New appearances of motherhood in consumer culture

Motherhood is a social construct which can be regarded as an instinctive and a natural process at first side, though. Within this context, the meaning attributed to motherhood changes in the course of time as societies, social values and norms change, as well. The fluidity of values and norms concerning motherhood leads to several forms of "ideal motherhood". Nowadays, one of the important factors which defines motherhood and contributes to its reconstruction is consumerism. In the light of the above considerations, the primary purpose of this dissertation is to understand the reconstruction of motherhood through both child care practices and celebration and gift exchanges with regards to motherhood. In-depth interviews with fifty women are carried out in Antalya via snowball sampling. It is seen that the women interviewed have new experiences upon "being a mother" and they internalize different patterns of consumption regarding both child care and gift exchange as their consumption habits have changed after pregnancy and having a baby. It is inferred that the practices of celebration and gift exchange in the context of motherhood and baby have some similarities and differences with traditional practices. When traditional (postpartum night, name giving, hair cutting, birthday party, ana gecesi, kırklama, diş bulguru) and moderns practices of celebration and gift exchange (baby shower parties, decorating hospital room, gifts for babies and postpartum women, birthday gifts and blasting birthday cakes) are taken into consideration, it is observed that the contents of the practices are differentiated while the ritual aspect of and the reasons behind these practices are similar. In the light of the findings gathered through the research, it can be stated that the practices of celebration and gift exchange have nowadays an undeniable impact on the reconstruction of motherhood and contribute to various fields of work to develop in consumer culture.