Queering motherhood on Instagram: self-representations of Italian LGBTQ+ mothers between utopia and tradition

If media representations play a key role in expanding the definition of womanhood and motherhood, ambivalence in updating conservative narratives contributes to fostering exclusion and stereotypical representations, especially of LGBTQ+ people (Franchi & Selmi 2018). This is the case of Italy, where determinist understandings of gender, sexuality, and family find consensus in the public opinion and politics (Corbisiero & Monaco 2020). With the italian mediascape being primarily man-owned and reluctant to provide representations of queer women and motherhood, digital platforms become an important environment from which LGBTQ+ mothers try to fill the gap left behind by traditional media. Through digital ethnography of five accounts of LGBTQ+ mother-influencers on Instagram, the contribution investigates self-representations of both motherhood and queer femininity. Such method values queer media practices and individuals’ agency in defining themselves. Preliminary results highlight that LGBTQ+ mother-influencers alternate between stereotypical and alternative representations. Most posts choose to focus on ‘happy’ children and ‘traditional’ family life to counter the narrative that sees LGBTQ+ mothers as selfish and unnatural. Political takes and alternative portrayals of motherhood, instead, often receive critiques. This suggests that the role of mother is still deeply anchored in tradition and LGBTQ+ mothers both weaponize and conform to it to prevent and address discrimination, harassment, and oppression, highlighting the challenges queer families face in Italy. Despite this, all accounts show a tendency toward education and authenticity. Excluded from media decision-making processes, queer mothers turn to Instagram for queer self-representations, to educate publics, and to circumvent disinformation regarding their own lives. Albeit not free from harassment, digital platforms are environments where Italian LGBTQ+ mother-influencers can reshape mainstream media narratives. Given a relative lack of symbolic LGBTQ+ figures and events in Italy, LGBTQ+ mother-influencers can allow scholars a glimpse into these subjectivities’ cultural and social presence, political involvement, and how they contend with networked antagonism, social expectations, and integration, negotiating identity-based stigma and building queer utopias through alternative models of gender, sexuality, and family.