Abstract
The purpose of this research is to examine how childfree women construct positive social identity. This study focuses on women’s desires in regards to a childfree lifestyle, while taking stereotypes and identity into account. This study incorporates feminist, stigma, deviance, and neutralization theories. I conducted online, anonymous surveys of childfree Facebook group members. After recruiting 79 participants, I conducted a qualitative analysis in which I used Somers’ (1993) coding for common misconceptions about childfree people to explore this identity. I found three additional identity construction codes that were an addition to Somers’ coding dichotomies: proactive, reactive, and ambivalent. Simultaneously, this survey scans for social dynamics within specific online communities. All of the social and internal processes were essential for identity construction.
Advisor
Fisher, Lisa
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Trunk, Tiffany, "Stigma and Construction of Childfree Identity in a Pro-natalist Society" (2017). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7493.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7493
Disciplines
Other Sociology | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social Psychology and Interaction
Keywords
Childfree, Stigma, Women, Identity, Pro-natalist, Reproduction
Publication Date
2017
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2017 Tiffany Trunk