Abstract
Digital media can reflect and reify normative expectations in the non-digital world. Parents are increasingly engaging with online media to seek information and support. Online parenting forums therefore act as key windows into current perceptions surrounding parenthood and child rearing. My study aims to investigate differences in parenting expectations between mothers and fathers on online parenting forums. I conducted a cyber ethnography of two Reddit subforums, Mommit and Daddit, to investigate how parents negotiate gendered parenting discourses on these two parenting subforums. Using a grounded theory approach, I extract key themes surrounding mothering and fathering expectations relating to (1) parental responsibilities, (2) women and men’s self-identity as parents, and (3) mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with their partners. My discourse analysis reveals that both Mommit and Daddit work to deconstruct certain normative pressures surrounding motherhood and fatherhood, but simultaneously reaffirm traditional gendered parenting expectations. These forums act as an avenue for users to deconstruct expectations that frustrate users: Daddit users contest the expectation that fathers are not apt child carers, and Mommit users contest the expectation that women are exclusively, and naturally skilled, child carers. However, at the same time, users cannot fully escape normative pressures, and indeed these forums reinforce a gendered primary-secondary divide between mothers and fathers in caretaking responsibilities and practices.
Highlights
Motherhood and fatherhood can be understood as “constituted” ideologies, socially informed by normative expectations about how women and men with children ‘should’ act in given places and times (Mackenzie, 2018)
The current study aims to build upon the observations in Ammari et al (2018) by providing qualitative analysis in place of quantitative computer modelling to understand gendered parenting discourses on Reddit
Reddit provides the rare environment in which a maledominated parenting forum (Daddit) has more users than a female-dominated parenting forum (Mommit)
Summary
Motherhood and fatherhood can be understood as “constituted” ideologies, socially informed by normative expectations about how women and men with children ‘should’ act in given places and times (Mackenzie, 2018). Cultural expectations, social constraints, and personal histories inform parental identity. This identity continues to be shaped by, and exist in, gendered terms. Technology and society are mutually constituted: society informs technology, just as technology shapes social relations and power systems (Franklin, 1999). Fathering ideals on Daddit are still heavily gendered and promote fathers as involved, but secondary, caregivers Though these online communities provide a space to counter parenting norms, a gendered divide remains, positioning mothers as primary caregivers and fathers as secondary caregivers. Critically analysing current gendered parenthood expectations related to motherhood and fatherhood reveals normative pressures at play in the digital and non-digital world
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Canadian Journal of Family and Youth / Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunesse
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
