Digital media and gender production: pregnancy in three virtual sites

Abstract

Introduction and Objective. More and more pregnant women use digital media to obtain information about their condition or to socialize with others in the same condition. The objective of this work was to analyze the impact of digital media on the production of the subjectivity of pregnant women. Methodology. The methodology consisted of virtual ethnography in a closed Facebook group, in the BabyCenter Application and in a magazine for pregnant women with digital cultural consumption. The information analysis was mixed. Results. In the results, it stands out that common themes in the consulted media were: market; fashion; beauty and health. In these media, regimes of truth are produced in terms of expected and desirable emotions for the time of gestation, an imaginary of pregnancy is promoted as the center of women's lives, a biopolitics of reproduction is produced and a certain self-discipline is invited of the self. Conclusions and Contributions. The contribution and originality of this work lies in the fact that we show how digital media are part of a global and cultural policy of circulation of truths and knowledge about the social value of motherhood, pregnancy and the reproduction of female identities that place the caring for others. This policy is thus in accordance and is a product of the gender order, and is the producer and reproducer of desires, stereotypes and modes of existence.