Elizabeth Francis-Connolly Constructing Parenthood Portrayals of Motherhood and Fatherhood in Popular American Magazines

construction refers to the process by which parenthood (mothering and fathering) is culturally definedwithin social, economic, and historical contexts (Apple and Golden, 1997). This construction process is affected by the environmental and social contexts in which we live and varies over time and across cohorts. According to social construction theory individuals receive cultural messages regarding the roles they should assume and how these roles might be fulfilled. These messages form discourses, which are ways of repre-senting phenomena in a visual, oral, or written form (Lupton and Barclay, 1997). Social construction theory argues that the discourses represented in a society help construct the manner in which its members will think about and respond to a phenomenon. Thus, the meaning that people give to a particular phenomenon, in this case motherhood and fatherhood, is dependent upon the discourses portrayed within the culture. Parenting is a topic commonly discussed in the media particularly maga-zines, books, and television. Parents use these resources to shape their image of what a "good parent is, how a mother or father should behave, and how a "goodn child behaves. They construct an image of mothering and fathering through these media portrayals. Parenting magazines are becoming an increas-ingly popular source for parents to receive advice and information. These magazines are readily available and commonly line an entire shelf in bookstores. Magazines have advantages over books as they are easy to read and they are inexpensive as well as concise (Luke, 1994). Parents often receive subscriptions from family members or friends and rely on the magazines for reassurance that they are parenting the "right " way