Single mothers as 'imperfect-resilient' subjects and their entrepreneurial narratives on TikTok.

This paper examines how self-identified single mothers on TikTok navigate maternal and entrepreneurial identities and aims to monetize their lived experiences by focusing on the content tagged with #singlemomentrepreneur. Drawing from a thematic content analysis of 50 selected TikTok videos, the stu...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 202 - 222
Autor principal: Ntalla, Irida
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Apr2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2026
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        atl: Single mothers as 'imperfect-resilient' subjects and their entrepreneurial narratives on TikTok.
      aug:
        au: Ntalla, Irida
        affil: London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, London, UK
      su:
        Single mothers
        Entrepreneurship
        Neoliberalism
        Electronic commerce
        TikTok (Web resource)
        Social media
        Psychological resilience
      sug:
        subj:
          Single mothers
          Entrepreneurship
          Neoliberalism
          Electronic commerce
          TikTok (Web resource)
          Social media
          Psychological resilience
      keyword:
        entrepreneurs
        imperfect
        resilience
        single mothers
        TikTok
      ab: This paper examines how self-identified single mothers on TikTok navigate maternal and entrepreneurial identities and aims to monetize their lived experiences by focusing on the content tagged with #singlemomentrepreneur. Drawing from a thematic content analysis of 50 selected TikTok videos, the study explores how this diverse group leverages platform affordances and strategies to reframe stigmatized experiences and views of dependency into aspirational stories of financial independence. The analysis uses McRobbie's perfect–imperfect–resilient (p–i–r) dispositif as a conceptual framework to discuss creators' digital narratives of 'imperfect–resilient' motherhood that frame them as resilient subjects situated within the spaces of the neoliberal ideal of a self-sufficient, self-managing mumpreneur. The findings show three main themes on how these creators present themselves: the sole breadwinner identity as a vital narrative of the single mother entrepreneur, intersectional narratives of resilience through struggle and success and resilience as an educational capital for the single mother community on TikTok. This paper extends scholarship on the mediation of maternal identities and their entrepreneurial labour within TikTok's digital economy as creators negotiate motherhood and work, platform affordances and visibility and neoliberal discourses of resilience.
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      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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