NARRATIVES OF CONSUMERISM IN PARENTING: PERSPECTIVE FROM THE MAGAZINE "MY BABY"

Globalisation processes initiated by postmodernism have created such phenomena of culture (media, accessibility and diversity of information, consumerism) that can be considered both contributory to the development of the child's personality and the risk factors turning them into the objects of consumerism thinking. Different aspects shaping the child's personality that initially are formed by the artefacts of parenting culture in the family are interpreted with the help of media and consumption and the child internalises them in the process of growing up and developing. Therefore, the promotion of agency becomes a significant component of identity, including diminishing the potential risks. However, a differentiated discussion about the child's agency in the modern society is only possible if the children's experience with the consumption market and media is not marginalised. The involvement of children in social consumption has become an important market factor; however, consumption has been little analysed in the context of parenting, the child's development and parent-children relations. These topical social trends encourage a discussion about the content and the form of competence of upbringing of the implementers-parents-to bring up children in the context of consuming. Therefore, this article analyses how consumerism is present in the magazine "My Baby" which has been a significant and stable mouth-piece of parenting discourse for the current and future parents in Latvia since 1994.