This article aims to explore the ways that photos and written texts using the hashtag #assholeparents extend understandings of both life writing theories and the field of motherhood studies. At first glance, this hashtag seems to stray from picture-perfect Pinterest parenting. A closer analysis, however, reveals that despite the seeming rejection of model parenting, the pictures and texts grouped by #assholeparents nonetheless affirm deeply normative views of parenting in general and of motherhood in particular. As such, while largely featuring children, these photographs can arguably stand as maternal self-portraits. This examination aims to explore a collection of images as examples of a composite form of life writing. The use of life writing as a critical practice allows for an analysis of the images and accompanying text that aims to pull the camera back and view the context and motivations outside the frame. The particular use of Instagram further complicates the notion of life writing by presenting each image as an independent text but also as part of an emergent composite memoir that borrows from and contributes to idealized notions of family.
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May Friedman (2018) studied this question.