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“I Guess They’re All Real Moms Then”: Constructing Motherhood Through Language in the Adoption Community

“I Guess They’re All Real Moms Then”: Constructing Motherhood Through Language in the Adoption... AbstractLanguage used to construct motherhood varies, not only among groups inside and outside the adoption community, but among members of each group, as well. Some language is used to clarify relationships in adoptive families, but sometimes language can be stigmatizing, either intentionally or unintentionally. This study is a content analysis examining the construction of motherhood through language in 84 blogs written by adoptees, adoptive mothers, and birth mothers. Findings include a significant difference in the use of the term mother, in that birth mothers were more likely to use mother (or a form of it) in their blogs than were adoptees or adoptive mothers. Implications of this study are discussed, including practices to reduce the stigmatization of adoptive motherhood. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Adoption Quarterly Taylor & Francis

“I Guess They’re All Real Moms Then”: Constructing Motherhood Through Language in the Adoption Community

Weller, Melissa Rizzo
Adoption Quarterly , Volume 22 (4): 19 – Oct 2, 2019
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“I Guess They’re All Real Moms Then”: Constructing Motherhood Through Language in the Adoption Community

Abstract

AbstractLanguage used to construct motherhood varies, not only among groups inside and outside the adoption community, but among members of each group, as well. Some language is used to clarify relationships in adoptive families, but sometimes language can be stigmatizing, either intentionally or unintentionally. This study is a content analysis examining the construction of motherhood through language in 84 blogs written by adoptees, adoptive mothers, and birth mothers. Findings include a...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1544-452X
eISSN
1092-6755
DOI
10.1080/10926755.2019.1675836
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractLanguage used to construct motherhood varies, not only among groups inside and outside the adoption community, but among members of each group, as well. Some language is used to clarify relationships in adoptive families, but sometimes language can be stigmatizing, either intentionally or unintentionally. This study is a content analysis examining the construction of motherhood through language in 84 blogs written by adoptees, adoptive mothers, and birth mothers. Findings include a significant difference in the use of the term mother, in that birth mothers were more likely to use mother (or a form of it) in their blogs than were adoptees or adoptive mothers. Implications of this study are discussed, including practices to reduce the stigmatization of adoptive motherhood.

Journal

Adoption Quarterly – Taylor & Francis

Published: Oct 2, 2019

Keywords: Adoption; motherhood; language; stigma; blogs

References

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