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

• Published date: 01 April 2023
• Author: Casey Scheibling,Melissa A. Milkie
• Date: 01 April 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12824

RESEARCH

Shifting toward intensive parenting culture?

A comparative analysis of top mommy blogs

and dad blogs

Casey Scheibling|Melissa A. Milkie

Department of Sociology, University of

Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Correspondence

Casey Scheibling, Department of Sociology,

University of Toronto, 3359 Mississauga

Road, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada.

Email: casey.scheibling@utoronto.ca

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare gen-

dered framings of family issues in popular mommy blogs

and dad blogs to assess what they reveal about parenting

ideologies.

Background: Blogs are cultural arenas where parents navi-

gate 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.

Method: Through 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.

Results: Mothers 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.

Conclusion: Our comparative analysis illustrates gendered

nuance in blog framings of family life and presents slight

indications of shifting toward a shared culture of intensive

parenting.

Implications: This study elucidates the potentials and pit-

falls of parenting blogs as platforms for family knowledge

mobilization and social advocacy around parenting

problems in a consumerist digital society.

Received: 30 May 2022Revised: 21 September 2022Accepted: 17 November 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12824

© 2023 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2023;72:495–514. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 495

KEYWORDS

cultural issues, family communication and interaction, gender differences,

parenting and parenthood, television and media

INTRODUCTION

Stories and discussions about parenting have become shared and publicized widely

through social media technologies (Lupton et al., 2016). Online blogs, in particular,

provide a glimpse into how family life is framed and experienced by a variety of parents.

These blogs also act as communicative resources for parents to offer guidance on a myriad

of family responsibilities and challenges. Over recent decades, there has been much schol-

arly inquiry into how “mommy bloggers”are reframing popular discourse about mother-

hood by sharing diverse accounts of their child-rearing practices and philosophies

(Friedman, 2013; Hunter, 2016;Lehto,2020; Lopez, 2009). Corresponding with heigh-

tened expectations for men’s contributions to childcare, many “dad bloggers”are now

using social media to exchange tailored support, create localized groups for fathers, and

champion progressive ideals of involved fatherhood (Ranson, 2015;Scheibling,2020a,

2020b; Scheibling & Marsiglio, 2021). Even with the rapid expansion of new digital

platforms, parenting blogs remain important cultural arenas for constructing and debating

timely family issues.

Although the parenting discourse of mothers compared to fathers on online message

boards has been explored (e.g., Ammari et al., 2018), there is a lack of comparative analysis

of mommy blogs and dad blogs. With women commonly referred to as “mommy”bloggers

whereas men adopt the more adult title of “dad”bloggers, notable and unequal gender dis-

tinctions form the very basis of these online arenas and identities. We use these terms to be

true to bloggers’own designations while acknowledging that mothers are represented as less

powerful given that the moniker of “mommy”is typically only used by children (Milkie

et al., 2016). Comparing their narratives empirically can therefore reveal much about the

gendered framing of family issues. For example, what mothers versus fathers highlight in

and leave out of blog posts can illuminate the scope of “intensivities”or cultural pressures

for parents across gender. Moreover, because scholars tend to use the terms intensive mother-

ing and intensive parenting interchangeably depending on whether they are examining

mothers only or both mothers and fathers, theoretical sharpening of these two concepts

is warranted. Through analyzing how domains of intensive parenting are gendered and

“claimed by”mothers or fathers in the blogosphere, we provide a deeper understanding of

contemporary parenting culture.

In this study, we conduct a comparative analysis of 400 written posts sampled 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 compared to fathers. We use “intensive”parenting culture as a conceptual

anchor to elucidate similarities and differences in the content of mothers’and fathers’

blogs and their discursive orientation in circulating stories, advice, and information

about families. In focusing on the gendered nature of mommy blogs and dad blogs,

we demonstrate what family issues remainassociatedwithintensivemothering compared

to those that indicate movement toward intensive parenting. Based on our findings, we

discuss the potentials and pitfalls of parenting blogs as platforms for family knowledge

mobilization and social advocacy around parenting problems in a consumerist digital

society.

496 FAMILY RELATIONS