Gender Differences in Childfree Discourse: A Discourse Analysis of Reddit Communities

Fanmei Xia, Yale University

The decision to remain childfree is a growing social phenomenon in the U.S. and worldwide, yet research on the motivations behind this choice remains disproportionately focused on women. Prior research has suggested that gender influences these decisions -- women might experience more societal pressure regarding reproductive choices, whereas men may have different incentives or barriers. However, existing research highlights women’s childfree motivations (e.g., autonomy, avoidance of patriarchal expectations) but neglects men’s perspectives. The current paper compares how men and women articulate their reasons for being childfree on Reddit, a platform where candid, community-driven discussions thrive. To date, I have collected data from over 72k users and 1.8 million posts and replies, during the time period from 2009 to 2025. I use Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a probabilistic, unsupervised machine learning model to obtain descriptive features of the posts and comments. Then, by applying Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis (CDA) -- which examines discourse at the levels of text, discursive practice, and social practice – I analyze how gendered societal norms around parenthood shape narratives about being childfree, including whether and how they reproduce or challenge the existing power structure. The study examines an underexplored part of reproductive politics by analyzing the gendered binary that frames childfreedom as a “women’s issue.” This duality perpetuates the marginalization of men in reproductive justice movements, which have rightly centered on women’s bodily autonomy but risk reinforcing the stereotype that men are disinterested or irrelevant to parenthood debates. Therefore, the current study explores whether voluntary childlessness acts as a site of transformative agency or reproduces existing hierarchies. This inquiry bridges gaps in gender, family, and reproduction scholarship while challenging the obscure men’s roles in redefining reproduction norms.

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 Presented in Session 39. Gender- Based Violence and anti-Feminism in Online and Offline Spaces