- Title
- Stigma resistance in online childfree communities: The limitations of choice rhetoric
- Creator
- Morison, Tracy
- Creator
- Macleod, Catriona I
- Creator
- Lynch, Ingrid
- Creator
- Shivakumar, Seemanthini T
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date Issued
- 2016
- Date
- 2016
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/446299
- Identifier
- vital:74488
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684315603657"
- Description
- People who are voluntarily childless, or ‘‘childfree,’’ face considerable stigma. Researchers have begun to explore how these individuals respond to stigma, usually focusing on interpersonal stigma management strategies. We explored participants’ responses to stigma in a way that is cognisant of broader social norms and gender power relations. Using a feminist discursive psychology framework, we analysed women’s and men’s computer-assisted communication about their childfree status. Our analysis draws attention to ‘‘identity work’’ in the context of stigma. We show how the strategic use of ‘‘choice’’ rhetoric allowed participants to avoid stigmatised identities and was used in two contradictory ways. On the one hand, participants drew on a ‘‘childfree-by-choice script,’’ which enabled them to hold a positive identity of themselves as autonomous, rational, and responsible decision makers. On the other hand, they mobilised a ‘‘disavowal of choice script’’ that allowed a person who is unable to choose childlessness (for various reasons) to hold a blameless identity regarding deviation from the norm of parenthood. We demonstrate how choice rhetoric allowed participants to resist stigma and challenge pronatalism to some extent; we discuss the political potential of these scripts for reproductive freedom.
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (15 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- SAGE
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Psychology of Women Quarterly
- Relation
- Morison, T., Macleod, C., Lynch, I., Mijas, M. and Shivakumar, S.T., 2016. Stigma resistance in online childfree communities: The limitations of choice rhetoric. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(2), pp.184-198
- Relation
- Psychology of Women Quarterly volume 40 number 2 p. 184 2016 1471-6402
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Sage Journals Terms and Conditions Statement (https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/terms-of-use)
- Rights
- Closed Access
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- Visitors: 23
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Collections
Macleod, Catriona Ida (Distinguished Professor)
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproductions Research (CSSR) Programme
RU Department of Psychology
SDG 05. Gender Equality
SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities
SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Stigma resistance in online childfree communities.pdf | 667 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |