouldn’t otherwise in life beyond the computer screen, and often this can
result in quite negative sanctions between participants as demonstrated.
Figure 5: Examples of deference and demeanour and how the
demeanour of the respondent changes depending on their opinion of the OP's
comment.
Dramaturgy can be identified as the way we present ourselves
in social interactions being defined as an act. In the context of this data,
dramaturgy doesn’t seem to be a big issue. This is due to the fact that in
order to engage within the interaction the individual has physically had to
search for the article in order to comment on it therefore needing to have a
particular view or opinion on the topic of discussion. The anonymity that is
also present within the data allows for the respondents engaged in the
discussion to participate and ‘act’ as their true self rather than tweaking
their opinion to fit in with the majority or what appears to be the social norm.
The act of their true self is visible as their true opinion will not be
associated with their offline life or nor judged by family and friends.
The theory of documentary
interpretation whereby we interpret individuals and create interactions using
prior experiences with similar things as well as assumed shared knowledge is
present throughout this data set. Throughout the data men have participated in
the interaction and provided their opinions on the topic. In some cases they
have discussed their opinions on breastfeeding including; why it should/ shouldn’t
be done at different ages and why it is beneficial to breastfeed etc. when they
have never actually engaged in breast feeding personally. This is where the
documentary interpretation theory comes into play, majority of the time the
males rely on their partner’s experiences, externally researched information as
well as assumed common knowledge in order to support their opinions.
Just like Goffman uses the idea of
the “rules of conduct” to stipulate the allowable individual actions (1967) in
everyday life outside of the internet, ‘netizens’ are also exposed to a set of
rules of conduct to stipulate the ways in which they are expected to interact
amongst users online. The rules of conduct online can be outlined by the forum
host or they are determined by the shared understandings of the online forum
and setting in which they are in. While this forum allows for freedom of
opinion, it is common sense to protect the privacy of members and participants,
comply with existing laws and encourage freedom of expression and the exchange
of information in a mature and responsible manner. It would be unacceptable to turn
the forums into an advertising billboard, slag off on discussion participants
and upload responses that other participants may find offensive or abusive
including obscene or sexually orientated language.
No matter whether we realise it or
not, sociological concepts are utilised in everyday interactions whether they are
in life offline or online. This analysis has demonstrated how these concepts
relate to the interaction which occurred in the discussion section of an
article on The Age website. These interactional exchanges between participants
include disputes, differentiated personas and identity positions, documentary
interpretation theory and online rules of conduct which intern effects the
deference and demeanour and the presentation of self that can be deployed
throughout the interaction. The debate on this topic delves far deeper than the
discussion analysed in the paper. This magazine cover is and will remain one of
the most controversial Time magazine covers of all time (Daily News, 2012).
References
Author Unknown. 2012, “Confronting cover: Time shows mother
breastfeeding 3-year-old”, The Age, May
11, accessed 08/10/2012, http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life/confronting-cover-time--shows-mother-breastfeeding-3yearold-20120511-1ygb1.html
Daily News. 2012, “Time
Magazine breastfeeding cover: Most controversial magazine covers”, accessed
30/10/2012, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/controversial-magazine-covers-gallery-1.1076486
Goffman, E. 1971, “Performances”, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Pp: 28-82,
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