Review: The Progressive Backlash Against Influencer Moms

In Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture, journalist Sara Petersen dives into the world of Instagram’s professional moms. These women make a living—or at least some side cash—showcasing their personal brand of life with their “littles,” hawking both consumer goods and an idealized version of modern motherhood.

Petersen deftly dissects the aesthetics of good motherhood, skewers popular momfluencer tropes, and pokes fun at her own tendency to buy both the goods and the fantasy they’re selling. The book refuses to trivialize the work that goes into creating and monetizing a successful online brand. It shows how momfluencers have adapted to shifting digital landscapes, explores the diversity of creators and audiences that run and read momfluencer accounts, and examines the peculiar intersections between momfluencer culture and conspiracy theories such a