‘You can’t use this, and you mustn’t do that’: A qualitative study of non-consumption practices among Danish pregnant women and new mothers

Abstract

Anti-consumption literature focuses on consumers' reasons for avoiding certain products or brands emphasizing consumers' symbolic and/or political reasons for avoidance. Consumers' choices have assumedly been voluntary. In contrast, this article discusses anti-consumption as a less explicitly political but also less voluntary form of anti-consumption, termed non-consumption. The empirical data consist of nine in-depth interviews with Danish pregnant women and new mothers regarding potentially 'risky' products. The article shows how their avoidance of certain forms of consumption reflects their struggle to perceive themselves-and be perceived by others-as competent mothers(-to-be). Risk is avoided, minimized, modified or balanced against prevailing habits and discourses of womanhood such as the risk of parabens against ideals of beauty when using cosmetic products. The article contributes to the anti-consumption literature by offering insights into the highly normative but less explicitly political field of constrained consumption reflected in the everyday microconsumption practices of Danish pregnant women and new mothers.

Value conflicts in mothers' snack choice for their 2‐ to 7‐year‐old children

“…Usually, mothers would like to make the best choices for their child, and therefore, they could experience difficulties and feelings of doubt (Fielding‐Singh, ; Gram, Hohnen, & Pedersen, ; Johnson, Sharkey, Dean, Alex McIntosh, & Kubena, ; Machín, Giménez, Curutchet, Martínez, & Ares, ). In fact, mothers wish to combine healthy food choices, with their child's taste preferences (Boak et al, ; Carnell, Cooke, Cheng, Robbins, & Wardle, ; Damen, Luning, Fogliano, & Steenbekkers, ; Walsh et al, ; Wijtzes et al, ), two values that often conflict (Luomala et al, ).…”

Beleza Materna: Mudanças no Self e no Consumo

“…Quanto aos aspectos de cuidados com a beleza, identificou-se os conflitos de opiniões e as situações irritantes que a mulher passa sobre a aprovação ou não se é permitido pintar o cabelo na gestação e durante os primeiros meses do bebê. Outros produtos que tiveram seus usos modificados foram o uso de perfume, maquiagem e loções corporais (Gram et al 2017).…”

“…Muita atenção é dada pelos outros a barriga e a condição da gravidez, e outras áreas de suas vidas são colocadas de lado, como o ser mulher e profissional. Tornar-se mãe coloca a mulher em um espaço público e a ocorrência do não-consumo muitas vezes põe de lado os hábitos próprios de consumo que caracterizam a feminilidade e os ideais de beleza para priorizar a saúde, a segurança do filho gerado ou atender expectativas externas (Gram et al 2017).…”

“…precisaram mudar alguns hábitos e produtos utilizados, em razão da gestação, tendo em vista, que algumas substâncias ativas dos principais produtos cosméticos são contraindicadas no período gestacional, o que as levou a parar de consumir alguns produtos. Assim, como mencionado no estudo deGram et al (2017), o não-consumo sob este aspecto parte do interesse de proteção do bebê que está sendo gerado.…”

As a mother, I prefer to give a healthy snack, however... : Mothers’ considerations and value conflicts while providing snacks to their 2-7-year-old children

“…Because mothers want to make the best choice possible for their children, they sometimes experience difficulties and feelings of doubt (Pocock et al, 2010;Johnson et al, 2011;Phull et al, 2015;Machín et al, 2016;Gram et al, 2017;Fielding-Sing, 2017). Besides, mothers want to provide snacks which their children prefer (Boak et al, 2016;Wijtzes et al, 2017) as well as making healthy food choices (Carnell et al, 2011;Walsh et al, 2015;Mehta et al, 2019), two considerations which often conflict (Luomala et al, 2004).…”