Habbermommy

Jürgen Habermas describes the public sphere in "The Public Sphere" as "a domain of our social life in which such a thing as public opinion can be formed." The internet, and therefore mommy-blogs, clearly fit the bill. Anyone who can access the internet (which is, admittedly, not nearly everyone) can participate in the conversation on a mommy-blog. There are primary content creators, the bloggers, in this case Kate and Lydia, but anyone can comment and add to the discussion. In class, we discussed public sphere locations as places to talk about the "critical issues of the day." Parenting has long been and will continue to be a so-called critical issue. Parents, and non-parents, endlessly debate, online and off, issues from how to toilet train, to what discipline plan to use, to what food is fit to feed children. Shows like SuperNanny and Nanny 911 have popped up as venues for discussion of these issues and mommy-blogs are another iteration of the phenomenon.

-Alexandra