This article looks critically at the widespread revival of the myth of the “natural mother,” observing the confirmation of gender stereotypes in materials directed to pregnant women and new mothers. The authors analyze, from a socio-semiotic perspective, several social healthcare campaigns and Italian press outlets, exploring two main themes: the rhetoric of natural breastfeeding in institutional social advertising and dietary recommendations “for moms”—during and after pregnancy—in women’s magazines. Both parts of their analysis unveil a prescriptive idea of the “good mother” and a normative pressure on women’s freedom of choice and self-determination. The authors highlight the serious consequences that emerge for the representation of the feminine social role in contemporary Western society. The ideological, cultural, and historically-constructed use of “naturalness” is at the core of this article and its gender-sensitive approach.
6. Mistica della maternità: nuove repressioni “secondo natura”
