The reasons of unmarried Chinese women for avoiding marriage and childbirth and their identity construction

Abstract

The phenomenon of women avoiding marriage and childbirth has recently caused heated discussion in China. However, limited attention has been given to the reasons for this phenomenon and to their identity construction from a linguistic perspective. To fill this gap, this study employs corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis with legitimation as a theoretical framework to analyze the reasons of unmarried Chinese women for avoiding marriage and childbirth and their identity construction. The findings indicate that, influenced by macro-level political, meso-level social, and micro-level personal factors, these women predominantly define their identities through 2 dimensions: self-affirmation and self-stigmatisation. This discourse is articulated via several discursive legitimation strategies, including authorization, moral evaluation, rationalization, and mythopoesis. By systematically examining the overarching discourse, this article aims to assist unmarried Chinese women in managing their fears and cultivating a balanced, rational sense of identity for future decision-making.