| Motherhood has been represented in fact and fiction as a supreme calling, a happy achievement, a heavenly blessing, a womanly profession, the pinnacle of femininity. Women who become mothers are supposed to be guided by “natural” feminine instincts that make them instantly loving, all-knowing, and selfless. Many 20th century feminists have challenged this notion and have challenged the mass media, including journalists, to offer more realistic representations of motherhood—representations based on women's lived experiences rather than greeting card sentiments and Victorian images. Some scholars suggest circumscribed views of motherhood harm women because they discourage them from seeking help when they cannot or do not mother well.; The news media are today's modern storytellers, and as such, transmit information. However, the media also transmit values and ideals. Using qualitative analysis, this dissertation explored the dominant narratives in news articles about women who killed their children and examined myths embedded in those narratives. The analysis included 10 separate incidents of infanticide, documented in 229 news stories published in mainstream U.S. newspapers during the past 15 years.; Findings revealed four distinct narratives: (1) The perfect/imperfect mother, which positioned women who killed their children as either insane or evil; (2) The good mother, which included stories from women who killed their children, who said they loved their children but also admitted they harmed them; (3) The accountable mother, which revealed that women were held to a higher standard of parenting than fathers, and which positioned men and others in the community as victims of devious women; (4) The wounded community, in which the community was personified and presented as the victim of a crafty, deceitful mother.; Using a framework of “master myths” in journalism, the analysis revealed that mothers were presented as victims, scapegoats, and tricksters. In addition, findings suggested that journalists employed “maternal myths” in articles about women who killed their children: Women were presented as fallen angels and rebels and were compared with a perfect, mythical “Good Mother.” However, findings also revealed cracks in dominant narratives and myths, as journalists reported women's discussions of their own ambivalent maternal experiences. |
