Holtz-Schramek Evangeline Vange
McMaster University, Canada.
Fem Psychol. 2025 Apr 4;35(3):343-363. doi: 10.1177/09593535251327891. eCollection 2025 Aug.
#GentleParenting presents a novel trend in networked parenting communities. Its rise correlates with the COVID-19 pandemic, during which parents' access to medical professionals decreased significantly. In this vacuum, a group of lay parenting experts arose and continues to gain influence. Through a mixed-method study that combines critical discourse analysis and contextual visual discourse analysis, this article analyzes a dataset and sample of posts compiled from TikTok and Instagram. My findings suggest that an epochal shift in parenting culture is taking place, involving a break with some of the fundamental tenets of the previously dominant parenting trend of intensive mothering. Informed by feminist critiques, my analysis of #GentleParenting explicates a concept I call the "fifth shift" to describe the additional burdens involved in online parenting. While #GentleParenting can be understood as positive in its efforts to allow parents to regain control over childrearing, it also poses some challenges, including its propagation of wealthy, White feminist presentations in digital networks, as well as its insistence on adding additional parenting labor. While empathy is resonant in #GentleParenting via satire, questions remain regarding the political effects of this community.
“温和育儿”在网络育儿社区呈现出一种新趋势。它的兴起与新冠疫情相关，在此期间家长接触医疗专业人员的机会大幅减少。在这种空白状态下，一群非专业育儿专家涌现出来并持续产生影响。通过一项结合了批判性话语分析和情境视觉话语分析的混合方法研究，本文分析了从TikTok和Instagram收集的数据集及帖子样本。我的研究结果表明，育儿文化正在发生划时代的转变，涉及到与先前占主导地位的密集育儿这一育儿趋势的一些基本原则的决裂。受女权主义批评的启发，我对“温和育儿”的分析阐述了一个我称之为“第五次转变”的概念，以描述在线育儿所涉及的额外负担。虽然“温和育儿”在让家长重新掌控育儿方面的努力可以被视为积极的，但它也带来了一些挑战，包括在数字网络中宣扬富裕的白人女权主义形象，以及坚持增加额外的育儿劳动。虽然“温和育儿”通过讽刺体现出同理心，但这个社区的政治影响仍存在疑问。
