The concept of motherhood on digital platforms in the context of gender: Examples of Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere

In this study, the representation of the concept of motherhood on digital platforms in the context of gender is discussed. In the study, after the concepts of female representation and motherhood in the context of gender were explained in detail, a transition was made to the subject of how they are represented on the digital platform. Big Little Lies, one of the mother themed series published on the digital platform about how motherhood is handled on digital platforms, the first season in 2017 and the second season in 2019, consists of a total of 14 episodes. The other series that constitutes the sample, Little Fires Everywhere, consists of 1 season and 8 episodes in 2020. The starting point of the study is the increase in women-centered narratives on digital platforms in those years and after, and how these narratives are transferred to the society, with the women actors expressing that they were exposed to violence and bullying through social media in 2017. Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere series are similar to each other in terms of their narrative language, fiction and female characters in the series. How the representation of motherhood is shown in these drama-thriller series is to explain its structure through the digital platform through the concepts of "race", "social class", "age" and "sociocultural". The thesis work consists of three parts. In the introduction part, information is given as a summary of the chapters of the thesis. In the first part, current interpretations of gender are mentioned. In this framework, it has been classified as the concept of motherhood in gender and representations of women. In the second part, digital platforms and the reasons for the increase in women-centered narratives on these platforms with the MeToo movement are explained. It constitutes the sub-titles of female representation on digital platforms and gender on digital platforms. In the third chapter, Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere series, which constitute the sample of the thesis, are analyzed by descriptive analysis method.