Shifting toward intensive parenting culture? A comparative analysis of top mommy blogs and dad blogs

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to compare gendered framings of family issues in popular mommy blogs and dad blogs to assess what they reveal about parenting ideologies.BackgroundBlogs are cultural arenas where parents navigate what it means to be a “good” mother or father. Despite a growing body of work on parents' use of social media, the content and framing of parenting blogs by gender is understudied.MethodThrough a comparative analysis of 400 written posts from the top 20 mommy bloggers and dad bloggers in the United States and Canada, we examine the scope and construction of family issues in blogs and how they are framed by mothers versus fathers.ResultsMothers frame parenting in ways that highlight their investment in safeguarding children's futures, often through consumer solutions. Both mothers and fathers extend similar concerns around protecting family health and create a counter‐frame against intensive parenting by admitting and accepting imperfection. Fathers' posts emphasize how work and gender norms constrain men's ability to be involved parents.ConclusionOur comparative analysis illustrates gendered nuance in blog framings of family life and presents slight indications of shifting toward a shared culture of intensive parenting.ImplicationsThis study elucidates the potentials and pitfalls of parenting blogs as platforms for family knowledge mobilization and social advocacy around parenting problems in a consumerist digital society.