From The Good Wife to Hot Mom!: An Ideological Analysis of American and Chinese Motherhood on TV

Abstract

This paper employs an ideological analysis to explore the ideas, norms, and practices of motherhood as portrayed in two popular TV series: The Good Wife and Hot Mom!, produced in America and China, respectively. Hot Mom! situates Chinese mothers in the context of the ever-growing expectations assumed by China’s rising middle class. In contrast, American-style motherhood in The Good Wife speaks to the “having it all” fantasy of the “supermom” by acknowledging women’s personal success as well as their dedication to motherhood. By analyzing motherhood myths portrayed in the two series, the author finds that popular portrayals of the Chinese motherhood emphasize three aspects: 1) compromising efforts by young mothers in their families, 2) the increasingly higher standards for young mothers, and 3) less emphasis on a mother’s personal success. Despite cultural differences, however, both series place women in a position where they still have to be rescued by men, and their value is at least partially derived from the attention they receive from men.

Keywords

Motherhood / TV series / ideological analysis / myth / heroine

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