Lynne M. Webb, Professor in Communication Arts, recently co-wrote the chapter “Mommy Bloggers: Who They Are, What They Write About, and How They Are Shaping Motherhood in the Twenty-First Century.” The essay appears as Chapter 3 in the edited volume Gender in a Transitional Era.
The chapter examines the rapidly growing phenomenon of “mommy blogs.” Professor Webb’s essay reviews research on “mommy bloggers, specifically who they are, how they view themselves, and what they write about.” The chapter also provides an identity profile of mommy bloggers and gives insight into the women’s motivation for blogging.
Webb served as second author for this essay on mommy bloggers. This research report was drawn from its first author’s (Brittney D. Lee) MA Thesis; Webb directed the thesis. This is the third essay the two authors have co-written and published. The first essay articulated a model and theory of how bloggers interact to form communities; the second essay reported data that supports the theory. This third essay describes a large, under-studied genre of bloggers.
The collection Gender in a Transitional Era addresses a range of issues relevant in current gender and sexuality studies. Chapters are written by scholars from many disciplines. The contributors prioritize the critical thinking that continues to support the notion that we, as a society, still have a ways to go toward full gender equality in all spheres of life. This collection places marginal voices at the center of complex gender issues in today’s society. Topic areas include: parental identities, advice, and self-help; gender performances and role expectations in media; interacting within organizational and social spaces; and tensions and negotiations on politics, health, and feminism.
“This collection makes a compelling argument that our current transitional era calls for continued exploration of gender from a variety of perspectives, methodological approaches, and identities. The text offers a rich set of examples and intersectional approaches that expand theoretical frameworks and offer possibilities for interrogating restrictive gender binaries,” said Diana I. Bowen, University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Gender in a Transitional Era is edited by Amanda R. Martinez and Lucy J. Miller. The book contains 13 chapters across 326 pages and is available on amazon.com.
Professor Webb (PhD, University of Oregon) conducts research on computer-mediated communication in personal relationships. She joined the FIU faculty in August 2013 after serving on the University of Arkansas faculty where she was named a J. William Fulbright Master Researcher. The courses she teaches at FIU include Interpersonal Communication, Conflict Management, and Communication in Social Media.
