Call for papers CMC Special Issue - Motherhood/ Grandmotherhood in Media
Call for papers CMC Special Issue
Comunicação, Mídia e Consumo Peer Reviewed Journal 2026
Motherhood/ Grandmotherhood in Media
Guest editors:
Prof. Dr. Gisela G. S. Castro (ESPM), Prof. Dr. Maria Collier de Mendonça (UFPE)
and Prof. Dr. Milena Freire de Oliveira-Cruz (UFSM)
Submission deadline: March 7, 2026
Final decisions due: April 14, 2026
Special Issue launch: August 2026
Considering different theoretical and methodological perspectives, this special issue will address the themes of motherhood/mothering and grandmotherhood in the media. Given the wide scope and interdisciplinarity nature of the motherhood and grandmotherhood studies, as well as the dynamic environment of the contemporary media landscape, we are interested in exploring the images, messages, and symbolic-cultural values disseminated by the media about current representations of motherhood and grandmotherhood. The issue will focus on reflections on the different ways in which mothers and grandmothers express themselves and/or are portrayed in the media, especially on social media, and how they engage with, resist, or critique the circulating images and media messages about motherhood and grandmotherhood.
Suggested topics:
- Ideological aspects and symbolic-cultural values associated with motherhood/grandmotherhood in the mass media and/or social media.
- Mothering and grandmothering models in advertising, television, streaming, or film productions.
- The myth of maternal love and the kind grandmother in the media.
- Advertising images and messages targeted at grandmothers, mothers, and pregnant women.
- Becoming a mother/grandmother in the media (pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year of life).
- ‘Pedagogical’ content about motherhood/grandmotherhood circulating on social media, in the press, or in best-selling literature.
- Transformations in contemporary meanings and forms of being a mother/grandmother.
- How mothers and grandmothers resist and negotiate with media images and messages about motherhood and grandmotherhood.
- Motherhood/grandmotherhood and professional life X motherwork.
- Construction of the self and maternal/grandmotherly performances in the media.
- Media, lifestyles, and the construction of maternal/grandmotherly identities.
- Mothers and/ or grandmothers who are bloggers and/or influencers on social media.
Suggested theoretical and methodological approaches:
- Research in the field of communication and/or related areas of the human and social sciences fields will be welcome, provided it is relevant to the proposal of this special issue and its respective topics.
- Priority will be given to qualitative and interpretative approaches, involving reception research, cultural studies, consumption studies, semiotic analyses, discourse analyses, as well as psychoanalytic, ethnographic and netnographic approaches addressing media and consumption.
Os artigos poderão ser enviados em português, inglês ou espanhol. Los artículos pueden enviarse en portugués, inglés o español. Manuscripts may be submitted in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. Informações/ Información/ Information:
