“I’m not just a mother”: a content analysis of elite female athletes’ self-presentation before and after motherhood

Abstract

Purpose

Guided by self-presentation theory and social role theory, this study examines the different strategies elite female athletes used in personal branding on social media before and after becoming mothers. Scholars have investigated the authenticity of female athletes’ frontstage versus backstage representation on social media for branding purposes, but this study further expands on existing literature to review how female athletes would present themselves in the same realm once entering motherhood.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a content analysis, researchers evaluated whether there was a shift in three elite female athletes’ (Serena Williams, Allyson Felix and Skylar Diggins Smith) Instagram posts and captions one year before their pregnancy and one year after motherhood. A total of 732 posts were examined and were organized into six main categories: athletic, professional, promotional, personal, motherhood and dual identity.

Findings

Results revealed there was a difference in the self-presentation strategies used by the three female athletes on their social media pages. Specifically, the researchers confirmed the presence of a combined role of athlete and mother.

Originality/value

The findings support existing literature on the importance and the challenges of “balancing” a third identity of blending being both a mother and elite athlete as one. Yet, the findings challenge the previous notion that women cannot continue to perform at an elite level and manage the expectations that society institutes of being a “good mother.”

Citation

Johnson, A., Brison, N.T., Harris, H.A. and Brown, K.M. (2023), "“I’m not just a mother”: a content analysis of elite female athletes’ self-presentation before and after motherhood", Sport, Business and Management, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 622-639. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-02-2023-0015